All Forum Posts by: Kent Clawson

@Adam Harper, so does that 2% work in your favor, or against it? It seems pretty steep unless you are really connected to some history in the area. 

Full disclosure, I have not got into MF yet, so I could be talking completely out my butt, but unless there is reason to believe that the area will draw some significant appreciation, $300/ month seems like a really tight margin unless you are contributing, but that is just me thinking that I would want to see at least $150-$200/ unit. 

$300 per unit, or for the total complex? Per unit, then probably, for the complex, then no (but those are just my criteria ;-) Ultimately, in the words that drive so many people crazy, "It depends"

First I would make sure that your number are pretty tight and include the extra set asides that they discuss using the REI Calculators. Make sure the your ROE meets your plans and such. 

Assuming the $300/ unit, the main things that would cause me any hesitation, would be how much you are going to have to leverage, the expected vacancy rates, and are you going to end up underwater (literally if you are in hurricane and flood spaces, or figuratively if it is likely to be impacted by a downturn in the economy). 

Good luck

@Jason Harrison, While I COMPLETELY sympathize and get your position, a couple of things to keep in mind, in particular if you have signed a buyers agreement with her, then there is probably a clause in there about being able to get the commission from any properties that she showed you or introduced you to for 90 days after you terminate the relationship. While we were trying to sell a house from half way around the world, I had one that I told her what the house would have to minimum at because we didn't have much equity in it and rent wasn't cover the costs, but I would prefer to take a light bath each month than take any money to close. "Oh I am sure we can get at least that much plus some for you to walk away with" So we pulled it off the renal market tried selling it for a couple of months, received offers at 70-80% of the minimum. I told her to pound sand, started renting again and sold 2 years later with the guy I should have gone with, but 2nd guessed myself because the Property Management firm (who were STELLAR) spoke so highly of her. 

My advice, ride her like a rented mule until she does what you want/ need (and while it is always frustrating because of how much freaking commission she will get at close, you can feel good about it because you are giving her a chance to improve ;- ) and then don't use her again. 

@Account Closed, Yeah I noticed that there was definitely some things that you would need to keep an eye out for, but there also appear to be some good opportunities on there if you are willing to put a little into it. That said, thanks again for the resource and even more so for the additional information about how to best use it. Hats off!!

@Jason D. Worse yet, the one for sale at $355K sold 6 months ago for $183K. So they either struck oil on the property, or someone has been eating some of the Colorado Brownies, either way, it is definitely NOT a comp. 

Also in for agreement with the need for photos. I had a house that the Realtor kept taking MISERABLE photos TWICE, sadly I was living halfway around the world trying to coordinate and give input. Finally after a couple of weeks of going back and forth about the poor quality of the photos she got a professional. Sadly it just kept being a bad experience, from failure to get meaningful feedback from people who visited the property to pricing to advocating on my behalf, to when I told her I was done with her. It was all bad, but you have to have bad ones to make you appreciate the good ones :-) 

So all this to say, its not just photos, its good quality photos. Good luck with your reassessment and finding a willing buyer. 

 @Fouad I LOVE that site. Thanks for the lead!!!!

Hey Ezra, 

What brought you to China? I currently work at Texas A&M's campus over here in Doha, Qatar, but am planning to finally make my way permanently back to Idaho at the end of 2020- early 2021 (at least that is the plan ;- ) I am just starting in the BP forums and tools as well, but so far it definitely seems like the biggest problem is the breads of information and not the lack of it. 

Ultimately your strategies are going to depend on your goals and risk tolerance. I think in your scenario, the lack of credit might be an issue, but it is amazing how many problems can be dealt with if you can keep away from FHA loans (MY opinion, I hate the prepaid interest, the extra scrutiny, and the whole process in general), that said, some times it is what you have to work with, so you go for it. If I was back at your age with one child, I would go for the house hack on a duplex or quad. If I could afford it I would also hire out the property management of the other 3 to GOOD PM, so that I didn't have the tenants feeling they could just come down and air their grievances for dinner, plus a great PM is worth their weight in gold. When I was in Colorado Springs, I had 2 small 1 bedroom houses on a property, and because the rent prices were lower they charged me a fixed rate that was about 20%, but I tell you what, I loved those guys. They picked up where the previous PM left off (that PM was the opposite and was definitely why I qualify a GOOD PM instead of some random guy who thinks he has REI skills), and just started kicking butt and taking names. Best money I have ever spent! (For anyone in the Colorado Springs region look up Deana Denham!!!)

I am not a lawyer, but it seems it would only be a service dog if the tenant actually has a disability that requires it and no offense a dog that runs off is not a service animal. 

This web page "Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals Where are they allowed and under what conditions?" seems like it has some strategies for you to employ and at minimum, states "If a service animal behaves in an unacceptable way and the person with a disability does not control the animal, a business or other entity does not have to allow the animal onto its premises. Uncontrolled barking, jumping on other people, or running away from the handler are examples of unacceptable behavior for a service animal."

That is just my opinion, but I am sure you will actually get some feedback that is based on more than gut check and web page. 

Good luck. 

Hey @Emily Hill,

I will start this with all the disclaimers that I am neither a therapist, nor a RE pro. So I offer only my observations and opinions, but I wanted to contribute a little bit to the thought process tempered with 21 years of my wife having to deal with me ;- )

For starters, you asking the question would seem that you really just need some validation for what you think you should do, and there is plenty of support for that position above, so I won't go very deep into, but the statement that actually stood out to me was the "He’s the type of person that hates his job and does nothing about it. I believe that if your not happy in life, do something about it, don’t blame the world or other people." In all honesty, this is the tough part to overcome. 

Don't get to hung up on the fact that he doesn't groove on RE the same as you do. My wife and I have been through some similar things (not RE related), and a lot of times it just comes down to how do you add to a subject you have limited to no interest in and even less to contribute. My wife is so freaking smart and well read on things that it is often tough for me to do any thing but say "that sounds interesting" or "huh". On the other side, I don't chat about a bunch of the minutia of looking for a deal or a way to put that we could put it together. It also doesn't help that her risk tolerance level is VERY low and mine, well I am the Yang to her risk adverse Yin. We have had to work through it over the years (and still do), but it works. 

I think the ideas about about seeing what your future looks like are not unreasonable and will really help you both understand if you guys see it the same way. You can work through a lot of these details and can find the support for your RE passion in plenty of places (especially when you start killing it ;- ), but the biggest thing will actually be his level of apathy. I would flee a victim mentality, because that will drag you DOWN. Plus it sounds like you have your ducks in a row and unlike some many other splits, besides an up tick in costs that you currently split, yours should work out quite favorably.

Finally, I would do the book exercise that @Daniel Donadio Jr and look at the relationship through the framework that @Ola Dantis laid out. While I stated above there is obviously a part of you that wants to just cut your losses, there is also a part of you that has said for the last 2,500 days, this guy has some tangible value. So many times in relationships we start out overlooking the glaring flaws because of their strengths, but as time goes on we switch the view and the flaws become all consuming and we start to over looking the strengths that brought you together. Catalog what those are strengths were and see if the are still relevant. So if the greatest strength that you had for him was that he had a mad Halo talent, then yeah call it a day. On the other hand, if you saw him treat his mother in a way that you wanted to be treated, then root out the problem, develop a strategy, and move forward together. I recently listened to Jenna Kutcher on Ed Mylett's podcast and it was great listening to how this go-getter woman, balances her relationship with her husband )and a WHOLE lot more about being a female entrepreneur). In their case they allot 5 minutes to talk about work, and then they jealously focus on THEM. Great episode that I can't recommend highly enough. 

So all this to say, I am so sorry that you are having to go through this. It will likely be one of defining moments of your life and I wish you peace and comfort as you go through it. In the end, you can work around a lot of things, but a victim of life is not recommended because they will drag you down to your level more often than you raise them up to yours (stupid gravity ;- )

Best wishes.
 

Job well done! For curiosity sake, I am getting my ducks in a row to start making similar leaps at the end of 2020 when I get back to the States and wonder a.) How much down payment money did you start with? And B.) do you have a target per unit can flow and are you achieving it? 

The financing is the thing that I think is going to be the part that I am most unsure about, so would be interested in your perspective on that.

Once again congrats and have fun with the young ones. One of the memories that my daughters often bring up was when we were working on unfreezing pipes under a rental that I had bought back the first time I tried to be a real estate tycoon :-) They just thought it was fun to be hanging out with Dad (I am sure the treats afterward were not a bad deal either ;- )