All Forum Posts by: Jonathan R.

Signed second year team in June for another year. Tenant called explaining they have bedbugs and roaches. I agreed when they renewed the lease I would be willing to spray for roaches if they would clean their house top to bottom. Lease says bugs are a tenant’s responsibility (though we do often assist). 

Anyway, I get no phone call till today, it is the tenant notifying me they are moving out.

Honestly, we’re fine if they vacate, seeing they are unwilling to clean their house, but can they just up and leave during a lease on a voucher? Thanks!

@Account Closed I too got my real estate license in the early going toward a passion of real estate investing. I would suggest getting a W2 too, it sounds like you have a few pieces of paper that say you’re smart. That’s good, it’s a nice safety net you can always fall back on. 

I put an MBA on the wall a couple years ago, and it has honestly helped me; it helped give me the confidence I needed to start a business/businesses. 

Are you thinking multifamily because you think it is faster to scale, become financial free yada yada? I personally prefer single family homes here in Wichita. I have a duplex, it’s a bit harder to rent than the houses. If I were to buy multifamily in Kansas, I’d probably buy in a more transient or liberal area, like Lawrence, KS. Just me.

No one wants to hear this but buy and hold is crawling to financial freedom. It takes longer than you like. Most people buy one and get content, or maybe two. Keep grinding. You‘re in one of the most affordable real estate markets in the country, don‘t put this up on a big pedestal, it doesn‘t belong there. Don’t overleverage. Good luck. 

@Payton Pearson Other than just wanting to scale faster for momentary purposes (I suspect), why the rush? This market feels a little dicey to me. I’m still buying, but in a regular manner, I will certainly get a more pressing desire to scale when I feel like I am buying things at a discount.

Here is a cool tip for finding a partner. I found one this way. I put a property under contract with a tired ll (of this property at least), we chatted a bit about my plans for the property, I shared my real estate strategy, and she said, “hey crazy question, do you want to partner?” Basically, my tip is to talk with property owners. She lives in a different state and had an add on Craigslist. Property owners are already in the game. That partner and I have now bought multiple properties together... Perhaps call on a property you have 50% of the money on (or whatever percentage you’ll need), that you want to buy, and start chatting up the owners about what you’re trying to do.

BA in Speech Communication, MBA after- because tuition was reimbursed by employer. 

I learned how to be a good person in undergrad and learned how to speak publicly. I gained the confidence to launch a real estate business during my MBA program. Yeah, it helped.

@Justin Reyes 401k companies have brainwashed too many people into being afraid to control their own money. Blow the 401k up, keep contributing, but for me, the 401k is a tool to fund my real estate career. I don‘t like the quit the job and get rehired idea, just re-enroll in 6 hours of school and do a hardship withdrawal, maybe your company has tuition reimbursement and you do well there.

Who cares about penalties for selling the 401k, what can you write off that you couldn‘t before now that you have a real estate company? Control your money, control your destiny. Get it out of the hands of the greedy wallstreet banker.

 I would see how much they can pay toward the security and tell them you’ll work them. Try to split it into two payments (half to move in). I’ve handed keys though on an iou, it worked out; it’s the government you want as the tenant, get to that point and money is going in your bank account monthly.

Question 2-The reason they don’t have bank accounts is they left a balance with a bank and can’t pay it. About all of mine are that way.

I would convert all of those tenants to Section 8 tenants that aren’t already, that way the rent is paid on time. If it is their smaller portion that is late, I’d say that is fairly normal. About 50% of my Section 8 tenants pay their portion on time, for others it can be hair pulling, but not eviction worthy. One of my tenants only pays $35 a month, am I really going to evict for that? No, you just follow up every couple months and inform you won’t renew if they don’t get their portion caught up. It’s no big deal. 

I like investing in D areas because you get the discount on the buy. The best part of buying in a bad area is that it’s already in a bad area! Good areas can become bad and bad areas can get better.

Is C and D class for everyone? No, but it’s been great for me. I wanted financial freedom about as bad as everyone else. So, I bought what I could afford to get started. If I hadn’t, I’d still be a lump on a log. I’m one of those fearless warriors that likes to do good, prove others wrong, dance in the rain, push themselves financially and mentally, leader type of people. A go getter and a risk taker.

I have to comment on a post above. I like C and D right now over A and B because the market is over priced. My properties don’t cashflow $200 a month as mentioned, they do $500 a month min. They are cheap, so I pay cash and they rent in the $700-$800 range, $600 if a one bedroom, so they cashflow around $500 a door. If you buy A or B, you’ll barely cashflow and I don’t see the appreciation right now. Just throwing that out there. The key is to do a thorough rehab so you get years of cashflow. If the house pays for itself in four years because of the $500 a month in cashflow, buy materials that last 15 years and you’re bound to turn out a winner. Buy more houses, increase your odds.

You’re going to fail many Section 8 inspections, get over it. Expect it, just get it fixed. Good luck. I like the get handy advice given above. I use a handyman. Cashflow is king when you are starting out. Never sell. 

The reason I like buying in cash and/or having no leverage is it is harder for me to spend my money as it is tied up. :) It is hard to justify selling an asset producing 20% (even a bit north of 20%). Leverage can be considered lazy at times, perhaps you can work a little harder, sell something, strategize and buy in cash, leverage might mean you don’t grind as hard. Perhaps it’s not time to scale up, buy a cash property or two and grow in a healthy way. Then do it again. 

By the way, Undercover Billionaire on Discovery Channel is too perfect right now. One of the best shows in tv. Cheers.

I did a quick Google search and didn’t see meetups jump out at me. I saw a string from a Salina guy on BP that looked like he is doing some stuff, the string was from a year ago. He might have some insight and be easily relatable. Scott Jensen is his name. You should be able to find his BP profile as it pulls on google when you type in Salina, KS real estate...

@Taylor Frank Salina? Do people wear shoes up there? I’m surprised there are computers and electronics for you folks to communicate. 

Sorry, had to take a jab or two. Only because some family of mine has been in the area for some time, they do have a couple rentals. I don’t know much about Salina, nice area, good schools, great community, rural and city all in one it appears at a distance, the best of both worlds. Any idea what the demographics are looking like up there? Growing? Steady? Slight decline? Are there any larger businesses coming in or expanding? I’d want to know all of that before investing. McPherson and Hutch are a hop skip and a jump, sometimes you got to drive to survive. Of all three of those, I have seen some Salina chatter over the past couple years, I’m sure there are plenty of investors out there. I’d certainly Google search local meetups in all three towns and catch a couple if you can, those folks would know the lay of the land for sure. Best of luck.