All Forum Posts by: Eric Levy

@Kiera Underwood Haha, i think this was my first post! I'm trying to stay in OKC for now but i haven't come across many good MF deals on the MLS recently. I'm debating doing a direct mail campaign, but haven't decided if I want to put that much effort yet.

@Brad S.

Appreciate the detailed info. Yes you are correct, the numbers are before additional expenses like capex and vacancy. Vacancy has definitely reared its ugly head, way more than i expected. 

But on the bright side, I've had multiple investors message me interested in the property due to its location, so I've decided to just to take the risk and keep the property.

If the two units were there prior to the zoning laws which prohibited them, then you should be good as they have been "grandfathered" in. If they can be rented legally, then they should be used to crunch numbers. A lot of time people can get away with it even if they are rented illegally, but I personally would not pursue it if that were the case. I would double check with the local zoning office.

@Kiera Underwood

Thanks for the feedback Kiera. I sent you a message with some more details.

@Trevor Mleziva

Welcome to BP! You've come to the right place. You really can't go wrong with any BP podcast, but I would listen to ones that have relevance to what you are trying to do. As far as books are concerned, again, find ones that are related to your strategy. There are plenty of multifamily-based books and people have varying opinions on which ones are the best, so just find a couple popular ones and start with those.  

Here are some links to threads discussing multifamily books:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/432/topics/60...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/432/topics/61...

If you are buying out of state, try "long distance real estate investing" by David Greene. Also there are the common starting books like "rich dad poor dad", and "the millionaire real estate investor" which people tend to like. 

Another good idea is to start finding listings now and analyzing the numbers to see potential cash flow. Try analyzing one deal a week, or even every few days, to get a feel for it. BP has some useful calculators to help out with this located under "tools", and there are plenty of threads discussing good ways to go about it.

@Dennis M.

Ya it's definitely frustrating, but after more thought I think I might stick it out and hold on to it. I'll decide for sure once this room rents out. Found out that the streets around it are improving, so might be really nice in a few years. 

@Dennis M.

Appreciate the feedback Dennis.

I didn't expect to get a great deal, but at the same time I didn't expect a three month vacancy and a low c-o-c return. I see plenty of people averaging 10-12% c-o-c, newbies included. Mine is 9.7% without additional expenses, which realistically could bring it to around 6-7%. 

Thanks for the advice Cassi! So imo the pictures look pretty good. Inside looks clean and nice, decent picture of the outside. I had them re-list it so that it doesn't look like it's been sitting. My agent drove by the house the other day and didn't mention anything about it being messy, but I can ask him to go check it out in more detail to make sure the downstairs tenant isn't doing anything to deter potential renters.

Hey BP!

Little backstory: I'm from CA and bought my first property in OKC. I was indecisive about where to start, but I found a pm and realtor that I liked there and also researched that the area was growing, so I went with it. Bought a MF property very close to OKC University for 96k, and put about 10k into it. I just wanted to buy a property to get the experience, so I didn't search for the best deal or anything, but I figured this was a decent deal. After owning it for a few months, I'm starting to think otherwise. The property consists of a 2/1 and a 1/1. The 1/1 needs a lot of work still, but has a long-term tenant who seems comfortable and signed a year lease for $550. I've tried to rent the 2/1 for three months, and have been dropping the rent by $25 every few weeks. Started at $825, and it's now at $700. It's now low compared to market rent in the area for the size, and it's right near OKC so I really am not sure why it hasn't rented. I guess the surrounding houses around it aren't great, but the neighborhood isn't bad either. It's NW OKC, so in general it's not a bad area. PM and Realtor seem confused on the vacancy as well.

Since both the 2/1 and 1/1 share a meter, I pay for water, trash and gas. This is already $140 without the upstairs rented, and will probably be more like $220 or so when fully rented (fixed base fees consist of a large portion of it). Somehow with all these utilities paid, I'm still having trouble renting. Here are what the estimated numbers look like if both units are rented.

Rent: Hopefully $1250

Mortgage: $587

Utilities: $220 

PM: $103.75

Cash flow is $340, before accounting for any other expenses such as capital expenditure and vacancy. So right now I'm obviously losing money, but after this rents I should be cash flow positive. But I put $42k into this (including repairs), so my c-o-c at full occupancy will be 9.7% before additional expenses, which doesn't seem very good for an area with low appreciation. Also, if the downstairs tenant ever moves out, that space will need an additional $15k-ish. He's been there for 10 years, so hopefully that doesn't happen soon.

When I bought the property, I stupidly didn't check to see if the units were separately metered. I also did not plan on this amount of vacancy. I'm wondering if i should just rent out the upstairs unit and then try to sell the property and look for a better one, or keep the low c-o-c.

What do you guys recommend? Debating on looking at other states as well aside from OKC. 

Thanks!!

@Dave Fagundes
Hey Dave, appreciate the info. I'm finished with the work for now but I will definitely reach out next time I'm looking.