All Forum Posts by: Jeff Roth

Hi Ken-

Great question!

I always recommend an inspection of the property and don't forget to camera the main drain to the road to make sure it is functioning and not needing repair or replacement.

If there is a well and septic, I also recommend having those systems inspected.

Also, check with the local government authority the property is located and see if the rental license is current and if there have been any violations or permits pulled. Also, check for complaints about the property as well.

You also want to read through the existing lease to confirm rents and existing terms on leases and other things in the lease you will have to live with until it renews.

Happy to help!

 Hi-

If the lender allows it.

Find one that will. :)

Hi Arnold-

Love the question.

Right now with rates being elevated, I do not prefer the cash-out refinance option because it locks in the elevated rates on the whole amount borrowed.

Personally, I like using a HELOC to pull equity from a rental and if you have excellent credit and keep the LTV within the lenders preferred guidance sometimes you can get a rate under prime which I actually just did myself.

There is no payment until you use it. Then, you could use part of it to pay the balance on the property stretching out the term or pay interest only for a while which will increase your cashflow and get you additional capital to use if you need it or to buy the next rental.

Plus, some lenders will let you lock the rate on the used part of the HELOC so it does not float up on you. Recommend doing that once you pay off the balance on the house. Look for a lender that will do this for you.

Happy to help!

Hi James-

Great questions!

To find off market properties, try these methods:

1. Contact property management companies that manage these types of properties and stay in contact regularly asking if they know an owner thinking about selling. Smaller property management companies can be more open to helping and easier to build a relationship with than a corporate property management company.

2. Join a local Apartment Association for property management companies and owners. This is a professional group for multifamily housing. You will build relationships that will lead to off market opportunities over time.

3. Get on wholesaler lists that also prospect multifamily properties. They can send deals your way over time.

4. Join multi-family property or apartment buying groups on Facebook.

The way to find an owner of an LLC is to go to the corporation division/formation website for your state and type in the name of the LLC you are interested in. You can get the LLC off the public tax records online for the property. The corporation website will have the articles of incorporation and many times lists the owner and address separate from the property of interest.

Happy to help!

Hi Nicholas-

This is a timely question and I am sure on a lot of investors' minds.

Thanks for posing the question.

The short answer it is always a good time to buy real estate if it cashflows. I personally like the BRRRR strategy as you are forcing some equity into the deal when you buy it and rehab it thoughtfully. This should allow you to pull some money back out and I like using a HELOC for this that has an option to fix part of the amount as a fixed rate loan if rates continue to increase. This way you have the fixed rate on the mortgage if you did not pay cash and a variable rate on the HELOC that can adjust down if rates come back down rather than doing a cash-out refinance and locking a higher rate on all of the debt.

Basically, the goal is to have a lower blended rate between the mortgage and the variable HELOC.

Happy to help!

Hi Authon-

Try a local Credit Union. They are a little slower on processing time but generally will write a smaller loan.

Happy to help!

Congratulations Antonio!

Love your Midwest focus. I think there is a lot of value and strong cashflow to be found there.

I especially like the Lansing, MI market and using the BRRRR strategy.

Happy to help!

You came to the right place David.

Your lending experience should come in handy as you proceed in your real estate investing career.

Congratulations on making the decision to begin.

Hi Meagan-

Congratulations on starting your real estate career.

I have been a Realtor for a number of years and have found clients really don't care what particular office you are with. Find an office that will give you a favorable commission split because you will be generating a lot of business for yourself anyway.

I recommend to focus just starting out and I think the best use of your time to networking. People work with others that they know, like and trust. Real Estate is a social business and the more people you collide with (preferably in person) the better. Join local business organizations because small business networking groups tend to try to help each other out especially the ones that only have one of each type of business in their group.

Finally, I would become the best at a niche whether that be a neighborhood or an asset type like condos, investment properties or similar. You want to be known as the expert in that area for brand recognition and to reduce competition.

Happy to help!

Hi Galit-

Great question!

I struggled with the same question.

Ultimately, I decided to focus on the BRRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance and Repeat) method to get the gains from the rehab tax free with the refinance and build wealth accumulating a portfolio of rentals with property managers helping manage the properties.

Happy to help!