All Forum Posts by: Joe Funari

@Enrique Laguna Congrats on your retirement and thank you for my freedom. I am a fellow veteran and help fellow investors buy and sell in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. If your interested in Texas I recommend you reach out to my preferred lender, a fellow Marine & investor too, @Andrew Postell. He is a guru at helping fellow investors financing their rental properties here in Texas. So worth having a phone call with Andrew. You can discuss specifics to your financial situation and help you get to where you can purchase additional rentals. Hope this helps. And again, congrats on your retirement. 

@Dylan Pridemore Where are you trying to run comps? Because if your located in non-disclosure state, such as Texas, only way to get accurate comps is from a realtor.

@Dan Grove I would recommend you leverage that $360K into purchasing as many buy-and-hold SFR's in a landlord friendly state. Texas is one that will fit the bill. Also, work a realtor that is a fellow investor, like myself. A good investor friendly realtor will help navigate the pitfalls that first time investors face. Plus, their connections from lender, landlord insurance, property management, contractors, etc become your connections. No sense reinventing the wheel. But reach out to my preferred lender @Andrew Postell. He is a fellow investor and a financial guru about helping fellow investors leverage available funds to purchase as many properties as possible. Its all about economies of scale. Hope this helps. 

@Account Closed Wow, what a post. First every REI has a different opinion for what exit strategy works for them. But some of the advise the aspiring doctor gave you about REI is wrong. As as actual investor and realtor working for +5 years helping other investors buy and sell in Texas (Specifically in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area)I feel the need to defend investing in the suburbs. So here goes my rebuttal to your points:

1. SFR's in DFW the average days on market is approximately 30 days for a 3/2/2. I have never seen an SFR stay on the market for 2 years here.

2. SFR's "conservatively" appreciate 5% per annum. That is actually a national average too. Here in the DFW area its higher. But I hedge on conservative numbers. Yes property taxes are around 2.9% here in the DFW area. But the tax rate is based on an average tax "valuation" of $325K for a SFR here in the DFW area. There is no state income tax here in Texas. So tenants can actually afford to pay rents. Plus, property taxes on a LTR are tax deductible.

3. I have no experience with Manhattan condos. So I will defer to other BP experts on this one. But my experience with condos here in the DFW area is that Condo HOA's can vote to change the rules to not allow rentals. I have a client that when they purchased a condo they changed the rules on him. So he can't move to another property and lease it out. Better to buy an SFR in the suburbs with no HOA to be honest.

4. Have your contractors sign an agreement that you are not responsible if they get injured rehabbing one of your properties. But recommend you consult a real estate attorney on such a document. Also, if your working with a good insurance carrier you will have a builders risk policy to protect you as well.

5. The longest it has taken me to rehab a property, whether it is a flip or buy-and-hold exit strategy, has been 4 months. This property was vacant for over a decade and needed to be gutted to the studs, cast iron sewage lines demoed out of the property. A full gut job. But if you work with experienced contractors and/or investors you can get the job done quickly.

6. If your working with a lender that is investor friendly, and preferrably a fellow investor, you will get loans approved. I have both hard money lenders and @Andrew Postell is my preferred conventional lender for LTR's. Andrew is also a fellow investor.

7. You need to understand what the market will bear when determining investing in a buy-and-hold property. Here in the DFW area we include in our lease agreements that tenants do their own lawn maintenance, pay their own utilities, and provide their own fridge, washer, and dryer. Yes, things break. Its a part of cost of doing business as an investor. But these appliances we don't provide tend to break the most. So mitigate your risk.

I will end with defending Texas from a LTR prospective. The landlord laws are among the best in the US. So if your looking to buy-and-hold they are much more favorable than NY. Moving forward get advise on an area your considering investing from an actual investor that works in that area. Not from a doctor who is considering an area and hasn't invested.

@Michelle Sharko Its never too late to invest. I am currently working with another couple that both are 60. They too are just starting their REI journey. I would suggest getting a HELOC on the second property. But also suggest when you post questions let us know what city and/or state your in. That way you always get recommendations for lenders and financing options. Because there is definitely more than one way to use OPM (Other People's Money). If your in Texas I would suggest you reach out to @Andrew Postell. He is my lender I recommend to all my fellow investors. I have worked with him personally for many years. Andrew is also a fellow investor. So he can definitely help you with your situation. But regarding HELOC I can also recommend a community bank here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that doesn't charge either an application or appraisal fee. So zero risk to explore a HELOC again on your primary residence. Just DM me for the details. Hope this helps. 

@Brian Cerezo I will be happy to help with your search. I am a fellow investor and Realtor working in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. But also recommend you reach out to @Andrew Postell. He is my recommended lender and fellow investor too. He has very competitive loan products to help you with a multifamily house hack too. 

@Simon Carroll When interviewing potential CPA's make sure you work with one that works with real estate investors. One good way to find out if they do is ask them if they have done cost allocation strategies for long term rentals (LTR). I have learned this is the differentiator when determining a good CPA to work with. Also, I would suggest that you always include in your posts moving forward the city (metro area) you intend to invest. That way you get specific advice from other investors in those areas. This especially applies to CPA's. Because starting out you want to make sure you have a CPA that knows state and local tax law filing procedures for where your LTR are located. Hope this helps. 

@Amby Bhagtani Texas is one of the most landlord friendly. With eviction rates at less than 1%, as well as, evictions taking less than 90 days to execute tenants pay their rents here. Plus, less headaches that other states laws have with regards to increases. But unlike other landlord friendly states here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area you days on market for a rental is 17 days or less on average. So its not just the laws you need to be concerned with. But I have personally lived all over the US and could have invested in many states but chose Texas because of the landlord laws, low days on market for rentals, and good cash flowing properties. It is no secret more than half of my clients are from CA looking to add to their investment portfolios here. I would be glad to help you too. 

@Elijah Wichers Jealous I never PCS'd to HI. So congrats there. Regarding the condo's you need to read their HOA covenants very closely to make sure the one your purchasing will allow rentals down the road. I had a client here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area buy a condo with the same intent of keeping as a rental within a couple of years. The HOA covenants, at time of purchase, allowed rentals. But while living in the condo the HOA got together and voted to amend the covenants to not allow rentals. Now again this was here in Texas. But would suggest if you can find a single family that will still pass a VA inspection use your COE to get into a single family. But also suggest you find an investor friendly realtor in HI that will know if condo HOA's there in HI are not allowing rentals. Let them know your goals. Hope this helps.

@Chris Shelton I would recommend a lender. The one I recommend here in TX is @Andrew Postell. He is my preferred lender. He is a fellow investor and a guru at financing investment properties. He is forgotten more about financing than I will ever remember. Reach out to him directly. Its well worth your time to have a phone conversation with him.