All Forum Posts by: Liam Naughton

Hi Jenny,

You got this!

I like having face-to-face meetings with potential tenants if possible. Otherwise, it's a lot of phone calls to previous landlords and employers to get a grip on what kind of person they are.

That being said, trust your gut! If you feel something is seriously off, it's better to wait another month for a good tenant than to get stuck with a bad one.

Another thing that we've done in the past is to ask the tenants who are leaving to recommend us to anyone who might be in their network. (for traveling nurses that might be as simple as posting on an internal chat that their lease is ending) That tends to lead to good quality tenants that are trustworthy and friendly. 

Hope that helps and best of luck!

Hey Jeff,

Make sure your zoning allows for an ADU. There was that story in SoCal of the unpermitted ADU that got occupied by a squatter that they couldn't get out because it wasn't a legal addition.

Another thing to consider is the layout of the ADU relative to the house. You may have the ability to sell the ADU and the house separately to make more money. Either way, you want to make sure that the flow into and out of the ADU is relatively smooth for foot traffic and cars.

There are a lot of modular/tiny house companies that are popping up, specifically in CA that have some great construction financing options and floorplans for you to choose from. If you find a company that's done some projects in your area they can help you navigate the permitting etc.

Hope that helps!

Hi all,

I manage an 11-unit property and we're going through the process of getting bids for repiping the whole building.

For context, there have been 3 owners since it was built in 1962 and the building has all different kinds of pipes. The issue is that the galvanized pipes are starting to corrode and cause low flow, or no hot water in a few of the units upstairs. (This is not to mention the spot fixes that were done with copper, some pex)

Our current plan of action is to gather some bids, it seems like it's going to cost $20k-$35k per stack.

With how ownership has changed hands, we don't know (without opening a lot of holes) where the spot fixes were done and with what.

The owner wants to move forward with a full repipe and just take it one stack at a time. I'm coming to BP to see if anyone has experience with something similar and has any suggestions on how to lower the costs of the project and minimize the impact to the tenants we have in place.

Something has to be done, but to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Thank you for any and all suggestions!

Hi all,

What do the forums think is going to happen to the real estate market in 2024?

The Fed mentioning that they're going to lower interest rates bodes well for affordability and pricing. However, the downside could be a huge swell of buyers coming into the market.

Personally, it would be nice to see more activity in the market. Also, it would be nice to see some more inventory come to market since with interest rates the way they are, it seems that no one is willing to sell their house and enter the buyer pool.

Would love to hear your thoughts/forecasts!

Are prices going up again?

Is buyer competition going to skyrocket due to pent up demand?

Are you going to be buying more deals?

Hey David,

You're gonna want to get them into a contract with a price on it.

Like Melanie said, you want to negotiate with the seller to get them to commit to a price where they're comfortable letting go of the property, then make sure you have room to renegotiate once you find your buyer.

For the most part, this looks like building rapport and a relationship with the seller so they trust that you're doing the best you can to get them money. In this instance, it may be that you sign the initial contract at a higher price with a longer inspection or feasibility window that allows you to negotiate them down once you find a buyer. You'll want to mention going in that you need to iron out the details with "the investor" (whoever you're assigning the contract to) and that once those numbers get settled you'll be able to do any final adjustments on the sale price. 

Hope that helps!

I know that Ryan Pineda is doing something like this with Tykes. It's already on OpenSea and the Discord is pretty big.

I'd be interested to see what other people on this site have to say/what resources are out there for smaller investors.

 A problem I don't yet have hahaha best of luck!

You might consider a third option of paying off some of your properties to make sure you have a good cushion. You can always access that equity through a HELOC to be able to take on additional cash-flowing properties to help you support your income and pay back the HELOC. That might be a cheaper option for you in the long run when compared to a refi every time.

The most important thing for me when looking toward retirement is comfortability and minimizing stress. If you have some rentals paid off I'd think you'll have enough flexibility to find the cashflow balance you're looking for.

TLDR: set up cheap debt to be comfortable/flexible/adaptable to the market conditions

She recently moved out of state but will continue to invest using HELOC's and refi's!

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) commercial investment investment.

Purchase price: $2,805,000
Cash invested: $1,000,000

Multifamily building, 2 commercial spaces, 9 residential 1 bed 1 bath units right in the middle of the Edmonds Bowl.
2 of the residential units are operated as STR's which bring in an additional $100/door/month above market rents.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

My mother always dreamed of owning a multifamily property and she chose this to be her first venture into multifamily and commercial space.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

The deal was on the market though it went pending twice before we got it under control. The other buyers couldn't line up financing. Negotiations happened after the inspection window to bring the price down.

How did you finance this deal?

Commercial financing with People's Bank in Edmonds.

How did you add value to the deal?

We've now rehabbed 3 of the residential units as well as one of the commercial units.
A new roof was put on this summer of 2022.

What was the outcome?

The property is fully occupied and easy to fill when we have vacancies. It now cashflows and puts money away for cap ex.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Picking a good location will make things easier for you down the road as it's easier to get things rented and easier to get tenants who will stay. We've had no issue finding new tenants when one leaves and have had no resistance raising rents to keep up with the market.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

People's Bank for commercial financing.
My mentor Lori for agency representation.