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All Forum Posts by: Leo R.

Leo R. has started 16 posts and replied 584 times.

Post: Strategies that cash flow in western WA in 2023?

Leo R.Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 590
  • Votes 693

@Daniel Ulie  in my experience, cashflow is rarely "found". Instead, cashflow is created.

This is similar to the RE saying "deals aren't found, they're made."

So, the obvious question is: "ok, how do I create cashflow?"

It often comes down to learning to see something in a property that other buyers don't see. For instance, being able to spot an easy opportunity to add a bedroom or a bathroom to a property...if it's an easy conversion, and it's on the right type of property in the right market, 10-20k spent to add a br and/or bathroom can pick you up an extra 500-1000 per month in rent...do the math, and you'll find that that is some incredible cash on cash return.

All sorts of rehabs/conversions can turn a total loser into a cashflowing property. ...another example: I've built ADUs in previously unfinished basements, which turned properties that were $500/mo negative into properties that now cashflow 1000/mo ...the power move was rolling the construction debt into refis on other properties at lower rates, which more than negated the construction debt...in other words, I got paid to build the ADUs (these days, this isn't usually possible--or at least, it's a lot less likely--now that rates are rising...but who knows, rates might decrease again at some point...).

...Although certain rehabs/conversions can force cashflow, there is real skill and art to spotting properties that are good candidates for these types of rehabs/conversions. ...an effective rehab/conversion is often a lot trickier than HGTV would have you believe, and choosing the wrong property to do this can completely blow up the financial model.

Another approach is to learn to find properties that have something that turns off other buyers, but which is irrelevant to cashflow, and irrelevant to your business model. For instance, I've bought properties in A class neighborhoods where EVERYONE wanted to live, but they were on relatively busy streets, which turned off retail buyers. However, I knew the streets weren't so busy that they would impact the rentability of the properties... I picked up the properties for a heavily discounted price (because they had sat on the market), and had no problems finding highly qualified (and high-earning) tenants that made the place cashflow right out of the gate.

Another example: I once bought a property in an A class neighborhood that had an awkwardly-placed stairwell inside the front entrance, which turned off other buyers. However, I knew that the stairwell had zero impact on the actual functionality of the property, and that it would have zero impact on its desirability as a rental. Once again, the property sat on the market for a long time, I bought it at a heavy discount, and it's been cash flowing ever since.

Cashflow can also be created by changing how you use the property—for instance, renting a house by the room or as MTR or STR sometimes creates cashflow.

By the way: every property I own cashflows well, and every property I own was bought on the MLS between 2016 and now--during what was probably the toughest buyer's market in American history! (I didn't have to look for off market deals, do weird business arrangements, or do anything unusual at all to get these properties, even in a tough buyer's market...shocker, I know!).

So, in summary: it is possible to get cashflow, but it's just not something that can be had without some effort and sacrifices...you have to go where others aren't going, and do what others aren't doing.

Good luck out there!

If it were possible to succeed at RE investing by buying turnkey, A class, perfect properties with no flaws, then everyone would be doing it! ...but, the reality is: RE investing takes creativity and flexible thinking, the ability to see opportunities others miss, the willingness to acquire properties others don't want, and the willingness to do what it takes to force cashflow.

Post: First investment back against the wall. Need advice!

Leo R.Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 590
  • Votes 693
Quote from @Jaron Walling:

@Phyo Ko You have a lot of great advice here about holding, learning, and growing as an investor. In my opinion you have two paths. REI is the harder path otherwise everyone could do it. You need to decide.
"kinda nervous about doing my own pm I have to look into that" - Beyond your numbers this statement is alarming. From one investor to another understanding and learning PM is huge. You're going to have to learn and handle some PM or this duplex will never work. Very few investments are truly passive especially in the first couple years. Cheers. 

@Phyo Ko what @Jaron Walling said is 100% correct.  Yes, doing your own PM is intimidating at first. However, getting PM experience is a fundamental piece of becoming a successful RE investor. Even if you have PMs working for you, YOU still need to know the basics of property management so you can effectively manage those PMs. 

Owning a portfolio of PM-managed properties without any personal experience in PM is a bit like trying to manage a mechanic's shop with zero experience fixing cars, or trying to manage a law office with no legal experience.

Good luck, and let us know how things turn out! 

@Ben Koslof if you're constantly driving, you can take that as an opportunity to engage in the "driving for dollars" technique (if you google around, you should be able to find info on this--it's definitely been discussed in BP podcasts and on BP forums, and there are probably articles about it). It would be worth studying up on that technique.

Because you know the area so well, presumably you have a solid understanding of which specific neighborhoods are most desirable (and un-desirable)--use that to zero in on properties in the most desirable areas. Try to find the worst house in the best neighborhood, as they say--those types of properties often have the best value add opportunity.

Even if you're not ready to buy a property yourself, you could potentially partner with an investor --if you bring a good deal to an investor, and they'll usually be happy to work with you.

Good luck out there!

@Edwin De leon I've never used Mashvisor....however, a 2 to 4 unit MF is relatively small in the grand scheme of things--you can analyze that type of property without any type of specialized software.

There's a LOT to real estate that data and software cannot convey (Zillow discovered this the hard way). For instance, nearly all my properties have traits that were critical to their financial viability as rentals, but which would have never been conveyed in numbers or via software...because of that, I prefer to collect my own data, do my own analyses, see the properties with my own eyes, and do my own due diligence--and I don't need any fancy software to do that (at least, nothing fancier than Excel).

Just my two cents.

Good luck out there!

@Cathy Bui the type of property you describe and the strategies you mention are all fairly straight-forward, and the info on these topics is abundant and mostly free or very cheap (forums, podcasts, youtube videos, articles, books that only cost a few bucks)...unless you're signing up for some type of long-term, in-depth coaching program, it's probably not necessary to pay someone for this info...

Regarding this specific property:  you say the triplex is class D+ to C-  ...is the neighborhood also D+ to C-?   Personally, I steer clear of anything lower than a B-, because lower grade properties and areas just cause way too many problems, the appreciation is usually not there, and the cashflow just isn't worth the hassle...if the area is C or lower, I'd be thinking about selling the property...

If it's in a higher grade area (B- or higher), then I'd be thinking about doing some sort of value add.

However, you haven't provided enough info for us to give you much detailed feedback...

For instance, what will the property currently rent for, and what is your current debt service on the property? How much money do you already have in this property? What is the property worth if you sold it today? How much would it cost to add an ADU, and what would the new rent be if you did that? How much would it cost to do a reno, and then what would the new rent be? What are your current debt terms? (you said the current mortgage is a low rate, but didn't provide details). How easy/difficult would it be to find new tenants with the property the way it is, and how easy/difficult would it be if you rehabbed the property? What types of tenants does this property attract, and how much work is it to manage this property? Do you self manage, or have a PM? If you have a PM, how much is that costing? etc., etc., etc.

If you give us specific data/info like that, the forums can usually provide you with some pretty useful feedback...

Good luck out there!

@Cathy P. yes--I have done it many times, and it's the best way for beginning investors to get their start, in my opinion!

Since you already own your own home, you're in a great position to start house hacking (it can be as simple as renting out a room in the house you already own)...plus, since you've bought a property before, and because you've owned your property for a while, you already have some of the home buying and property management experience that will help you as you acquire more properties!

If you feel comfortable doing it, it might be worthwhile to house hack your current home for a bit before buying the 2nd property--this will teach you a lot of things that you can then use to make the 2nd property a house hacking success. For instance, you'll learn about what TYPE of property does, and does not work for your house hacking needs, while also teaching you a lot about your local rental market, tenant selection & management. ...you might discover that you're completely fine with having two tenants at your HH, but three is just too many...or maybe you'll discover that certain floorplan arrangements do (or don't) work for your style of househacking...I can almost guarantee you'll learn SOMETHING that will help make your next property even more of a househacking success!

Plus, since you already own your property and presumably can afford to live there without a tenant, you could do a "trial run" of house hacking with a relatively short lease (maybe just 3 or 6 months)--which would give you an exit if you decide you don't like it, or you end up with the wrong tenant, etc.

You can use an FHA loan, but you don't necessarily have to go FHA (all mine were conventional, NON- FHA 30 yr fixed mortgages). Find a good mortgage broker and ask them to help you understand your different loan options, and the advantages/disadvantages of each (a good mortgage broker will be happy to help you with that, and can also help you understand why you qualify for certain amounts, and what you'd need to do to qualify for different amounts).

House hack a property every year until you hit your limit of conventional mortgages (usually 10), and you can build up a pretty excellent portfolio of RE in ten years--especially if you do thorough analyses, thorough due diligence, and buy the right properties in the right areas!

Good luck out there!

Post: Fourplex Common Areas Responsibility

Leo R.Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 590
  • Votes 693

@Joseph Farruggio it's probably whoever is listed as responsible in the lease.

If the lease says the landlord is responsible, the landlord is responsible.

If the lease says the tenants are responsible, the tenants are responsible.

If the lease does not specify, then nobody is responsible--and the landlord needs to improve their lease so that it specifies who is responsible.

Good luck out there!

Post: How to increase the rent on a tenant?

Leo R.Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 590
  • Votes 693

@Feras Saffar the best way to increase rent is to provide a higher level of value to tenants than your competitors. For instance, by offering a larger or nicer space at the same price as other landlords. At the end of the day, no holiday gift will save you if your rent is not at least in-line with the market, or better than the market.

To know the market, you have to collect and analyze comp data--including rent prices, property grade, neighborhood grade, amenities, etc., etc...if you're trying to rent a 3 br 2 ba B house in a B neighborhood, then you need to know what dozens of other 3 br 2 ba B houses in B neighborhoods are renting for, and then go from there.

Good luck out there!

@Adam Styles this may sound a bit harsh, but consider it tough love: if you're looking to "team up with investors", you'll need to put more out there than 1 sentence, and you'll need to put your best foot forward to show how you're going to bring value to the table.

No experienced investor will have any interest in teaming up with you until you learn how to present yourself to them in a way that demonstrates the value you're bringing to the table. This is 100x more true because you're a rookie.

The value you bring might be in the form of capital, experience, access to deals, the ability to put in a lot of work, social media expertise, accounting expertise, marketing expertise, etc., etc., but you have to bring SOMETHING to the table--and you have be VERY clear about what that thing is, so potential partners see a reason to partner with you. 

Also, regardless of what type of value you bring, it has to be sufficiently valuable for the partner to benefit (and if the partner is a highly experienced and successful RE investor, they ain't gonna come cheap!  --this is because perceived "value" depends on a person's net worth. For instance, a thousand bucks holds totally different "value" to a poor person (for whom it could be life-changing) than it does to a millionaire (for whom it's almost pocket change). If I have no net worth, and you do something that saves me (or makes me) a thousand bucks, you've just changed my life!...but, if I'm a millionaire, I really couldn't care less if you saved or made me a thousand bucks--I've got much bigger fish to fry!

I'm consistently approached by beginning investors with no real estate experience who want to "partner" with me, or want me to "mentor" them, but who have zero idea how to make it worthwhile for me. Experienced RE investors know that "partnering" with or "mentoring" a rookie is often code for "wasting my time trying to help someone who's constantly screwing up (because they're a beginner) and getting nothing in return". Why should a high net-worth, highly experienced investor put their time, money, experience, reputation, and resources on the line for someone with no experience? ...you'll have to answer that question if you want to figure out a partnership with anyone worth partnering with.

So, I'd suggest refining your "pitch" so that the first impression you make on all potential partners is clearly and convincingly showing the value you're going to bring to them--so they have a reason to partner with you.

Good luck!

Post: Do I have too many contingencies in my offer?

Leo R.Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 590
  • Votes 693

@Gurjot Grewal  also, why does your agent think the offers are being rejected?

If your agent is even halfway decent, they should have some insight on this, and should be able to help you strategize how to improve your offers.  If your agent can't help you do this, then it may be time to look for a new agent... 

Keep in mind: your agent should be doing everything in their power to help you figure out how to get a property under contract--particularly in this market, where many agents are hungry for business because they've suffered a serious downturn in contracts.  If they're not doing everything to help you get a property under contract, then either you aren't a priority to them for some reason, or they're not a good agent.

Good luck!