All Forum Posts by: Jon K.

Is $1850 fair market rent for that property? If so, it sounds like it actually has negative cash flow. If you are "breaking even" after mortgage, taxes, interest and HOA fees then after accounting for cap-ex, maintenance and vacancies you're likely losing money in the long run. Check those numbers carefully. If that's the case and if $1850/month is all you can get in rent then it's not a good investment and you're better off selling and investing elsewhere.

As for what to do after that or in general.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Plenty of markets out there cheaper than Boston. Maybe this book can help: https://store.biggerpockets.co...

If I'm interpreting your post correctly you're asking for advice as how to proceed and/or optimize your investments with a focus on cash flow.

For property #1, what is your actual cash flow? Your rent is $1850/month. How much are you holding for cap-ex, maintenance and vacancies? What is your mortgage, taxes and interest? Saying you made 5k last year doesn't tell us much because we don't know what expenses you had. Did you have to replace your water heater or roof for example. Also, is $1850 fair market rent? Can you get more? If you sell this place are you capable of replacing it with something that cash flows better with the proceeds?

Property #2, you have about 110k worth of equity. Can you tap into some of that through a sale, a cash-out refinance or a HELOC? Absolutely. Do you need to? Beats me.... you have 60k cash in the bank. I don't know your market but that's a decent chunk to work with and it doesn't seem like capital is a problem at the moment.

You laid out 6 different options but we don't know anything about your goals other than cash flow. I'm not convinced you have an analysis paralysis problem. I think you have a clearly defined goals problem.

One single 1 hour open house. The last two vacancies that's all it took to find a qualified tenant.

Most wholesalers in my market blast deals out to Facebook groups and don't cold call/message to build their buyer's list. That being said, I'm looking for someone who brings good deals, is easy to work with and communicates well. That's it.

The only pro is that you may get a good deal.

The cons are you are competing with huge institutional buyers, you can't see the inside of the property before you buy it, it can take a very long time for the whole thing to ratify if you are the winning bidder and that entire time (depending on the terms of the auction) you are potentially paying interest on the total bid amount as well as responsible for property taxes. Also if the former owners are still living there then you have to evict them once you own the place.

It sounds like you're talking about bird dogging: Identifying and perhaps even cultivating profitable deals but not getting them under contract. But then selling those leads to investors who will get them under contract.

I think the solution is to keep networking or start wholesaling yourself. I don't know what market you're in but where I'm at there are hundreds of investors who would gladly pay a fee to anyone that brought them a profitable deal. And to find those investors my advice would be to do what it sounds like you're already doing: Join and communicate in local Facebook investor groups and also go to in person meetups.

Congratulations on creating the opportunities! The real answer here is spend a few hundred bucks on a real estate attorney's time. If you're in a state that requires the use of title companies most of them are owned by or have one on staff.

I'd talk to a tax professional on this one as you're asking for financial advice as it pertains to taxes.

Local facebook investor groups and local meetups. There are plenty of both around here.

In my case they are treated as private lenders and I generally pay friends and family on par with less expensive hard money: 2% origination fee and 10% interest secured by a deed of trust in the property.