All Forum Posts by: Michael Herr

I wouldn't be so quick to write off single family. 

Talk to other investors in your area and figure out which areas have houses that can cash flow. (don't be tempted to go slumming it for cashflow: only looks good on paper) see @ben lebovich posts/blogposts for more on that topic. 

Do some research here on some quick rules of thumb for estimating expenses. 

The main one I like is to have the mortgage payment (with little/no down)  be half of the rent. 

It also seems like you paid too much. You said the property is worth 180K. I shoot to be all-in on a property for 70% of it's value. Some say 80% is fine especially if you aren't doing rehabs, but never pay what an appraiser says a property is worth. 

My area has cheaper prices, but a typical deal is I buy something distressed for 50k, put 20k of rehab into it, I wait 6months to a year, refinance and get all my money back because it's now worth 100k after rehab.  

To answer the question you didn't ask:

I would doublecheck your numbers and think about selling and buying something different. 

After paying for maintenance, cap-x, property management, etc, this likely is cashflow negative. 

Are taxes/insurance escrowed?

Back to the question you did ask:

Refinance as soon as you can to get rid of PMI through either principal paydown or bringing money to the closing table.

@Steve Sanchez

Thanks, as I ask around, that seems to be everyone's recommendation. 

Looking for a recommendations for a good Property Management company for single family homes in the Peoria IL area.

I have a mix of some nicer neighborhoods and some not so great. Nothing in war zones anymore. 

I'm ok self-managing the nicer area ones,  but need help, especially with the lower rent ones that I haven't been able to systematize as easily. 

Really depends on your goals. 

Not at all possible to answer. 

Are you looking for maximum profit now? Long term passive? Low stress,  passive? What's your risk tolerance. What's your investing time horizon?

If it were me,  I'd use that money to buy 10 houses. Buy one at a deep discount, rehab,  rent, refinance (fannie freddie backed 30 year) repeat. 

For $600 you need to control costs more than wow. 

In that price range I'd spray the duct with primer and paint to match walls: it will blend in a bit. 

Also get some color on the walls next time you paint.  When I did lower-end rentals the tenants always remarkes how great it was to have neautral tan walls instad of white like everyone else. 

Toby, 

Welcome. 

I live in your area and go to the monthly meetup group. 

Let me know if you have area-specific questions. 

Welcome, 

I buy/renovate sfh's in the Peoria area.  Let me know if you have area-specific questions. 

Probably going to nees more info. 

Unless you have a separate grey-water system (less than .1% of houses),  then they all end up in the same drain eventually. 

Maybe he meant they are tied together before the pipe diameter increases to its final 3-4" diameter. 

What are your pipes made of? What diameter are the sink and laundry branch runs? 

If everything is plumbed/sized correctly, this wouldn't be an issue. 

I have had luck with discharge hose lint strainers. And make sure that grease is never sent intentionally down the drain. 

I prefer mechanically cleaning the drains,  especially if you want environmentally friendly. 

A small sink snake is under $50 and a good maintenance person cam have it cleared in under 30min. 

Does anybody use a Spreadsheet to track things related to tenant contact: Similar to a CRM?

Not interested in Property Management Software.

I'm trying to scale a bit, and rather than store everything in my mind, I'd like to have a cloud based (likely google) sheet that me and one other person can edit.

I'm thinking storing notes like smoke detector test dates, inspection dates, issues tenants report to us, etc.

I can come up with something: just was wanting to baseline what other people use.