All Forum Posts by: Grant T.
Grant T. has started 6 posts and replied 39 times.
Post: Advice on first rental property
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Nicholas L.:
I hear you on the challenges of Southern California. I just wanted to mention this since the markets you mentioned are on the other side of the country.
Yeah, it's definitely going to be more challenging than usual. I will likely move out to whichever area I decide to invest in for a while.
Post: Advice on first rental property
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Nicholas L.:
can you find a market you can drive to, that you can be hands-on in? it seems like you won't be able to apply any of the experience you got from your first project if you pick a random market thousands of miles away.
just something to consider.
and if you do invest OOS don't do this.
https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1111808-strug...
I have considered it but the problem is in southern California, as we all know is not friendly to us investors. When the day comes in the near future, i will likely move to that area for a little bit or even visit frequently if not.
Post: Multi-family Investing Due Diligence
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Bjorn Ahlblad:
Let's say at this point you are more than interested. You have to walk every unit. Walk around the building 2-3 times. Walk the neighborhood-bring a dog-your own or borrow one otherwise you will be seen as creepy. Is the area being improved, or becoming a dump. Are there people out and about, or are they all hiding. If the seller has screening standards and most do, try to get a feel for how those are being applied. See the leases and rent roll, and get Estoppel certs-yes that's financial but it's worth mentioning.
Hang out in the parking lot; are there cars up on blocks. Talk to a tenant. There will be a towing company sign. Call and ask if they tow cars from the address and how often. Talk to neighbors if you can. Do social media search on the building, there will be a ton of crap, but sometimes there is a surprise.
Especially today there are many properties that are being dumped by sellers in some areas because LL are unable to control the LL/tenant relationship due to government regulation, and you need to determine if there are non paying tenants affecting the near term financial health of the property. I did all that and more on a 12 unit we bought 7 years ago, and glad I did. All the best!
Wow, awesome advice! Thank you Bjorn, all of this will be implemented when the time comes.
Post: Multi-family Investing Due Diligence
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Hey everyone, I am seeking advice from anyone who knows about Multi-family investing. Just hypothetically speaking, say you found a place you think is a great investment, all of the numbers make sense to you, and there are currently tenants renting out 9/10 of the units. Aside from the finance side, what is some other due diligence you would do before going forward? Any tips, advice, and stories would be greatly appreciated.
Post: Advice on first rental property
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Zachary Ware:
Congratulations on your first deal!
What about your first project turned you off to the development aspect of investing and made you turn towards multifamily?
Thank you, Zachary. It was super fun and very satisfying seeing your lot of dirt turn into a luxury home that I wish I could have lived in. The only thing we didn't love about the process was having the capital tied up for so long. I have always wanted to get into multi-family but this project took about a year longer than expected. Once we have some more rental properties generating cashflow and/or appreciation we defiantly will start another project like our first.
Post: Advice on first rental property
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Devin Dougherty:
Congrats on your project, smart play! Multi-families are a great way to generate "passive" income. I put quotations around passive, because it shouldn't be completely hands off. Which is why you want to have a good team of people around you, especially if you're looking to go out of state. Have a good knowledge of the market you want to pursue, and go after it! As someone who used to be in the construction industry, I can understand why you might not want to develop again. It is a hassle, but does have that nice possibility of return.
Yup exactly, the return is nice and construction is a hassle but worth it! Once we can get some rentals going, another construction project will begin.
Post: Advice on first rental property
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Mason Weiss:
Very cool to read this! Choose your market and then build your team in that market. Curious why you aren't replicating what you just did to make another large chunk of capital?
Hey Mason, we definitely will do another project like that soon. We have been planning on getting into Multifamily rentals for a while now and the delay on this project set us back a year and potentially cost us another 100k in profit (not complaining at all, just a hiccup). We want to diversify our portfolio a little bit more before starting another project like this. Profit was good, but we had a lot of capital tied up for a while. Which is fine, but we want some kind of monthly income from Real Estate first, even it is only a few thousand dollars.
Post: Advice on first rental property
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Kyle Curtin:
Quote from @Grant T.:
Hey everyone, I am new to Bigger Pockets so forgive me if I am posting this in the wrong area. I am 23 years old, own an LLC with my father and brother, and live in California. We are about to close on our first investment project. We bought land on a golf course in Montana, built a house, and am in the process of selling it. The closing date is scheduled for 9/8. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome completing our first real project and we learned a lot. We are making a decent profit but we do not want to do this again. Over the time this was built, I fell in love with studying rental properties and learning all about them, it's honestly an addiction now. We have all agreed that we are going to roll all of our cash and profits into multifamily rentals, and I basically have the most influence and decision power in terms of what we buy and where. My top locations right now are Columbus, Cleveland, Tennessee (still need to do more research on Tennessee but I like it a lot so far) , and possibly Texas if I can find a deal. Lastly, assuming closing happens, which it most likely will, I will have roughly $250k for a down payment, closing, and rehab if needed. I am still very aggressively looking, studying, and learning about other markets across the country. Any advice would be greatly appreciated from those who have done this before. Thanks.
Post: Advice on first rental property out of state
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Dave Skow:
@Grant T.- thanks - congrats on your first deal ....regarding your next steps - I would advise that you get formally pre approved for whatever hypthetical sceanrio you want to use ...this will get you educated on present numbers and organized and prepared - good luck
Post: Advice on first rental property out of state
- Posts 39
- Votes 31
Quote from @Anthony L Amos Jr:
Quote from @Grant T.:
Hey everyone, I am new to Bigger Pockets so forgive me if I am posting this in the wrong area. I am 23 years old, own an LLC with my father and brother, and live in California. We are about to close on our first investment project. We bought land on a golf course in Montana, built a house, and am in the process of selling it. The closing date is scheduled for 9/8. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome completing our first real project and we learned a lot. We are making a decent profit but we do not want to do this again. Over the time this was built, I fell in love with studying rental properties and learning all about them, it's honestly an addiction now. We have all agreed that we are going to roll all of our cash and profits into multifamily rentals, and I basically have the most influence and decision power in terms of what we buy and where. My top locations right now are Columbus, Cleveland, Tennessee (still need to do more research on Tennessee but I like it a lot so far) , and possibly Texas if I can find a deal. Lastly, assuming closing happens, which it most likely will, I will have roughly $250k for a down payment, closing, and rehab if needed. I am still very aggressively looking, studying, and learning about other markets across the country. Any advice would be greatly appreciated from those who have done this before. Thanks.