All Forum Posts by: Ian Handel

Hi Annie. I am a local realtor. Happy to help guide you on the local market. 

I'll send you a private message. 

Ian Handel

603-560-2214

[email protected]

Thanks for your reply.  I have 2 four unit buildings.

Hi All, I currently buy & hold 8 units.  There is an 8 unit building nearby (Southern NH) that I am interested in.  And, even if I don't buy that building, I am planning to purchase more units.

I have exhausted my resources buying my first 8 units. I have an equity line on my paid off house for 4 of the units and I use an FHA loan for the other 4 units. They all cash flow and I am pre-paying the mortgage with that cash to be free and clear in 15 years.

I don't have the 25% to put down.  And my mortgage broker tells me I can't use a portfolio lender or do hard money because they want more down or more equity in the purchase.

I know some people with deep pockets, I can ask them for a loan....chances are slim, but I'll ask.

Where else can I come up with $100-$200k?

Thanks for your answers.

Hi, I am renting my unit, I have the lead paint disclosure brochure (the EPA website provides it) but what do you all do for a signature page indicating I gave the tenant the brochure.  Is there an official page to sign?  I have been unable to find one.

Thanks, 

Ian 

I feel bad.  One of my tenants is in her upper 60's, she works for a temp agency and has difficulty paying her bills.  She is never late and hasn't missed a payment.  She's been living in the building for six years.  Her daughter lives with her, but her part-time work at Starbucks doesn't pay enough to make a great impact on paying the bills.

The oil tank that supplies this tenant's unit needs to be replaced.  I'm looking at a cost of about $1500-2000 for that work.

The monthly rent is $925 for a nice two bedroom.  It was raised from $900 last February.  She is well below market rent.  I am getting $1025 for the identical unit above her.  The market rate for either of these units is about $1100.  

I discussed raising the rent with her, she claims she cannot afford any more, maybe $25 she offered.

I feel bad.  On the one hand my rental should be at the market rate, on the other hand, I have a nice tenant who cannot afford to pay the market rate, not for what she has currently.  Do I raise the rent and force her out?  Do I bite the bullet and keep her?  What happens in 5 years when she can't find a job at all?

Hey your in Hampstead? Me too. Let's meet at beantowne for a coffee.

I am looking at purchasing my second property. I am a buy and hold investor. I buy with as little down as possible and try to pay off in 15 years, and I don't collect a dime until the property is paid off. I'm 29 years old, time is on my side. The 2% rule doesn't apply in my area. I currently have a 4 unit building in Southern NH. This second property is less than a mile away from the first, it is also 4 units. I went to see it for the first time yesterday, it has some challenges which I have little experience with. Asking price is 315k, rents are 3,250/mo. It was built in 1970 and has not been updated since. I would purchase it, I am making an offer today at 270k, @ 5% down payment (FHA). I'll put about 20k of work into it. (New windows, some new doors, new flooring, refurbish kitchens, paint paint paint, update some bathrooms, landscaping, update parking lot.) After the work, I will increase rents. Two units are two story townhouses, I should be able to get 1000 (maybe 1100). One unit is a nice little one bedroom I should be able to get 900 for. The last unit is an odd two bedroom that has a strange design, I could get 800, maybe 900. I am getting these numbers from my current building where I have nice units. If I got financing for 300k and used that to do the renovations (purchasing for 280k) my monthly PITI would be $2,403. Here's the link to the mortgage calculator. http://www.mlcalc.com/#mortgage-300000-5-30-5.0-7500-1500-0.52-4-2014-month After expenses, at current rents, I would make about 6k/yr. After raising rents, I'll be around 14k/yr. I am concerned this will not pan out as I am planning. The last building I bought only needed one of the units to be flipped, this building needs everything flipped and would necessitate a contractor. Thank you for your thoughts.

I am looking at purchasing my second property. I am a buy and hold investor. I buy with as little down as possible and try to pay off in 15 years, and I don't collect a dime until the property is paid off. I'm 29 years old, time is on my side. The 2% rule doesn't apply in my area. I currently have a 4 unit building in Southern NH. This second property is less than a mile away from the first, it is also 4 units. I went to see it for the first time yesterday, it has some challenges which I have little experience with. Asking price is 315k, rents are 3,250/mo. It was built in 1970 and has not been updated since. I would purchase it, I am making an offer today at 270k, @ 5% down payment (FHA). I'll put about 20k of work into it. (New windows, some new doors, new flooring, refurbish kitchens, paint paint paint, update some bathrooms, landscaping, update parking lot.) After the work, I will increase rents. Two units are two story townhouses, I should be able to get 1000 (maybe 1100). One unit is a nice little one bedroom I should be able to get 900 for. The last unit is an odd two bedroom that has a strange design, I could get 800, maybe 900. I am getting these numbers from my current building where I have nice units. If I got financing for 300k and used that to do the renovations (purchasing for 280k) my monthly PITI would be $2,403. Here's the link to the mortgage calculator. http://www.mlcalc.com/#mortgage-300000-5-30-5.0-7500-1500-0.52-4-2014-month After expenses, at current rents, I would make about 6k/yr. After raising rents, I'll be around 14k/yr. I am concerned this will not pan out as I am planning. The last building I bought only needed one of the units to be flipped, this building needs everything flipped and would necessitate a contractor. Thank you for your thoughts.

Thanks everyone for the great replies. I will move to get rid of him. When it finally warms up a little, I'll give him the option to leave early.

It does say in the lease that he can't change out the thermostat. But he still did it, and he still got angry when I asked him to pay for it. I felt, in that moment, it wasn't in my best interest to make a big deal about it. I would just take it from his security deposit.

Ann, I can see what you mean about making him pay for the repair before he skips out. Will you be at the next NHREIA?

Sorry if this becomes too long.

I have a 4plex in southern NH. Bought it 6 months ago. I pay for heat in two of the units ($375/mo on average through winter, oil heat) I want it out of my name. A new oil burner would be ~4k. I am in the process of getting estimates to install electric baseboard heaters and an electric water heater for one of the units (hopefully less than 3k). This way I will have one all electric unit and one all oil unit and tenants can pay it themselves.

Now it gets more complicated. The upstairs tenant is a pain in my rear. He changed out the thermostat without asking and caused a heating problem I had to fix ($200) and refused to pay for the repair that he caused, he got angry and I chose not to fight him on it. I will take it out of his security deposit. Then he overflowed a toilet and caused water damage (I didn't ask him to pay for it now, knowing he'll get angry, thats what the security deposit is for.) I have also received complaints from other tenants about him.

Below him I have a wonderful tenant, respectful, pays on time, clean and neat. He wants to move upstairs to the two bedroom with a roommate once it becomes available. I could then probably get more for his unit downstairs than I am getting now. ....Upstairs tenant wants a dog, to which I said NO. This will probably cause him to leave when the lease is up in September. I would rather rent the unit in July or August than September as it will be easier with the school schedule.

I am tempted to offer the upstairs tenant the ability to leave early with no penalty. He would only need to give me 30 days notice. Then I'll move the downstairs tenant upstairs, do the heating change and rent the downstairs unit. My other option is to do nothing and be patient and see how things unfold. Why move a paying tenant?

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks.