All Forum Posts by: Ian M.

Ill call you tomorrow. 

Do you or anyone else know how many units you have to have before you need on-site property management? 

Im thinking about doing a 1031 into a property there, but know that some of the east side towns have some tough regulations.  Any other concerns there?  Thanks!

@Brian Burke - this is a bit off the initial topic but it relates to your post - I completely concur that IRR is probably the best metric for evaluating a property and i have seen @Ben Leybovich mention that on multiple occasions as well. However, how do you estimate that at the front end of an investment as it seems to be a trailing metric because it includes expenses over time which are impossible to know at the outset (I dont mean the IRR formula as that seems to be the easy part)? I usually use COCR because at least then i can put in some estimates of about 20% for vacancy and expenses. I would really like to use IRR though if there is a way you use to estimate it as that is undoubtedly more realistic.

Thanks in advance for this and all of your thoughtful advice on these types of REI deals.

@Jeremy Pace Thanks for the feedback.  I think your situation might be a little different though. If you are starting out with rents $200-300 below market, then I would imagine they should only go up.  Im curios to see how many others are having to drop rents from their current market rents now.

For those that invest in Pittsburgh - are you still getting the market rent you were a year or two ago?  Or have you found yourself decreasing them lately?  Granted its the winter and its always tough now, but I'm curious to get a pulse on the market of late as I, and several other landlords I'm aware of, have recently had to drop rents substantially.  If you have, any thoughts on why rental rates are dropping?

@Andy Madden try Justin Myers, Myers General Contracting.  Just used him on a duplex and he put up a metal roof for cheaper than shingles  

@Jeremy Pace can you let me know as well?  I'm looking to find a bank that will do a cash out refi on an investment property (titled in an entity which is sometime the rub). The 2 local portfolio loan banks I typically use to finance (haven't tried a refi with them until now) for some reason don't seem too keen on doing it.  Much appreciated.

Im currently using a guy named Justin Myers with Myers Contracting.  He's been honest, reliable, the quality of work is good and prices are reasonable.  Not the lowest prices, but reasonable so I would definitely recommend him and I will definitely use him again because everything else is perfectly in line.  

@Ruth Bayang what is the address?

@Karen Bickford have a number in your head BEFORE you start analyzing anything (like right now, today) as to what you need to meet in order to purchase ANY property, this should include ALL costs (all the normal ones, plus your marketing expenses, the cost of your time and your profit) in order to make ANY deal worthwhile.  This way it won't matter what the situation is really, as you have numbers to meet in order to run your business - let the numbers tell you what to do.  Remember if someone needs to sell, they need that money as well, so you are in helping them.  Yes, a lot of those situation are sad - death, divorce, disease or something of the like, but if you don't help them out of that situation (and the sooner the better), they may wind up in a worse situation.  I will say, I don't think you should ever take advantage of someone, which is very different than meeting your numbers and you may come to a situation where you can't help them as the numbers don't meet your minimum so try to refer them to someone that can help them (i.e. maybe they can make more money selling with a realtor at closer to market price so refer them to a good realtor you know).  While you won't get that deal, they will be better off and from a self serving standpoint you might be surprised at how it comes back to you later (perhaps that same realtor gets you a great lead down the road).  And while you might think that doesn't meet your business model giving up a deal, if you went down the path of taking advantage of the situation word will get out quickly about your business practices. Besides deals are like buses anyway....