All Forum Posts by: Anthony Gayden

That's because some were grossly overpriced.

Just as an example, there are 4 plex buildings immediately across the street from mine for sale for $350,000. The highest most recent comp actually sold for $286,000 in July.

 Do you have an official lease? How do you accept rent payment? Is there a security deposit? 

An unofficial arrangement where your child gives you a few hundred dollars when they feel like it (and faces no consequences for not paying) does not make you an investor.

 That's a good plan and I see you easily hitting that target.

I personally believe social media has created this sort of dream world in terms of real estate investing. Images of people driving expensive cars and living in mansions while making huge sums of money passively. While this is very much a possibility, it takes a lot of work to get to that level and it is neither glamorous nor sexy. A lot of it requires plain old hard work and patience.

My former neighborhood Dundee in Omaha has no income limit. The reason is “Low-income tract”.

That seems odd considering it is one of the most popular and expensive inner city areas.

Anyway my wife would never let me move us into a small multi family.

 Why do they need a truck? 

Without knowing anything about their plans or business model you can’t answer this question.

I own 5 properties and recently completed a remodel but have never had a truck.

 Keep in mind the target audience for Grant Cardone. Accredited investors with at least $100,000 to invest. I agree with his advice if you fall into that category. I also agree with him in that owning one door is a bad idea. 

Grant does not know or understand single family investing. He also doesn’t know or understand flipping, wholesaling, note investing, or even other commercial real estate investing. Keeping that in mind and the fact he is trying to sell his own product, he gives misleading advice to sway people away from the other investments.

I like single family. I think the barriers to entry are lower and it allows people who don’t own their own profitable businesses or have high paying jobs the opportunity to invest in real estate. I think owning a single door is a bad idea though and the only way investing in single family can work well is if you own enough units.

@Steven Coppola

I don't believe that renting will die. I think that government regulations such as rent control will cause a lot of people to no longer want  to deal with renting their properties and there will be a further decline in available units. The big players of course will survive, but the smaller players will not be able to handle the additional burdens. 

 Well obviously the financing options will be different depending on if you choose a 4 unit or a 5 unit property. Keeping that in mind, I would choose the 4 unit because the benefits of that one extra unit do not outweigh the benefits of the better financing options. 

In terms of what to look for in the property, look for the usual things, deferred maintenance, condition of the units, etc. Also look for the electric/gas/water meters. Look at the condition of the units. Look for large capex issues that could be a deal breaker (or negotiating point). 

Look for opportunities for additional cash flow. If the property does not have individual laundry in each unit, you may have the potential for coin op laundry. If you have an area for storage, you have the potential to charge additional for that. If the units are not metered separately, you may be able to sub-meter. If you choose the 5 unit keep in mind that it may be easier to force appreciation by making improvements that lead to increased cash flow.

Good luck.

@Jason Howell

In terms of goal setting, there is only one book that I can recommend that really puts into words the way I feel.

The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone.  

I would do a 5% down conventional mortgage. That will be about 10k. I would probably buy a fixer upper where I can put 20k into it and gain a lot of equity.

I would use the rest of the money you have saved ( 50k ) to invest in real estate. I like small multi family 2-4 units.