All Forum Posts by: Filipe Pereira

@Jim K. luck and hope share two things in common. One is that they keep you going in the present, the second is that they will eventually run out and you have to change your course. 

Sounds like this guy experienced both. I don't envy people much (or at least try not to), it does me no good. 

I don't know wells fargo's system well enough to know what they consider a "mobile deposit" but if what he reported he is receiving is different than what the tenants are actually paying @Shandrea T. then that is probably enough for you to keep your deposit and back out. 

If you have concerns about the tenants that are there, you can ask the owner to have them vacate as a condition of sale, but at the same time, he could tell you to go pound sand and back out of the deal. Plus - how confident are you that you can find better tenants? 

Yards are a big plus in my area of CT, especially because most of our units are in C+/B- areas, which mean most of the times that we are placing tenants we are getting them from ares that are of lesser quality, which usually means from the city. City properties don't usually have back yards @James Z.

What's the bedroom count in each unit? I think that will go a long way in figuring out how important it is. For example - if it's a studio / 1bed it's probably going to be a single person or a couple with no kids - yard space isn't going to be critical for most of them. If it's a 3 or 4 bedroom, the yard space will be welcomed. 

@Brandon Guzman Siars, your car loan is INSANE and is probably single handily the number one thing stopping you from being able to save $$$. Imagine you only had a car loan of $250 a month. That's 5K a year you could set aside for your real estate goals. 

Even if you had more significant savings, with the numbers you shared your DTIs are pretty unfavorable if I had to bet (debt to income ratio). Your income is probably around 2200? Net, and your debts total over half of that. I would work on that car situation immediately. 

Don't do things that "feel good", do things that work. Go get after it!

@Account Closed my advice is to chalk it up as a lesson learned. Don't beat yourself up too much either, because there is no guarantee the seller would have agreed to fix it. Your request through your realtor was that it just had to be turned on and rechecked - nothing about fixing it if it was indeed broken. 

After turning it on and rechecking it, the seller could have walked away from the deal and dealt with another buyer at that point. There's no language saying he agreed to fix it. 

If you feel you got a fair deal, chalk it up and move on. Flip your mindset to "well at least I got the property" and you will feel better. Your emotions are getting in the way of what is probably an otherwise sound financial move. 

Hey @Parker Jean, welcome to bigger pockets! Where will you be working in CT? I am based in Windsor Locks. 

Most people will say that the best way to get into real estate investing is through house hacking, and honestly I usually agree. Are you open to living in the same building as your tenants? If so, the opportunities for you to get into real estate will be fairly cheap when compared to a non owner occupant investor. 

Hey @Oren Souli here are my thoughts on the greater Hartford (Hartford county, really) rental market in the event that you come up this far. As a licensed real estate agent myself, I can get into trouble for "steering" you to an area, so please accept these as just some generally vague thoughts based on my experience of the area and property management industry.

Windsor is a great "small town" that generates good cashflow with moderate chances of appreciation (relative to the CT Market)

Granby even a smaller town feel than Windsor, rentals are in high demand and rent prices are high. Expect high prices too, though. Appreciation likely.

Enfield is better on cashflow, but has some rough parts of town that I personally avoid (Specifically T'ville). It does have a busy shopping area, and a mall that desperately needs attention. The proximity to MA is a benefit.

Manchester strong rents, but getting into the market can be tough, as multis are priced accordingly.

West Hartford if you're in this town you're probably banking on appreciation, not cashflow.

Glastonbury Strong rents, but expensive. Multis / rentals are not common, and in demand. Appreciation likely.

East Hartford Mostly a B/C class community. I like it. Rents are strong, proximity to downtown Hartford is a major plus. Prices have gone up steadily since 2015/2016.

New Britain Still has quite a negative stigma, mostly due to crime. I hear it all the time when I'm showing tenants units in other towns and I get asked "Do you have any other units available." You can see the expressions if you say "Yes we have one in New Britain." We manage in town, but I don't feel comfortable enough to purchase in NB myself. That being said, prices can be attractive.

Bristol Strong rental market. Seems to always have demand given proximity to Hartford, Waterbury and Meriden.

The only issues we could possibly foresee is that the tenant digs their heals in and chooses to not move out at which point you will inevitably be forced to evict them. You really have to feel the tenant out to see if they are likely to do that @Shandrea T..

Even if they do, if the numbers work otherwise, it may still work out long term. However, if you are depleting all of your savings on this one property, you may want to consider a "less risky" purchase. 

I'm sorry - how is it unethical to offer another apartment to someone in a situation that benefits both of you? I didn't say to charge the tenant an above market rate. Fair is fair, and the reality is that the tenant's rent is well below market. Meanwhile, the owner would benefit from no noise. It's not unethical at all. I think if you owned rental property of your own and lived in it as well, your opinion would be (somewhat) different. 

Good luck to ya. 

I'm of the belief that lease-ups are a profit center for property managers. Most of the time it's the most laborious thing we do (in terms of labor hours) and by far the least profitable. Especially if the property manager isn't making a cut on the renovation / turnover costs between tenants. 

I tell ya what - by reading some of the comments on this thread - either my fees for what we do here in Connecticut are way too cheap, or some of these folks are way too pricey, lol. I'd never want an owner to think I was choosing a more expensive vendor "just to make a bigger cut" so I refuse to take a percentage on that stuff. To each their own, of course. 

Personally, I'd rather just raise my rates before feeing a client to death.