All Forum Posts by: Jimmy Mills

Originally posted by @Jimmy Mills:

Originally posted by @Jeff B.:

huh?? paying too much for what precisely?  rather vague generality imo.

 If you make offers on 10 properties, and all 10 accept, your offers are too strong; hence you are paying too much. 

 ...for real estate

Originally posted by @Jeff B.:

huh?? paying too much for what precisely?  rather vague generality imo.

 If you make offers on 10 properties, and all 10 accept, your offers are too strong; hence you are paying too much. 

Real estate... 

Originally posted by @Mike F.:

All I buy is townhomes (not condos), every property has an HOA fee. That fee isn't just worthless, it pays someone else to do all the maintenance to the exterior, painting, roofing etc... it also pays for cutting of the grass and snow removal and trash pickup. With townhomes / condos you are only dealing with the interior. Many complexes have pools and club houses, work out rooms etc...

I do extremely well with all my rentals, and enjoy nice appreciation and I spend none of my time managing anything to do with the exteriors. These types of rentals make sense if you want to spend a minimal amount of time dealing with your properties.  They are cheaper to purchase and the rent like crazy.

Good points and I do have one townhouse that cashflows. THe HOA is only 109/month. One argument that some investors make is that you can't do as much to force appreciation with a condo as you can with a detached. You can't add a garage, paint, change exterior, etc. My townhouse is well maintained. Other communities refuse to paint and make repairs and you can't help that.

If you've already bought a condo, you can, as one person suggested, rent the rooms. I've had great cash flow with room rentals to professionals like teachers, nurses, recent divorcees (hey, it happens..) But I wouldn't recommend buying a property that only cash flows with some creative circumstance like room rentals. It can help bring you out of an already executed bad deal though. Cheer.

I believe I once read something to the effect of "if you close more than one out of ten offers, you're paying too much." It may have been one out of 30, but I'm curious if others feel that way today. With the books from this website suggesting that 70% ARV - Repairs for flips and 80% of retail for rentals, It seems like it would be one out of 50, rather than one out of ten, especially where I'm buying. We have less than 3 months inventory and folks are getting full price with less than a week on the market.

My first deal, way back when, was an in house loan with a small town bank. They gave me 70k with no money down but a 10k lien on my home. (Not saying that's a good idea) I'm curious if any banks still do that with approval of high income and assets. It never went on my credit and I paid it off promptly. The loan was to my LLC. They basically did everything you read about in the REI books but can never seem to find.

Having worked with a few builders, I can say that hiccups are common for new construction. You will be the first to find everything and ther will be other small items here and there. I walked in one day and they were pounding all of my bare studs over one inch rather than rebuilding the frame. I didn't flinch. Some would've backed out. Even if it's repaired properly, will YOU ever "unsee" that water or will you always worry about that cough, sneeze, or tingle in your throat is mold.

Tell you what I did when I was young and single. (This is not for everyone.) I bought a 4br 5ba townhouse and rented out the other 3 bedrooms to young professionals that were in transition or on temp assignments. (Travel nurses, medical, Boing engineers, petroleum, etc) Rented as a SF would gross 1000/month but I got 600 per room. 1800 per month gross and lived for free. Paid down the note and moved on. Now I rent it to a family for 1275 and have never spent a dime of my own money.

Agree to stay close to home. I liquidated when I moved across state lines. By the time I was selling off, the buyer was calling me, before the sale, complaining of squatters and all sorts of shenanigans I couldn't (cheaply) mitigate from afar. Thankfully he still purchased the entire group and set me free. Now I'm starting over older and wiser.