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All Forum Posts by: Justin R.

Justin R. has started 74 posts and replied 615 times.

Post: 1M in funds but no experience

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570

@Sean P. Get a “Second home” loan and later decide you want to list it as a short term rental. Perhaps you want a “vacation home” and will also rent that out while you are not using it?

Regarding commercial lending they are usually less interested in you, and more so on the property itself, unlike residential owner occupied “conventional home loans.”

They will look mostly at DSCR, and LTV.

Post: URGENT HELP - Buying house with existing Section 8

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570

@Olivier Colson You will first want to find out if the locality has any “Just cause” regulations that prevent you from non renewal, or any other provisions that may keep a section 8 tenant in place. Perhaps you can call the local housing authority for some direction as they too would want you to do things appropriately.

Can you ask the sellers to get them out before closing?

Any chance you would want to live there? If so that usually supersedes just cause ordinances. Don’t falsify this though is you don’t have the intent.

Lastly, if they are good tenants, but section 8, and near market value, let them stay. Some areas section 8 actually pays higher than market rents.

Just some other ideas. Best to you!

Post: UNpredictable Cash Flow

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570

@Terra Padgett as someone that has retired early off of my rental property cash flow, I will say it is predictable at scale, over time.

One property does not provide predictability either on short term, or over the course of one year. For example a roof replacement would dramatically lower your returns for the entire year.

At scale you can predict every month there will be a few setbacks every month, therefore it is planned. This is why it is important to have an operational account that always has a minimum balance. The investor just takes the additional reserves as an owner distribution.

My personal distributions are less than 20 percent of the monthly gross revenue. The rest is debt service, fixed/variable expenses, and reserves. Even at that I do face economic challenges and pitfalls, I am not protected against future rate changes.

It can be done, but it’s definitely not as “easy” or as simply lucrative as many guru’s teach.

Post: 16 unit apartment on 3 acres, with 36 unit conceptual plans included

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570

A partner is looking to sell this deal and I currently have my hands full. Price was just dropped 200k. They got their hand full in other local projects. There is an option to renovate the current 16 unit (currently vacant) or use the plans to develop the 36 units which it is zoned up to. They are also possibly willing to partner with the right investor. This area is super strong (Georgia Southern University just a mile away, and the Hyundai Super plant set to open later this year.) Reach out to me, or the agent on MLS if interested.

Post: Selling rental properties and moving into Fixed income for early retirement

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570

Such a great thread! Also congratulations on being in your position. 

Last year I sold 10 properties valued at just a little more than you from my portfolio. They were the "problem child" performers for me and all in one geographical area. I farmed the my portfolio in that region to a bunch of agents; and when I got an offer I was happy with I sent it to my CPA so he could run numbers and let me know what total effective taxes I would be paying after Cap Gains and depreciation recapture.  For me personally it was a way bigger pill than I was willing to swallow.

I came out with a plan BEFORE I started my 1031 timelines, so I wouldn't be under stress and make a bad decision. Here was my plan.

1. 1031 into one single apartment complex that would have a return that met my demand (6.5% or higher in a class B area.)

IF I couldn't find that within 40 days I would

2. Invest with a Quality syndicator in a TIC (Tenant in Common)

IF they were not closing on a deal for me to go on title within this time I would....

3. Invest by day 45 with a DST that specializes in secure cash flow investments (NNN type stuff.)

Just an idea. I ended up with my second option (Investing in a syndication) because I couldn't find a property myself that I felt optimistic about during the cap rate crunch. I didn't feel rushed though, because I had a backup plan, and even a secondary contingency plan.

I also think the loan harvesting is a great idea, especially if you mix that with a great property manager. That 8% is so worth it, you have done your job, let someone else take that part over now.

Cheers!

Post: Anyone has invested with Open door capital? How was your experience?

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570

As an investor with ODC, and someone who has spoke with Brandon directly a handful of times about ODC, I can tell you that he does participate in the decision making process' at the company. He has placed people in key positions that are really good at what they specialize in, but Brandon has remained the leader of the company. 

I also feel they have grown too quick for my liking, but I am confident Brandon and the team are great sponsors, are ethical, and are looking out for their LPs. 

Post: Seller Financing / loan servicing

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570
Quote from @John Dean:

Hey all!

I plan to sell my SFH rental. But my plan is to pay off what's left to own it free and clear and do seller financing.

my plan is to offer 15 or 30 years at a normal rate that someone could get from the bank at time of closing. (Most likely considering adding a 7 year ballon.)

Do you suggest letting a loan servicing company handle payment collection/escrow/insurance or are you all handling those pieces?


 Ive done seller financing a few times as a lender, and the borrower. I have never used a loan service company. Use the title company or closing attorney to draw up the contract, amortization schedule, and file the lien. They are professionals and know how to incorporate this as part of the closing process.

This is from my experience only and in the states I operate. 

Post: Door count is a terrible metric. Please stop using it.

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570
Quote from @Dave Meyer:

Door count is the worst (commonly discussed) metric in the real estate investing community. Why does everyone use it? Can we all decide to collectively kill it? Or are there some of you out there that stand by door count being a useful barometer of success? Honestly, I'd love to hear the argument for why this metric is useful, cause I can't think of one -- so please reply back here. 

Here's my argument. Door count is what many in the analytics world would call a 'vanity metric.' It's something that looks important and fancy,  but doesn't actually tell you anything about business performance. Sound familiar?  It's because door count is a useless metric, it exists to pump up the ego of the investor, and nothing more. Here's why: 

1. Door count tells you exactly nothing about the quality of a portfolio. As an example, let's say Jane T. Investor has 12 doors, and she leads with that when networking. Well 12 doors sounds solid, but how are they performing? Are they cash flowing? Do they require enormous amounts of time and maintenance? Are the returns as good as what other investors in your market/asset class are generating? I know people with huge door counts who lose money every month. What good is a 'door' if it doesn't generate returns? Tell me how efficiently your deals generate returns, and then I'll be impressed. 

2. Prioritizing door count makes you focus on the wrong thing. If I wanted to get 100 doors in the next few years, I bet I could -- but you can bet many of those deals would be thin. Shouldn't we be prioritizing quality over quantity?  If I could choose between earning $5,000/month from 10 doors, or from 5 doors, I would pick 5 doors all day long! Good metrics push you towards good decision making, and door count does the opposite. For a lot of people getting lots of doors would be detrimental to their strategy! 

3. Don't even get me started on passive investor door counts. They're absurd. I invest in multifamily syndications as well as residential properties. On the passive side of my portfolio, I am in syndications that collectively own over 2,000 units. Does that mean I own 2,000 units? Of course not, claiming so would be ridiculous (don't tell people on Instagram, though). If I own 1% of those syndications, does thatmean I own 20 units? I have no idea, nor do I care. Why on earth do I care what % of the doors I own? I care about actual measurements of returns like CoCR, AAROI, and IRR to determine if my portfolio is doing well.

There's my argument -- but I want to be proven wrong. Someone explain to me why this metric is useful. 


 Congratulations on 2,000 doors!

All joking aside I think door count is a fine metric. I view this metric inverse to most investors. To me its simply the numerator of an equation. If two people have the same NOI after debt service, but one has fewer doors, that model is most likely more efficient.

A few years ago I had several more "doors" than I do today, but my ROI has increased due to re-focus and efficiencies.

Post: Anyone has invested with Open door capital? How was your experience?

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570
Quote from @Terry Hall:

I am in Fund 8. First year projection was 2-4%. I invested $50k; I received a whopping $125.very disappointed; I could have easily bought another rental or invested in a mutual fund and done so much better.


 I understand your frustration. You do have to remember a few things here. The first 6 months are acquisitions, removing non paying tenants, and taking over operations/management which is just the beginning of the stabilization process. I too was spoiled by the 8% pref def along with huge exits during the run up economy and ever compressing cap rates. I am optimistic on this team that the exit will still be strong. I do feel they need to be better at communicating assurance in fiscal solvency to their LPs, but at any given moment they could theoretically pause infilling, and pay the pref distributions. The reason they are not, is because this is a value add fund, not a bond.

I am hopeful (as I also have vested interest as an LP) that your 
"Very disappointed" turns into "very happy with results" by the fund exit.

Cheers!

Post: Real Estate group for high level investors to benchmark data.

Justin R.
Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Anselmo
  • Posts 631
  • Votes 570

I’m thinking it may be a great idea to start a group of several higher level investors (50 units and up) to create benchmarks, KPI’s, and outside opinions of portfolio. Basically an informal audit of ones portfolio.

This could be as simple as creating a few benchmarks (specific ratio of expenses, total PM fee ratios, vacancy rates and duration,etc)

As much as one could assume they have a well oiled portfolio, an outside investor could find areas of improvement.

Let me know if anyone would be interested, or if such a group already exist.

Cheers!