All Forum Posts by: Christopher Gingras

Thanks Jeff... I will take a look at the news.  So far it works but not overly impressed with the delays.  I may start transitioning to another service.  

I use Dwolla. It's free and I easily added a link to my website for tenant payment. It does seem to take a little while for payment to be deposited into my account however. Not certain if any of the other services are quicker.

It's a minor point but by eliminating a vehicle and a motorcycle I also saved on insurance and registration expenses.  At some point I can always repurchase my toys but I can now focus on real estate.  

In a few days I am selling my BMW motorcycle and sold my Jeep Wrangler a few months ago to obtain extra capital for the purchase of three quad plexes. It was a tough decision but overall a worthwhile sacrifice to create long term wealth.

Hi Daria, That would be great. I will send a PM once I figure out how to send one from my phone. If I can ever help in any way please let me know

Greetings... Would anyone be able to share the name of a recommended handyman in Gainesville, FL? I have been looking for sometime now with no success. If needed I can share a few contacts for trades that I have found to be outstanding such as plumber, screen repair and flooring. Is it unusual to want to pay a handyman per hour? They all seem to want to do bigger projects which really does not work when you have a long punch list. Thanks for any thoughts or recommendations

As a recent MFH investor in Gainesville I can offer my experience although I am quite new to this.  We recently closed on three quad plexes in what I would consider at least a C neighborhood on the SW side of Gainesville in the Greenleaf neighborhood.  Its within walking distant to some of the best schools and is a mix of owner occupied condos and rental units.  There are  certainly plenty of F neighborhoods with absolutely terrible properties but I would be interested in how others in Gainesville might classify this particular neighborhood.  I do think there are some decent MFH opportunities but its hard to find at a reasonable price.

In terms of specifics the average cost for the three was $152,500 (all 2/2's) and that is really what made the numbers work for me with an expected annual rent per unit of $650. A few are renting for $700 which I think is high but $650 seems to be a reasonable amount to expect for Gainesville.  There are essentially no students, mostly working professionals, and almost all the units have been recently remodeled.

I am renovating one unit entirely at a cost to complete of around $6000 and another unit is being 100 % renovated by the seller which caused a small hiccup in the loan process.

Anything over $200,000 seems quite high to me, even close to the University.  I am expecting little to no appreciation, this all about cash flow.  There are so many new, large lifestyle apartment complexes with pools, coffee bars, gyms, fully furnished units, etc... I wonder if it will becoming a challenge to attract college students as tenants in the future.

Good Evening

I am closing on a quad tomorrow and one of the tenants is Section 8.  In reaching out to the local housing authority they provided a bunch of forms to be completed and asked quite a few questions.

Do I need to have a business to have a section 8 tenant?  The housing authority asked for proof of my business and I was afraid to respond back I did not have a business.

As I have never worked with Section 8 before can you negotiate the amount paid by the housing authority?  It is at least $75 less than comparable apartments in the neighborhood.

Thanks for the thoughts

Hey Alexander,

Welcome... I am relatively new to Gainesville and am about to close on three quad plexes to begin my real estate adventure.  

Best of luck and if you ever wanted to catch up over coffee just send me a message.  Always looking to network and I have a lot to learn.

Thanks Daria...

Honestly its probably my fault as much as the seller as I never thought starting the remodel would cause an issue. If we started the day after the appraiser we would have had no issues. I found the opportunity from a friend (non MLS) and the seller has been fantastic to work with. One of the reasons for the purchase was to learn a lot from the seller. He takes a lot of pride in his units so when the tenant left he simply did what he always does which is look around the unit and update or replace as needed. In addition, he was trying to help me out and begin the reno so I could rent it quicker. The seller is expediting the remodel as quickly as possible to try to correct the issue.

The intentions were good and it made common sense but that seems to be lacking at the financial institution.  

This was never considered in the contract and the sale price will not change but my concern is that we will need to amend the contract to extend the closing date.  The seller should agree but thats always a risk.  It will most likely not be an issue but buying three properties at once is quite a stressful experience.