All Forum Posts by: Latisha Douglas

Please share your systems and tips for successfully running a low income investment strategy. Especially around rents, maintenance, evictions, tracking expenses etc. I recently purchased a few low income properties that of course looked great on paper. But Reality is hitting and realize I don’t have the right systems in place to deal with this class of properties. Rent is ALWAYS late. Utilities not paid (in this town the water bill must be in the owners name) Constantly something that needs to be fixed. Tenants not taking care of the unit and I’m responsible. Just had 2 section 8 re-inspections and there is a laundry list of items to fix. I KNOW I can be successful in this. My properties are actually on nice streets even though the overall areas isn’t great. It’s very block by block here.

List it here on BiggerPockets. If you have equity that you are willing to walk away from and the numbers work an investor may snatch it up.

Wait does it RENT for $1900/month or CASH FLOW for $1900/month? Huge difference.

I received one of these text and ignored it...

I recently picked up 3 properties in Hartford and I’m still learning my way around. 

Hartford varies greatly. There’s a few nice areas and some really bad areas and a lot in between! At a high level south hartford is better than north hartford. 

West Hartford is significantly nicer than Hartford but it is also a much higher price point.

Im still learning the rest of the specifics but hopefully someone else chimes in.  

I am looking at two abandoned properties that are next to one I just purchased. I did some digging and have info. I am looking for advice on next steps. I’m getting conflicting info and don’t want to make a wrong decision.

House #1 – Spoke to owner and he does not want anything to do with the house. His first mortgage is way more than it’s currently worth. I was thinking of having him sign it over to me but he owes too much. I spoke to the bank and can’t get info without third party authorization. Can I ask the owner to do this without hurting my chances? Goal is to purchase at the 30-40k range. It’s in awful condition.

Assessment Info: $38,487. True Value: $ 56,800. Current condition (my opinion): 30k-40k max

• 1st Mortgage for 160k recorded on January 1/24/07
• 2nd Mortgage – for 40k
• 2 lis pendens issued but released, latest release 2017
• A Water Lien dated 11/06/09 $830.00
• A Water Lien dated 5/19/11 $ 711.83
• A City Tax Lien dated 5/03/18 $ 5,719.40

#2 – may have owner info but have not called yet. No current mortgage lis pendens so can I really get the property for the price of the tax liens? What do I ask the owner? Goal is to purchase at 30-40k it’s also in awful condition.

Assessment Value: $37,900. True Value: $ 108,700. Current condition (my opinion): 30k-40k max

• A Mortgage recorded on 1/1994 for $71,250
• A Lis Pendens in favor of Bank recorded on 3/24/10
• A Judgement Lien to Hospital dated 2/15/06 $ 1,300
• Assignment of Tax Liens to TLOA, Inc dated 7/2016
• Assignment of Tax Liens to TLOA Acquisitions dated 12/2016
• An Assignment of Tax Liens to TLOA Acquisitions LLC Series 8/2017
• Assignment of Tax Liens to TLOA of CT LLC dated 12/2017
• Assignment of Tax Liens to TLOA Servicing LLC dated 12/2017
• An Assignment of Tax Liens to TLOA of CT LLC dated 6/2018
• A Lis Pendens in favor of TLOA of CT LLC on behalf of the city, dated 12/2018
• A City Tax Lien dated 5/16/16 for $ 1500 (2014)
• A City Tax Lien dated 4/26/17 for $ 3,200 (2015)
• A City Tax Lien dated 5/03/18 for $ 2,700 (2016)

Thanks in advance. I would LOVE to grab these two properties and have 3 on one block.

Is the Good Neighbor program really for NON Owner occupied or just a typo?

Originally posted by @Ashley Hamilton:

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Im sure many of us have read all the warnings and reviews of buying low price properties, and the problems typically associated with them, but all that considered, it is what first attracts a lot of people , indeed this is the only path available to some, its a start, so lets explore whats real and possible.........

lets use Detroit, Cleveland, Michigan and Indianapolis as examples where possible ,and set a ceiling of $30k

Personally i dont see the return on higher priced properties attractive enough to invest $80 to $120k plus, and before anyone starts preaching about the pitfalls, ive done this before, over 30 properties over 20 years, just in another country, low cost houses in deprived areas, i know what can go wrong.

The first attraction here is the low cost, funding with personal loans and credit cards etc,  is possible, and with high returns , quickly repaid, whereas a large mortgage is on your credit file for years, and has to impact further borrowing, and cannot easily be cleared temporarily in the same way credit cards can, if your credit needs a boost !

How easy is it to get a portfolio of say 3 x $30k properties you own outright (wherever the funds came from !) and then refinance into one loan after 6 months or a year ?........and then repeat this process ?

This is more attainable for a lot of people surely ?

So, anyone with a similar train of thought ?, anyone already doing this ?, any input would help........

Hello, yes I've done this in Detroit for 9 years now and some properties were purchased for $1000.  At this point I own 9 properties (10 door) free in clear in Detroit. All occupied, making around $7100 per month. I've already made my initial investment back on almost all the properties and am now seeking a blanket loan on my portfolio. My guess is the total value of the properties as a whole today are $469k. So at 32 years old I owe $469k worth of real estate. But the good news is if the market go up next month or next year I could be worth $600k, then next year maybe $1 million. And i'm confident that the market will go up because it's already hit rock bottom so there's nowhere to go but up from here. Also there's a lot of big investment going on in the city now. I am currently look to purchase a condo in Vegas as well and hopefully moving down there soon. Thanks for you post!!! We need more opened minded people on here that can appeal to the masses without a ton of money.

@Ashley Hamilton

Love this! Please send me a PM. Thanks!

Originally posted by @Philip Lassman:

Hi Oscar, I have some good contacts for you that I used when I was managing a portfolio of commercial assets in Hartford over the past 4 years. 

Can you share the contacts with me too. I closed on a rehab in Hartford recently and looking to build my team. Thanks!

Can you pull the equity out via a home equity loan or line of credit and use that to invest. If you can put 20% / 25%+ down that gives you more options.