All Forum Posts by: Joshua Janus

Currently owner occupying a duplex in Cincinnati, but contemplating a move to Cleveland for personal reasons. Would like to owner occupy a property again for 1-2 years. What markets are best/safe for young family that will also have strong future/current rental potential. Thanks in advance for any insight. 

I have two major issues with Bigger Pockets.  Before I get to the issues I want to point out Bigger Pockets is a great website for networking, free information, investing strategies and many other things.  Overall I think BP is a very well run company and one of my favorite platforms.

#1 - Cash Flow Investing - is for novice investors.  Sorry I know this one is going to be painful for many rookie investors just getting started who want to live on the beach with their mail order cash, but this is not they way investing works.  The real wealth is in equity.  Equity and debt paydown are king.  I have been investing for 15 years, own over 60 units, manage 700, and have data and analytics on everything.  The data is clear:  Stable, B class investing of quality assets, professionally managed makes investors rich through equity. 

High risk, C class or lower investments that chase cash flow makes people poor.  Even if everything goes great on your C class investment, the cash flow generated is normally not enough to make you rich.   Most people making good money on cash flow are self managing and are not really cash flowing, they are just saving on maintenance cost due to not having to pay a market rate.  

I have made FAR more money in equity over time, with great properties, than I ever have from cash flow on my entire portfolio.  Play the long game, buy good properties with low cash returns and stable tenancy.

#2 - BRRRR is a Good Strategy -  The BRRR is a great strategy, but not for you. The BRRR is one of the most complex investing strategies that exist. It takes market knowledge, construction knowledge, proper analysis, financial relationships, rent projections, property management knowledge, and a whole list of other things that are only gained through experience. You can try to outsource that experience to general contractors, property managers, agents, and others (I highly suggest you do), but all of those services will eat into the last "R" of repeat. You will not get to the repeat part, because you have to pay and pay well to get highly trained professionals on your side.

If you are a first time BRRR investor I suggest you outsource to trusted professionals and temper your expectations of infinite returns. If you get a property that has all new mechanicals, fully updated units, get it all done in a timely fashion, and still leave 25% in the deal you are WAY ahead of the game, due to the fact that you have front loaded risk and updated your mechanicals. That will save you big dollars in the future.

When I tell new investors that they should plan to leave 15-25% in the deal they look at me like I have a third eye and normally find another agent. However, the joke is on them, I am a BRRRR investor, have over 30 employees and do all of the work in house on my investments. We use my construction team and my property management team, and I DO NOT charge myself agency fee's. I still normally leave 15-25% in the deal. I am happy to do so because I have fully updated units and have beat the market by a few % points if I leave less than 25% in.

The path to wealth is not Cash... in this business cash is not King... Equity is.  

As a new investor focus on Equity growth over time and you will be rich.  Chase cash flow so that you can get infinite returns and you will be poor. 

Hi BP, I'm looking at a few off-Market deals in Cleveland OH, this will be a new market for me. Does anyone has a seasoned property manager they would recommend as I enter and hopefully grow on that area?   

All additional insight s are welcomed and much appreciated 

BK

Hi there! Im an out of state investor looking for some cash-flowing properties, mostly duplex-quads. Would love to connect with some agents in the area, specifically ones who work with OOS investors and send deal flows. Recommendations also appreciated! 

I have a triplex in Shaker Heights that has two units sharing the electric meter - i want to split it and am being told it is not possible in CLeveland.  I also want to split the water meters. The sewer bill is high and wondering if that can be split as well.  

Hi everyone!

I've been flipping houses and investing in multi-family properties for several years now, but I've hit a bit of a snag recently. My primary source of deals has been wholesalers, but the numbers just haven’t been aligning lately. I focus on the Columbus and Cincinnati markets. I’d love to hear how other successful flippers are finding great deals in today’s market. Any tips or strategies that are working well for you right now? Thanks in advance!

 This happened about 6 months ago. My team has been in a court case on this issue and I don't want to speak too much before the case is complete, but it's looking good for us. 

So my property is at the edge of a city limits  3 house to the right starts a new city and my appraiser said i can only use comps in my city limits i can’t go out of my city limits 

has anyone else experience this or have information on if that is correct 

Hello! I am excited to be part of this group. I have been looking at REI for sometime and decided to finally start researching. What I am trying to determine is the best course of action to begin with. I am located in Venice, Florida and I'm in an area where vacation rentals are a popular choice. Any recommendations on if I should look at property for vacation rental or if it makes more sense to look at a property for long-term rental? The real estate market in my area is now stagnant with a surplus of inventory. I have also been listening to podcasts that discuss seller financing. So that leads to my next question... Should I locate a mortgage broker or start with a realtor? Ideally I would like to keep my personal finances separate from my REI.