All Forum Posts by: Michael R.

Honestly consider getting an agent that is familiar with multi's. That would be my first advice.  With your opening statements you are hoping to supplement your agents lack of knowledge - which is fine if you have the experience to do this and you are only using your agent to write offers etc. 

As far as what to look for in your purchase -- location, age, sq footage, lot size, future city infrastructure development or redevelopment, potential rental rates (near hospital to rent to medical staff), are you looking for cash flow are you looking for appreciation....etc ... etc... 

There are a lot of things to consider.  Take your time - these are just my opinions.

I hope that helps.

If you are going to Wells Fargo or BOA then sure you will have a hard time.  When I purchased one of my homes I had a hard time getting funding -- but my realtor connected me with an underwriter that increased my borrowing power by 30% easily -- just by taking my tax returns and understanding my situation.  It's about relationships.  You have to shop around and look for self employed friendly lenders - and not just for commercial or multifamily properties.  Because I have a relationship with the underwriters I use - now when the numbers get tight the conversation goes from "what is your income?" to "what sort of money do you need?".

I 100% respectfully disagree.

Who is selling it? Any chance of owner financing? Any chance of self finance?

Consider an upgrade to your account and hit up the marketplace.

@Daren Eady, I disagree in part with your statement. Sure, many lenders plug and play. But I am self employed, have significant write offs and have a lender that is 1099 or W9 friendly. The types of mortgages may differ, i.e. some of these were VA, FHA and traditional lending, but depending on the objective of the borrower the lenders are out there and not all of them are ultra conservative.

Thank you all for the tips and warm welcomes. I am spending way too much time on BP but I cannot stop becausee I am learning every day and building confidence. 

Thank you for this thread - I learned some good info that can help me out.

Mike

Congratulations and thank you for sharing!

What the deal with the February purchase?

Why not just show the landlord the legislation and take a stand? What if the landlord says no to the fee (which doesn't sound reasonable to me)?

Your Property Manager works for you, keep that in mind. I self manage a triplex with a similar situation. We are increasing rents while finding other ways to increase values for other tenants in order to en sure we can maximize rents in all areas. For example increased rents, while reducing the below market tenant storage area in order to convert it into a shared laundry room.

You should be able to walk through the property and inspect it at any time. Is the tenant paying on time? Is the only problem the under market rent? Define hoarder also, are we talking a true hoarder that presents living hazards and possible code violations or someone who just has a ton of stuff.

To reiterate what has been stated this is definitely a people business. The former owner set your tenant up for failure and this isn't really their fault. See if you can turn this around and make it a win win. You want to do maintenance, sounds like an opportunity to justify rental increases.

I hope that helps.