All Forum Posts by: Lesley Resnick

i would call the power company and ask for the prior year bill amounts before doing anything drastic.  i am guessing the tenant had something to do with the high bill.  A new thermostat is under $30 a bit more if you want a timer.  The leaky vents, sounds suspect to me.

Start slowly!

Your pic has a child in it.  You can not afford to make a bad decision.  Many people advocate jumping off the bridge now and you will figure it out when you hit the bottom.

As a new investor do not let the money burn a hole in your pocket.  I recommend you look into house hacking.  You can rent your current place and find another place to live.  The financing on primary homes is the most competitive you will find.  If the numbers work  I would consider a duplex.  You should plan on staying near the other house in Wentzville.  I stared out with properties close enough to drive by every week.

In Jacksonville, I am seeing a tightening on the higher end real-estate, i would call it the non-investment properties (3500 sq ft + on the beach). SFH in the investment category are plentiful. The fannie mae site Homepath still has tons of listing. They are a good indicator of current capacity in the market.

The multi-family have tighten, I have not seen significant price appreciation, just the quality and supply requires more patience. 

If you paid off 100k in student debt in 10 months, you are in the top tax bracket.  You are going to need a tax strategy and will be in AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax)  if you have not already reached it.

As a side note leverage is a tool like any other.  It is not inherently good or bad as some people would tell you.  It must be assessed and managed responsibly.  Perhaps paying the minimum on a credit card is a good idea under the right circumstances, loss of a job, raising money for a down payment, etc.  Paying the minimum to purchase a non durable good, vacation, new clothing, etc, is a bad idea. 

In my view, cash flow is king. You can not eat or live off equity. If you want to get to it you must borrow from a bank to get it. I would take an interest only loan all day long. I don't need or want to "own" a property, only control it (collect rent). In the long term you can expect appreciation on most properties, war zones move slowly. As far as risk, if it is in an LLC, you have less risk than if you own the property outright. Your maximum exposure is the amount you have in the single property.

Best approach is to find a partner, friend, family, etc.

No money down is very very rare

None of your own money is rare, but possible

Sometimes you can convince the seller to finance the whole deal.  This is the ideal scenario.

Banks have become stingy with their equity and the risks they will take.

In Orlando efficiency were probably converted old motels.  This is neither good nor bad.  I think the only good property is on that fits your strategy.  People make money and lose money in every asset class.  Buying it right is the key.    It sounds like a value add buy and hold.  At 70% occupied you may have a difficult time with commercial financing.  I would ask if he would be open to offering terms.   

Be careful with he AirBnB, the city of Orlando is staring to crack down.  there are a few areas outside the city that allow for short term rentals.

I see the approach, but has anyone actually completed this process?  Could they provide actual numbers?

My understanding is you would need to disclose the other loan to each lender.  Both lenders would need to agree. They will both need to provide their part of the money at closing.  Each lender will want to know they are securing their loan against an asset with 20% equity.

The other concern is this is really high risk.  If anything goes wrong and you can not refi, you still have the hard money loan to cover and they typically are looking to be paid off in 12-18 months.

If you can get the owner to hold the paper, which is not always easy, you will be far better off than taking hard money. 

WOW, what an interesting problem.  By the title of the post I  thought it was going to be about tenants who pay late!

I go back and forth with having an exterminator service for my rentals.  I typically start it when there is a problem.  I like to see it for myself first. 

If it is available you may also want to consider a duplex. 

As far as doing home improvements or not, it is a question of your time and skill in that area.  How many hours a week to you work?  Do you travel for work?  You could also consider getting a 203(k) loan, it allows for reno to be built into the mortgage.