All Forum Posts by: Cary Trusty

I've never owned any rental properties so please be gentle! I'm curious as to why no one has suggested cash for keys here? Would there be something wrong with notifying the tenant about a planned eviction and explaining instead of being evicted, they could take a few hundred dollars and leave?

It seems to me you take the hit now or over the new few months waiting for the eviction to process, for them to actually leave, and repair the unit as I'm sure it at least needs some heavy cleaning from the description of the living conditions provided.

Good luck!

+1 here.

I bought a short sale in a neighborhood where my house had better amenities etc, and was an owner occupied flip (I was approaching the 2 year mark). My agent originally suggested a value $30K lower ($220K) then what I originally listed it for ($250K as FSBO). Appraisal was higher than my original list price but I finally sold it for $235k (in the middle) after 6 months. In this case, the agent suggested price was low and the appraisal was high. Most of that came down to location (back yard was to an apartment complex with no privacy fence big enough to help). In the end the buyers were from that apartment complex and wanted to be in that specific neighborhood for various reasons and they wanted the size the house had -- i feel I got lucky. My house was the highest sales price in 2 years in the neighborhood.

The comps would have helped determine if the ARV made sense. In my case, I learned high amenities means very little if the house is already at the top of the comps in the area. I would at least check with some other agents (maybe your next agent for your next flip) and see what went wrong. Good luck on your next one!

@Jeff O. I'll be at one of those 2 meetings tonight with a friend (broker). We haven't decided on which one as of yet.

CIREIA - Annual membership dues ($160-$200/year). They seem to throw a few free meetings a year by other investors. They do promote a bit to join their club during and after the meeting.

MyINREIA - No membership fee but is a smaller group. They have a couple of real estate attorneys in the club from Griffith Law which have shown their knowledge through the meetings.

To follow up what @Kurt F. was stating -- I have done a 203K myself on my personal residence (thought it isn't a multifamily). I believe both for the streamline (< $35K) and the full 203k renovation, there are limitations that all rehab must be completed within 6 months from the date of close. I'm assuming in similar fashion to 1 unit dwellings, all planned renovations were planned out with quotes provided ahead of time. Therefore, it sounds like you're on a timetable to get the renovations completed. I've been interested in doing the same thing with a 203K but multifamily opportunities scare me in Indianapolis (with a majority being on the east side).

I'm going to monitor and hope to connect with you on your future progress. My opinion (and unfortunately its not based on experience) would be to start fresh. It seems you currently have some type of financial arrangement that would allow you to forgo the rent now to complete the renovations. If you wait for months from now for the tenant to bail, you might not be in the same financial standing then (a little unsure how you're doing interest only financing to a family member, yet have a 203k).

Good luck!

@Shawn Holsapple - Thanks for all the information! Yeah, I wasn't sure with the new changes in Indiana if there was a 2 year waiting period of carrying an active broker license before you can start your own brokerage. I hadn't heard of the CSS but my Realtor (who helped me purchase my home) used a showing service to help sell my mother's home so maybe that is it. 

@Jason Powell - I have also considered being a serial owner-occupant. I have a good relationship with my loan officer and asked about selling/flipping my current house (purchased 16 months ago using FHA 203k renovation loan) and moving on to another property to do the same. She advised that since it is an owner occupied loan to be careful as lenders will look for 'patterns' and eventually deny me a loan (but nothing regarding penalty). In your case where you mentioned 2 years (where you then avoid capital gains tax up to $250k, $500k if married), one would think that would suffice the requirements of intent to be your primary residence. I would look into doing this and renting your current unit out (where you are already financed) so you can get into another 3.5% down property. You also might have enough skin in the game to find a partner as well.

@Wayne Brooks 

Thank you as this is the type of information I was looking for regarding MLS fees. I'll try giving the board of realtors a call to see if they give that information out to individuals without their license.

Thanks!

To add to the OP's original post, can anyone list the associated fees with getting access to the MLS/BLC for their respective markets as salespersons/brokers? Once I obtain my broker's license (renamed from salesperson license in Indy), is it a monthly based subscription or an annual fee? Is it free access if I hang my license at certain principal brokers (where its like a volume type license)? My understanding is outside of obtaining a login, you must have an active license but i'm not sure of the fees to obtain access.

@Shawn Holsapple Any information you can share since you're in my market?

@Brad Stillabower - To link to another person properly in a post (and have them notified), after you enter the @ sign and starting typing the users name, click on the user's name from the list that should appear at the bottom of the text box. The name should highlight in blue.

Welcome to BP! I'm a southsider of Indianapolis as well, a couple miles south of the loop. I wouldn't call myself an investor quite yet but actively making lifestyle changes to get there!

@Nazz Wang 

I'm a southsider of Indianapolis, born and raised, just outside of the 465 circle. Troy ave. on the south of the circle is one of the school boundaries for Perry Township (better) vs IPS (not so good), but it just depends on your target market for tenants. Perry Township tends to be a good place for low priced properties for rentals (however inventory is pretty low). I live in Franklin Township which is a great school district but (depending on your target purchase price) might be hard to find buy and hold properties with good cash flow. Center Grove further south is probably considered a A / B zone but prices go up. I'm not as familiar with the redevelopment areas to the northside and downtown (i.e. Mapleton Fall Creek). Finding the areas there would be key as there is a lot of development (residential and commercial) planned for downtown through 2016 I believe.