All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Blocker

Jonathan Blocker has started 1 posts and replied 10 times.

Hi Traci,

I used to be a property manager in Florida, so I’m writing most of this from memory.

I think if you act now, you are still good.

I agree with @Theresa Harris, you need to have something in writing. Except, I would go ahead and let them know that you will not be renewing their lease in writing.

Going forward, 60 days prior to the expiration send them a letter letting them know that they have until 45 days prior to the lease expiration to respond in writing, including by email or online portal, that they intend to renew the lease. Some landlords will also include the new rental amount in this letter as well.

If you don’t receive a response in writing 35 days prior to the expiration of the lease, send the notice that you will not be renewing.

Going forward and in this particular instance, if your tenant says they want to release the property less than 30 days prior to the expiration of the lease, you’ve fulfilled your requirements as a landlord and you can do whatever you want. You can say no, you can say yes, or you can tell them that they have to reapply and pay another application fee if they want to stay.

If they do move out:

Currently, Florida laws says you have to give the tenant notice if you are going to take any of their security deposit for damages. “Damages” is a legal term and is not limited to physical damage to the property. You have 30 days after the lease expires to send them this notice. Include in the notice all of the damages line item by line item. If you are only keeping part of the security deposit, include the check with the remainder of the security deposit balance with this notice.

If you are not going to take any of the security deposit, the check for the entire balance of the security deposit must be sent and post marked no later than 15 days after the expiration of the lease.

Here is a great resource for Florida landlords. This is an attorney’s website that I used to use that explains the applicable law:

http://www.evict.com/?page=leg...

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

You may have difficulty finding a contractor for rehab. Many are still raking in that sweet Hurricane Michael rehab money from the Panhandle, and simply aren't interested in moving their crews east for less pay /greater oversight in crime-riddled Tallahassee.

At didn't think about that.

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Hey Chris. I don't have an answer for you, but was wondering the same thing. Yesterday I read, not on an official FHA website, that you can do an FHA 85% cash-out refinance after you have a mortgage for six months. I wonder if you only need to own the property for six months instead?

I also wonder that if you never had a mortgage in the first place, could you just get a regular FHA loan (you know, only 3.5% down)? Or if there was a creative, and legal, why to accomplish this? I doubt it.

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Originally posted by @Wayde C Hall:

Having grown up there and went to FSU less than a year ago I would advise staying away from FSU, partying and drugs is very common in the area, crime can also be very common in particular areas which appear like they would be great investments, please be careful for this. I would avoid most anything on tharp street and south of cascades park, and definitely drive around neighboring roads to see what area you are actually in.

This may sound bad, I will say Tallahassee is an excellent market but some areas can deceive you. East of the city, Thomasville rd to Tennessee st would be my targeted area if you're looking for up and coming. Renting a multiplex around the hospital would be phenomenal! Though finding a house like that could be difficult since it's more single family homes.

PM me if you have questions.

I was hoping to stay away from the University. Having been a college student myself, I don't trust them. I'd rather not deal with the maintenance and turnover headaches.

Owning a property next to a hospital is intriguing. One of them is a teaching hospital. I actually wouldn't mind renting to med students.

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Yuriy Tymoshenko:

Keep your eye out for a good deal. But I will also tell you that multi-family inventory in Tally is fairly limited. Some of the strange things that you see in Tally: it is often cheaper to buy 4 SFH than one quad

Great to hear from a Tallahassee guy.

Strange, but I grew up in Tallahassee and know there's a lot of weird things about the place.

Why do you think the inventory is so limited?

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Originally posted by @Cara Lonsdale:

You have outlined a very smart strategy, which is VERY important for any investor to do when they start. Come up with a plan, then work it through to any possible outcome, and work each outcome. Smart.

Here are some things that jumped out at me when reading your post.....

First, hard money lenders will not lend on any property you will occupy. They require the opposite. You will need to certify that you will NOT occupy the property. So, IF you intended to occupy the home, you would need to refinance through traditional means first, then move in.

Second, make sure you account for the holding costs in your rehab budget. Many investors forget to do this. With such high interest rates offered by hard money lenders, the monthly, interest only loan payment will add up, depending on how many months you hold the property. So make sure to include this in your budgeting, AND your comparisons between an on-market property you can buy with traditional lending VS an off-market property you can buy with hard money lending. You may find that they are closer than you think. MAYBE....so it's good to compare.

Lastly, make sure that your end game is a realistic outcome. Every investor goes in with the BRRRR mentality, but work through the numbers to determine IF your loan will be able to be refinanced and all money invested can be recaptured. Many times, the down payment AND rehab expenses take the total investment higher than the traditional 80% LTV mark that lenders will need for a refinance. IF you can find a deal that has an acquisition +rehab+Holding costs that equate to less than 80% of the ARV, then you TRULY have a good deal on your hands. And those will be rare finds.

I hope that helps further your discussion, and the process for starting your investment journey. Best of luck to you!

Thanks for the tips!

To recap: I need to make sure that I have a sound exit strategy that a hard money lender will sign off on. If I want to actually house hack, I will need to refinance before moving in. Maybe I should present the hard money lender a plan A and Plan B? Plan A: cash out refinance. Plan B: Sell the property. Either way the numbers really need to make sense; all in at less than 80% of ARV.

Also, I might be too optimistic about the savings I will get on off-market deals. When I factor in holding cost, the savings may not be that great. I will run analyses on off and on-market deals simultaneously to see the true cost savings, if any.

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Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

wow that's a lot of questions.. I would grab some books on the subject it sounds like you want real in-depth answers

these questions have been asked and answered for decades..

the other thing I like to mention virtually every how to flip or other type of guru gives you Cds written material when you go to the 50k camps.. if you look on E bay you can find those packages for 20 to 50 bucks.. buy as many different guru's information and go through it.. it will cover all your questions.

Thanks for the advice!

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Hi BP,

This post is sort of a long one. Any response to any of the questions is much appreciated. Feel free to ask for any clarification. This is my first discussion post as an investor and plan on using the advice you give me here as a springboard for future discussions.

My wife and I are first-time investors looking to house hack a multifamily (2-4 units) property in Tallahassee, FL. We currently live in St. Petersburg, FL, but want to move to Tallahassee to be closer to family. Our initial strategy was to purchase a property and use an FHA 203K loan to fund most of the purchase and rehab cost. Our broker is sending us MLS deals, but we've realized that most of these deals aren't really deals at all.

Now, we are looking for off market properties. We have $60k set aside for a purchase/rehab and just started looking for hard money to fund the rest. So, a 203k loan is off the table for now.

Here's our new basic strategy:

Purchase an off market property at a discount (duh) using our cash and hard money
Rehab (Using a contractor) with our cash and hard money to force appreciation
Cash out refinance, pay back hard money and initial cash investment
Live in one unit and rent out the rest
Repeat.

Specific Questions:

If you have invested in Tallahassee yourself, what are the challenges? What are the opportunities?
Since we’ll be living in one of the units, are there refinancing opportunities that are available to us that aren’t available to NOO investors? Flip it, are there challenges specific to refinancing owner occupied investment property?
Do you see flaws in our strategy?

General Questions:

In your opinion, what are some issues investors should look out for on their first deal?
Any advice for first-time investors wanting to use hard money?
What questions should we be asking, but haven't?

As first-time investors, any advice or constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks in advance BP,

-Jonathan Blocker

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Hello Yehonatan,

My first choice is Colonial Mortgage. They are located outside of Tampa (Palmetto), but do a lot of underwriting on this side of the Skyway bridge.

There website is www.colonialmortgageusa.com.

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Hello Nina,

My first choice is Colonial Mortgage. They are located in Palmetto, but do a lot of underwriting on this side of the Skyway bridge.

There website is www.colonialmortgageusa.com.

Best case, they will have exactly what you need. Worst case, they will be able to point you to a lender that does.

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All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Blocker

Jonathan Blocker has started 1 posts and replied 10 times.

Post: Florida Tenant not giving required notice - what next?

Post: First-time Investors. Strategy, Hard Money, Pitfalls, Advice?

Post: BRRRR & FHA Question

Post: First-time Investors. Strategy, Hard Money, Pitfalls, Advice?

Post: First-time Investors. Strategy, Hard Money, Pitfalls, Advice?

Post: First-time Investors. Strategy, Hard Money, Pitfalls, Advice?

Post: First-time Investors. Strategy, Hard Money, Pitfalls, Advice?

Post: First-time Investors. Strategy, Hard Money, Pitfalls, Advice?

Post: Mortgage broker in Tampa FL

Post: Need a multi family lender recommendation please