All Forum Posts by: Lesley Resnick

I am dumbfounded. This may be the moment that people on BP have been dreaming about for years. Many people have been talking about the great deals that they would find if only it was 2009 again. They have been rooting against the home team and the economy. Never considrering their tenants may stop paying and liquidity could dry up.

Where is the bravado that was prevalent last year?

For one person to win big someone has to lose big. Something has to go horribly wrong to create this types of ananmolies. This is not zero sum game.

It is an unusual time, volume of properties on the market are way down, prices are up and competition is everywhere. My contractors are too busy for my preference. The city permitting is a mess. Financing properties is expensive and difficlt while the fed is loaning money for zero percent.

Bottom line, this is not a housing led problem. I do not believe the fed will allow the mass evictions or foreclosures we saw in 2009. The big winners were Blackstone and the other funds. If you have 50m in cash you could buy them in thousand packs for pennies.

I am still open and doing business, I am still buy and hold, flip, wholesale. I have not changed my criteria, I am not going to take a deal that does not fit my model.

7 Votes

I use it and really like it. I only use a small part of the technology. It is just property management and it does it well. There are clunky ways of running renovations, but I was unhappy with the functionality.

The most valuable part is the rent collection through a portal that updates late fees. Buildium charges for every payment received and it starts to add up. You can make payments out of their system and they charge for that as well. They offer a digital lease and it is $5 per lease. I still use the manaual upload.

I do not use their accounting system. It seems functional, but minus the renovations my accounting is simple. I collect around 18 payments a month and pay 6 mortgages and repairs.

0 Votes

Residential

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,000J-19A-19S-19O-19N-19D-19J-20F-20M-20A-20M-20J-20Number of ListingsActive ListingsNew ListingsSold Listings	$220K$240K$260K$280K$300KJ-19A-19S-19O-19N-19D-19J-20F-20M-20A-20M-20J-20Listings PricesActive Median List PriceNew Median List PriceSold Median Sale Price
3 Mo.3.2 Mo.3.4 Mo.3.6 Mo.3.8 Mo.J-19A-19S-19O-19N-19D-19J-20F-20M-20A-20M-20J-20Absorption Rate, in MonthsAbsorption Rate	93%94%95%96%97%J-19A-19S-19O-19N-19D-19J-20F-20M-20A-20M-20J-20Sold to List RatioSale to Original List Price Ratio
50556065707580J-19A-19S-19O-19N-19D-19J-20F-20M-20A-20M-20J-20Days on MarketAverage CDOM	$0$1,000M$2,000M$3,000M$4,000MJ-19A-19S-19O-19N-19D-19J-20F-20M-20A-20M-20J-20Price VolumeActive List VolumeNew List VolumeSold Sale Volume

Summary Statistics
	Jun-20	Jun-19	% Chg	2020 YTD	2019 YTD	% Chg
Absorption Rate	3.14	3.74	-16.04	3.18	3.74	-14.97
Average List Price	$412,364	$405,654	1.65	$343,595	$333,309	3.09
Median List Price	$293,575	$288,995	1.58	$261,990	$253,534	3.34
Average Sale Price	$309,810	$297,184	4.25	$291,260	$272,569	6.86
Median Sale Price	$255,000	$242,000	5.37	$245,000	$228,000	7.46
Average CDOM	73	70	4.29	N/A	N/A	N/A
Median CDOM	42	36	16.67	40	41	-2.44

Sold Listings
	This Month	Year to Date
	2020	2019	% Chg	2020	2019	% Chg
0-19,999	8	11	-27.3	54	81	-33.3
20,000-29,999	10	22	-54.5	70	116	-39.7
30,000-39,999	15	14	7.1	105	124	-15.3
40,000-49,999	12	17	-29.4	119	164	-27.4
50,000-59,999	23	30	-23.3	127	175	-27.4
60,000-69,999	36	25	44.0	157	178	-11.8
70,000-79,999	20	34	-41.2	142	212	-33.0
80,000-89,999	33	39	-15.4	155	222	-30.2
90,000-99,999	20	39	-48.7	155	241	-35.7
100,000-119,999	82	98	-16.3	404	541	-25.3
120,000-139,999	116	153	-24.2	663	931	-28.8
140,000-159,999	151	179	-15.6	834	1061	-21.4
160,000-179,999	160	198	-19.2	972	1122	-13.4
180,000-199,999	172	179	-3.9	938	1083	-13.4
200,000-249,999	545	557	-2.2	2819	2806	0.5
250,000-299,999	452	416	8.7	2272	2158	5.3
300,000-399,999	505	477	5.9	2445	2376	2.9
400,000-499,999	241	216	11.6	1071	1021	4.9
500,000-749,999	216	197	9.6	906	808	12.1
750,000-999,999	61	68	-10.3	240	234	2.6
1,000,000+	52	55	-5.5	229	209	9.6
Totals	2930	3024	-3.1	14877	15863	-6.2

Pending Listings
	This Month	Year to Date
	2020	2019	% Chg	2020	2019	% Chg
0-19,999	4	7	-42.9	35	59	-40.7
20,000-29,999	13	13	0.0	75	105	-28.6
30,000-39,999	15	19	-21.1	81	103	-21.4
40,000-49,999	23	22	4.5	135	147	-8.2
50,000-59,999	30	23	30.4	147	168	-12.5
60,000-69,999	37	31	19.4	153	191	-19.9
70,000-79,999	27	29	-6.9	164	202	-18.8
80,000-89,999	33	43	-23.3	182	253	-28.1
90,000-99,999	35	35	0.0	167	243	-31.3
100,000-119,999	78	74	5.4	409	545	-25.0
120,000-139,999	180	168	7.1	780	1018	-23.4
140,000-159,999	184	195	-5.6	909	1055	-13.8
160,000-179,999	225	210	7.1	1102	1170	-5.8
180,000-199,999	208	187	11.2	1099	1176	-6.5
200,000-249,999	663	499	32.9	3219	3024	6.4
250,000-299,999	557	426	30.8	2694	2358	14.2
300,000-399,999	626	484	29.3	2939	2655	10.7
400,000-499,999	294	216	36.1	1295	1148	12.8
500,000-749,999	278	206	35.0	1053	958	9.9
750,000-999,999	70	58	20.7	298	285	4.6
1,000,000+	74	39	89.7	272	254	7.1
Totals	3654	2984	22.5	17208	17117	0.5

Active Listings
	This Month	Year to Date
	2020	2019	% Chg	2020	2019	% Chg
0-19,999	5	34	-85.3	58	132	-56.1
20,000-29,999	21	37	-43.2	112	181	-38.1
30,000-39,999	23	60	-61.7	126	213	-40.8
40,000-49,999	42	68	-38.2	218	272	-19.9
50,000-59,999	70	87	-19.5	277	315	-12.1
60,000-69,999	71	119	-40.3	278	389	-28.5
70,000-79,999	63	107	-41.1	300	381	-21.3
80,000-89,999	79	115	-31.3	335	442	-24.2
90,000-99,999	106	139	-23.7	361	458	-21.2
100,000-119,999	188	250	-24.8	726	944	-23.1
120,000-139,999	335	359	-6.7	1297	1604	-19.1
140,000-159,999	328	349	-6.0	1370	1596	-14.2
160,000-179,999	400	460	-13.0	1638	1779	-7.9
180,000-199,999	347	420	-17.4	1609	1799	-10.6
200,000-249,999	1093	1264	-13.5	4672	4713	-0.9
250,000-299,999	1106	1368	-19.2	4169	4216	-1.1
300,000-399,999	1467	1628	-9.9	4875	4971	-1.9
400,000-499,999	846	895	-5.5	2426	2379	2.0
500,000-749,999	857	1036	-17.3	2274	2330	-2.4
750,000-999,999	342	451	-24.2	805	920	-12.5
1,000,000+	415	498	-16.7	878	924	-5.0
Totals	8204	9744	-15.8	28804	30958	-7.0

New Listings
	This Month	Year to Date
	2020	2019	% Chg	2020	2019	% Chg
0-19,999	2	13	-84.6	38	97	-60.8
20,000-29,999	6	13	-53.8	68	115	-40.9
30,000-39,999	15	20	-25.0	82	134	-38.8
40,000-49,999	14	22	-36.4	139	188	-26.1
50,000-59,999	31	38	-18.4	189	215	-12.1
60,000-69,999	25	39	-35.9	186	270	-31.1
70,000-79,999	25	43	-41.9	180	268	-32.8
80,000-89,999	34	52	-34.6	222	298	-25.5
90,000-99,999	38	49	-22.4	261	313	-16.6
100,000-119,999	68	105	-35.2	498	671	-25.8
120,000-139,999	144	199	-27.6	949	1194	-20.5
140,000-159,999	162	205	-21.0	1059	1239	-14.5
160,000-179,999	220	228	-3.5	1291	1407	-8.2
180,000-199,999	196	233	-15.9	1268	1407	-9.9
200,000-249,999	612	558	9.7	3653	3567	2.4
250,000-299,999	566	512	10.5	2998	3075	-2.5
300,000-399,999	641	562	14.1	3548	3486	1.8
400,000-499,999	286	265	7.9	1734	1617	7.2
500,000-749,999	273	249	9.6	1503	1585	-5.2
750,000-999,999	80	82	-2.4	467	582	-19.8
1,000,000+	76	68	11.8	461	546	-15.6
Totals	3514	3555	-1.2	20794	22274	-6.6

1 Vote

NO one will ever get rich on Dave Ramsy's advice or Robert K. Unless of course you name is Dave or Robert. There is no one answer for everyone and for all times. Their advice is generic and made to entertain a mass audience. The world changes constantly and how much cash or leverage you use should be constantly re-evaluated and decided for yourself.

Should you not take a zero percent car loan or credit card? It depends on your own discipline. Does that mean you will buy a car you otherwise could not afford or need? Will you take an expensive vacation you can not afford?

I am an agent and a decent car is a business requirement for me. I do not drive a 90k BMW nor did I pay cash for the car. I used the local credit union to finance it. They loaned me the money at 2%, I am borrowing private money at 10% for my real estate projects. I fail to see how it would make sense for me to pay cash for the car.

2 Votes

I buy and reno fire houses and have made money doing it. I do not recommend it for a first project. It is a skill and requires a greater understanding of renovation than doing a smaller renovation.

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Ben Zimmerman:

FIRES aren't easily extinguished, the lay dormant waiting to be rekindled.

Eating dogfood that is dedication. It is exactly the type of "ISM" that is developing around the, "movment". Financial indepenace is not the same. My own goal is to delvelop enough passive income to nkoww that on Jan 1, I have enough to live through the year without getting out of bed.

FIRE was a big deal because it was trendy, and because we were on a decade long bull market run. So when people saw this success, they wanted to read about it and jump on the bandwagon. Unfortunately many of these people reading about it were the same ones that make New Years resolutions, and don't have the personal fortitude to actually stick with anything. Once the economy crashed and these people became disinterested, they stopped clicking on all of the articles about FIRE, and consequently agencies stopped running FIRE articles since they aren't profitable without readers.

However I would argue that anyone serious about FIRE, has become even more serious about it once they witness a global pandemic like this that can suddenly cause serious financial stress on the entire world. When you are 100% reliant on your job for an income you see just how fragile the system is and how quickly you can go bankrupt with a 15% unemployment rate. You wake up every morning wondering if your factory will suddenly be closed for health reasons and everyone be out of a job. You constantly log into the governments website anxiously wondering where your stimulus check is so that you can pay bills, instead of being financially stable and viewing that check as an opportunity to buy 1200 worth of cheap stocks.

I've seen some crazy FIRE bloggers, one actually advocates eating canned dog food because it's a cheap source of protein. You don't have to go to such extremes when it comes to FIRE, you just need to be mindful of what you are spending. So you don't need to drive a 98 Oldsmobile, but maybe you drive a 2015 Ford instead of a 2020 Porsche.

As for my finances, none of my rental properties had trouble paying rent. This is due in part to luck obviously, but also due to not catering to the lowest common denominator in C-D rentals. My stock portfolio is breaking even as opposed to what it was prior to the crash. Yes I lost some money during the crash, but you adapt and overcome and readjust to investing in companies that will rebound very well. So I'm currently breaking even-ish, but have the potential for a lot of runway ahead of me.

Eating dog-food that, is dedication. It is exactly the type of "ISM" that is developing around the, "moment". Financial indepenance is not the same. My own goal is to develop enough passive income to know that on Jan 1, I have enough to live through the year without getting out of bed.

I think it is ironic that Mr Money Moustache made $1m last year blogging and marketing about his austire life style.

0 Votes

The FIRE movement was really hot, no pun intended, early this year and I have not heard much about it. Has the corona virus and social issues moved it to the back burner?

I appreciate its goal and approach, except I do not want to drive a 1998 Oldsmobile.

Has anyone reached the goal during all the craziness? How are people doing living FIRE.

1 Vote

The biggest house in the neighborhood is neither good nor bad, It is the numbers. I have concerns about what you outlined. I would proceed with caution The price per square foot drops as the houses get larger than the average size house. The square foot value for a smaller house is greater than a larger house in the same neighborhood.

The transaction fees are going to be hard to overcome. Doc stamps, title insurance. It varies by location. At 1% which is incredibly low, you are in at $6,500, bringing you down to $93,500 out of your 100k spread. Assuming you only paid 6% for realtor fees and the buyer paid the rest, you are in for $45,000 now down to 48,500 reno budget.

If you need to take hard money, you are in for at least 1.5% funding and 1% a month. Three month hold 4.5% or 33,750

Reno Budget $14,750.
At this price point you can not use builder grade and would have a higher cost for materials.

Originally posted by @Lawrence Michael:

Investors...not sure how to advise my client. Looking at a home listed for 650kish 2500 sqft and a 4/2.5....Huge lot 10k sqft. Comps selling for 680-750k with less beds (3) Sqft 1300-1800 with lot size of 8kish (Hope I provided enough info).

It is by the far the biggest house. It is liveable but in need of major upgrading.

I guess my question is.....Is buying basically the biggest house on the block a good thing because obviously we want to rehab and list for much higher than what the neighborhood is selling for?

Thank you everyone

1 Vote

Debt is a huge part of being a successful RE investor. If it keeps you from sleeping, then don't do it.

However, our economy is set up to benefit holding debt. The power of leverage is obvious, I can buy more houses, than just paying cash.

The less considered aspects are that the true cost of owing money over the long term is minimal. Compounded Inflation will reduce the amount you owe and pay in real dollars.

Average price of a home in 1990 125k - 100k loan $536 a month P&I

Average price of a home in 2020 320k - 256k loan $1374 a month p&I

Mortgage interest is deductible, which further reduces the true cost of borrowing the money.

As long as the US government runs deficits, it will do everything it can to keep inflation going and rates low, this will cut down the real cost of the debt in the long term.

I am not saying to just load up on debt and keep no reserves. It is a measured planned tool, that will result in superior returns.

16 Votes

In Jacksonville, I am still seeing a good supply of 1%. It is easier to find as a value add. If you are comfortable with more of an urban core neighborhood, you find a good supply.

At this moment there seems to be more 2/1's that rent for 900 a month cost in the 90k range.

A goal of a BRRRR and 1% can be very different goals. One is driven by ARV and the other is cash flow. Getting both can be challenging.

1 Vote

All Forum Posts by: Lesley Resnick

Lesley Resnick has started 135 posts and replied 1023 times.

Post: This is Not the Real Estate Environment for Rookie Investors

Post: Does anyone use the program Buildium for property management?

Post: Jacksonville stats June 2020

Post: Dave Ramsey recommends buying everything with cash!

Post: Would you buy a house that has significant fire damage?

Post: Has the FIRE gone out?

Post: Has the FIRE gone out?

Post: Should I buy the biggest house on the block?

Post: Overcoming the Idea That Paying Off Mortgages Is A Good Idea

Post: Applying the 1% Rule in Florida