All Forum Posts by: Kevin Hunter

@Fulton Recepcion, welcome to the site. I am a current Marine, Semper Fidelis, and have learned a ton here. The podcasts are great. NOVA is a great area with a solid tenant base and great employment numbers for obvious reasons. Feel free to reach out. There is a great REI group up here that meets once a month that I can hook you up with.

Good luck!!

Multi-family properties are higher risk for banks therefore they have more money up front to protect their interests. Things other than just job loss will affect an owner's ability to pay, mainly all of the tenants ability to pay. For a duplex there are now two jobs that will affect the repayment, both sets of tenants. Additionally, as posted earlier, the pool of buyers gets smaller as the number of units gets larger.....

@Hari Mann, although not in NOVA, I have rented to college students and here are my two cents.....Good:  steady pool of applicants, Competitive rents.  Bad:  high turnover rates, young, immature tenants with low or no income, rent caps.

I think the good can outweigh the bad ultimately, as long as you buy it right.  If you are going to use a property management company they are going to charge you 10% plus or minus a couple of percent, and they will likely charge you are new-lease fee, likely 1/2 a months rent.  Because the turnover is pretty close to annually, that gets expensive.  These are things you need to factor into your purchase price.

One thing to combat @Jeremy Hart point about tenants failing out or stopping payments is to require a parent as a cosignatory.  This has been very successful for me in past.  Parents have actually told it makes them feel good because they are able to subtlety keep an eye on their kids.

Good luck.  Let me know how it goes.

@Ryan Keenan, call your bank and ask or renew the terms of your VA loan. Remember, the VA is just insuring the loan for the bank you used. They set the ultimate contract. Good luck!

@Vic Vega, pay off the truck and save the 75k (this assumes the truck is around 25k).  Then do your research and find a smart investment for the rest.  It all depends on your short term and long term goals.  Are you looking for more real estate?  If you are, and you have a good interest rate on your current mortgage than stop overpaying and use that difference plus the original car payment to build back up the reserves.  Good debt versus bad.  Good luck.  Whatever you decide, this is a great problem to have!

@Daniel G., consider upgrading several but keep a couple of the older ones for the tenants that want to use coins.  You can then phase the older ones out over time.

@Paul Munly, welcome.  Check out the podcasts and webinars.  Good luck!!

@Ashvin Dewan, I think @John Rubino or @Justin Pierce may be able to assist.  I would suggest reaching out to them.  Good luck!

@Dana Spencer, welcome and good luck.  That is a great area.  Learn a ton and ask a bunch of questions!!!!

@Enrique Robles, congrats and good luck!!!!