All Forum Posts by: John Knisely

@Luke H.

I like the creativity of the strategy. I don't think anyone is really able to answer this though without knowing your goals.

Do you want cashflow, appreciation, easy property management, etc? How big are the lots? Does zoning allow these types of garage apartments? Will tenants in your area be bothered sharing a driveway/lot?

Low property taxes are always a good thing in my book. That can be a HUGE portion of the monthly payment in the Philly suburbs where I invest.

Hi @Account Closed

I definitely do not recommend draining your reserves for any property. There are simply too many variables that could cause you a LOT of headaches. Frankly, I'm surprised that a bank (assuming you are mortgaging the property through a bank) would allow that sort of lack of reserves.

Cashflow does not equal Rent-Mortgage! What about vacancy, utilities, capex, property management (even if you self manage) etc?

"What happens if the tenant is late a month or two?"...then you are late $2600-$5200. Not something you want to experience.

I strongly suggest that you spend more time researching, saving and preparing before you jump into what sounds like a dangerous deal.

@David Krulac great stuff right there! Taking care of your tenants definitely pays dividends. If they know that you care, they will care more. You sound like a stand-up investor. An example I definitely plan to follow.

Hey Illinois BP'ers,

My day job is sending me to St Louis/Southern Illinois area for a few months and I'm looking to connect with some local investors while I am there. Not sure that I plan to look at investing in the area but am definitely interested in getting together with rehabbers and other experienced investors. Would love to link up with some folks who are investing in the areas I mentioned to learn what you are doing and help grow your business where I can. Also looking for a short term place to call home so if anyone has any leads I'd be happy to hear them!

-John

Hi Neil,

Matt Lenza and I are an investor friendly team in the Philly area, happy to help out. Shoot me a message if you're interested in chatting.

Hi @Jake Penny,

@Joseph Scorese mentioned some great events to attend, tons of great info and like minded people to learn from. @Matt Lenza and I are an investor friendly real estate team with Long and Foster based in Folsom. Delaware county is where we hold most of our own properties and we can certainly help you out in finding the right investment properties to suit your needs. Feel free to shoot either of us a message if you want to chat. Hope to see you at some of the REI meetups Joseph mentioned!

 I plugged in the numbers from your post into a mortgage calculator just to see what the monthly would be. Taxes and Insurance at 16k a year is $1333 a month added to your prinicipal and interest of $2800 is where I arrived at my approximate $4300.

Based on your other responses in your thread the deal sounds decent, yes. I would run it by someone with local knowledge just for a double check. Best of luck, hope it works out for you!

@Dustin Lavender, the elephant in the room is why is the ask price 170k below appraised value? What is the seller's motivation? How did you find the deal?

Your mortgage value is P&I only it seems on a 15 year loan? Adding T&I, your PITI payment would be closer to $4300. Still in the green compared to your listed market rents. Haven't yet factored in vacancies ( I'd expect at least 5-10%), especially if any folks are turned off by the new ownership and increase in rents. Are you self managing? If not add in 6-10% for property management.

Not saying that makes the deal bad, just seems like a few unanswered questions. I can't speak much to refi, I'll let someone more experienced in that department handle that one.

See you there @Matt Lenza?

Hi @Sarah Bires, welcome! I am relatively new to the world of real estate investing as well. I think the most important thing you can do is just start meeting and talking to people. Find folks with experience who are doing what you want to be doing, or have already done it and have a proven track record. A great way to do this is real estate investing meetups and networking events. I find in my region, meetup.com is a great source of this. BP also has a "Networking Events" section, check out that too for your target area. Talk to people, pick their brain (sometimes harder than it seems because people may want to guard their successful methods), offer to provide them value in return for their knowledge.

Good luck!

-John