All Forum Posts by: Christopher Cole

You'll get your best info calling and talking to a property manager. Looks like Patti would be a good resource if you called her :)

Previous paystubs + job offer letter = verified income for me.

Don't forget to do the credit + background check.

If I were you, I'd look to simply refinance the equity you need out of your home, and then focus on the BRRR strategy. So you'd take the proceeds from your refinance, buy another home and fix it up, and then refinance that one - over and over again.

As for an LLC, do a search here - you'll find many many opinions on LLC or not. I'd recommend instead of getting a LLC, just make sure you have umbrella insurance coverage. For one thing, you won't be able to get a conventional loan on a house in the name of your LLC. If you're planning on buying a property with 5+ units, that is different, but it doesn't sound like it.

Are you asking which podcast to listen to, or which episode of the main BP podcast? The real estate rookie podcast is pretty good, and I love the original real estate podcast as well. As for which episode - some just start from a number (1? 100?) and listen to everything. Others pick a topic and download those. I'd suggest looking for anything that mentions "rentals" in the title and learn about buy and hold.

Getting a $20k house with only 2-4k worth of work necessary seems too good to be true. Getting $950/mo on a $20k house sounds like it could be in a very difficult area to be investing in. Proceed with caution.

To answer the question directly, I once heard J Scott (a very successful flipper who hosts one of the BP podcasts now) say he wishes he had held onto every house he flipped. That spoke volumes to me.

The buy & hold strategy you are describing is known as the BRRR strategy. You can find lots of info around here and a book on the topic.

I always keep at least 1-2 units to manage myself, and hand the rest off to the property manager. I find it makes me a much better landlord to understand the problems and how to handle them. 1-2 units isn't much of a burden (usually!), and I know exactly what is reasonable to expect from a property manager for the rest.

It's all about finding someone you trust. Personally, I know more syndicators that I trust than turnkey operators, so I'd feel more comfortable with syndicators.

To figure out if a market is appreciating, I like to download Zillow's Housing Data. It shows you data by year, and if you add a simple formula, you can see the percentage increase or decrease. It isn't perfect, but it takes any personal bias out of the equation.

Probably need more info to help you. How long ago did you buy the property?

Others may have different tips, but in my experience, it may be too late unfortunately. Next time you try (in 6 months maybe?), I'd suggest making the appraiser's job as easy as possible. Provide solid comps to the appraiser as well as any work you have done on the property since purchase.

If you're going to pick one, pick agent. Then the agent can recommend a lender.

But you can easily do both. Getting preapproved is not very hard, and just because you got preapproved with one lender doesn't mean you need to go with them. You can shop around to get the best rate without it affecting your credit score. You can call any lender - keep the data they ask for (tax returns, paystubs, w2) because it'll pretty much be the same for any lender.

Have him go through the same application process as your current tenant. Make sure he passes the same qualifications she did. In particular, I'd make sure there aren't prior evictions, etc. Stick to the standards you've always used.

At a minimum, add a signed addendum to your lease saying the boyfriend is allowed to stay if he passes. I'd recommend just adding him to the lease though (why don't you want to do that?)