All Forum Posts by: Louie Masters

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $65,000
Cash invested: $13,000

Nice bungalow 2 and 2 right by a High School.

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

I got a good deal. Great structure. Family neighborhood. By schools.

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

Local investor told me about it.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

I've already painted it, put in new carpet, and a little bit of landscaping. Raised the rent $125 a month and no complaints.

What was the outcome?

Not sure yet on the total investment but like I said, I've already increased the rent and the tenants are staying.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I did not want to use traditional financing is my only complaint. Who has 20% to put down on rental properties?

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

Nope.

Good luck with that building. I’ve been in it many times. It needs work. At least it did several years ago. Tom Hanks and Shelley Long would be proud!

Milwaukee? You can get good deals in Milwaukee?

Originally posted by @Alex Witte:

Way to go Robert! You shouldn't have an issue refinancing before the balloon. 

I took a different route to get started. I used my personal credit to get better rates (4%, 4.25% and 5%) on my initial properties. I liked the fact that I got 2 - 30 year fixed mortgages and 2 - 5/1 ARMs. 

I am now looking to get into larger properties (my portfolio is duplexes and SFH) so I can utilize the commercial loan side. I want to start building that relationship with a portfolio lender to grow my business.

Sorry to digress. Bottom line. Way to go on taking action! 

People people, it’s obvious they will refi before the 5 years are up. My question is why the 25% unless it’s seller financing. Which my guess it is. In that case they will refi with a bank. The owner wanted a larger down payment. I would say 5.55% is a pretty good rate for both parties. I just purchased a single family home with a traditional lender at 5.25%. So I would take that deal all day long. If it’s 4 units it better be cash flowing at least $400 for each building for it to be worth it for me. 

There is very little drawback in owning storage. Like one of the previous people said, sweep, clean, rerent. Great business to get into. I’m sure there is some additional costs involved. Utilities for example. Are you managing yourself? My family owns 1,000 units and they have an on-site Manager. I realize 17 units is much smaller but if your planning on managing yourself and your not 100% occupied, there is some nucance to owning this type of business.

Both are awesome. Who cares if agents don't like them. It's just like everything in life. There is good and bad to them. I think there is a lot more good than bad. I've found several FSBO properties off Zillow that I would not have found otherwise.

Muinda. I would not rely on any "expert" advice from anyone claiming to be a Real Estate Agent. Every single one of them is greedy and only looking out for themselves. Hence the comment about the commission. Notice how that is always their first question. You CAN sell this property on your own. There are some good suggestions. The photos are key in this situation. Nobody knows your property better than you. NOBODY! No matter how "expert" someone thinks they are. Post on every social media possible. Community Boards. Facebook. Your end goal is to sell the property right? Just keep at and and don't throw away your hard earned money on an agent.

Starting young Graham good idea!