All Forum Posts by: Mark Howland

Okay, this makes me a little more hopeful. I can look into the commercial loans side of things and see what we can do. Credit score and down payment I can do more about so I'm happy about that, thank you for each of you for your input! I need to network with lenders more because that is where I lack a lot of experience.

I'm looking at a large (19 unit) multifamily property for college housing to buy and hold that is 750k and I love the idea of getting creative with financing but as I was thinking about hard money I realized that with my salary I would only qualify for a loan up to 500k. (I recently bought a home and my pre-approval was only that high) So I realize even if I do get hard money up front, I wouldn't be able to refinance after a year because of that. Or am I mistaken? Is there a work around for this?

I have 2 SFH's that are renting right now and my current house I'm house hacking a duplex but this is my first step into multifamily so I'm grateful for other's experience and advice!

Thanks!

Investment Info:

Mobile home buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $34,000
Cash invested: $2,000

I attended college in a small town and found a niche that I could take advantage of. They have mobile homes that rent for as much or more than SFH's and other college housing. Small capital investment-BIG ROI. Is it sexy? Far from the traditional sense of the word but I think ROI is sexy so in my eyes it is!

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

I had seen people renting these homes for more money than I could imagine so the numbers seemed inflated... but it turned out to be real.

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

I found it on Zillow listed for 42,000 and I got him down to 34,000 and he paid all closing costs including the inspector fee, all taxes for the year (Bought it in Feb 2021 and he paid through December). I actually almost lost the deal because I was negotiating for an even bigger drop and he gave it to someone else who was willing to pay 34k so I came back and matched that offer and got it.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

How did you add value to the deal?

New appliances and minor cosmetic fixes. $2000 was all I did but it made a HUGE difference, it looked pretty bad before.

What was the outcome?

Steady cash flow, solid tenants, I'm only 8 months in but no problems to date.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

My biggest lesson was listen to the numbers and not to your emotions. I was scared because of the negative connotation that goes along with trailer parks etc. Turns out, a deal is a deal. I had a lot more in my power than I realized when it comes to negativity. For instance, I could screen my tenants and make sure I don't put sketchy people in there. It was an empowering lesson to help me overcome future fears

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

I actually did everything myself on this one.

Investment Info:

Mobile home buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $34,000
Cash invested: $2,000

I attended college in a small town and found a niche that I could take advantage of. They have mobile homes that rent for as much or more than SFH's and other college housing. So small capital investment BIG ROI. Is it sexy? Far from it. But I will enjoy my cashflow as people shake their heads and judge. People that see the opportunity are those that I want to surround me and not those who would scoff.
I ran the numbers and found that buying it cash was better than leveraging it because mobile home loans aren't as good as SFH's so that is the only downside. Although on the flip side, if I had done a SFH, I probably would have had a similar down payment 30 years of payment and not much difference in income/cash flow. So I'm not mad about it.

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

I had seen people renting these homes for more money than I could imagine so the numbers seemed inflated... but it turned out to be real.

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

I found it on Zillow listed for 42,000 and I got him down to 34,000 and he paid all closing costs including the inspector fee, all taxes for the year (Bought it in Feb 2021 and he paid through December). I actually almost lost the deal because I was negotiating for an even bigger drop and he gave it to someone else who was willing to pay 34k so I came back and matched that offer and got it.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

How did you add value to the deal?

New appliances and minor cosmetic fixes. $2000 was all I did but it made a HUGE difference, it looked pretty bad before.

What was the outcome?

Steady cash flow, solid tenants, I'm only 8 months in but no problems to date.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

My biggest lesson was listen to the numbers and not to your emotions. I was scared because of the negative connotation that goes along with trailer parks etc. Turns out, a deal is a deal. I had a lot more in my power than I realized when it comes to negativity. For instance, I could screen my tenants and make sure I don't put sketchy people in there. It was an empowering lesson to help me overcome future fears

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

I actually did everything myself on this one.

Hey Billy, I'm pretty new on here also but I've found that people respond pretty well when you take the time and look over the forums and find questions that you know the answers to. You can't sit back and be passive if you are looking to add value. When you go and help them, you earn their trust and that is the most valuable thing out there! So it sounds like you are qualified to help people out so I'm excited to see the good you do!

Thanks for joining us!

It doesn't sound like you are house hacking that duplex so if you are looking for a HELOC on that property just be aware that they can be a little more tricky to obtain. PenFed is one lender that I have heard good reviews on doing a HELOC on an investment property though. I also think it is a good idea asking for help, if you are able to take action, that humility can take you a long way!

Keep growing Nicholas! Good work!

The Book on Investing in Real Estate with no and low money down by Brandon Turner would be a great resource for you! There a million ways to do it if you get creative.

We are in the middle of purchasing our third property and this one will be a house hack with STR in the ADU (AirBnB) so I'm double excited that you are jumping into the arena. Good work!

Hey thanks for the praise but yeah I was 26 when we bought it. My wife was working full time and I was doing school full time and working full time and so we made it work. At that time I knew nothing about real estate except it was probably better to buy than rent... now I'm closing on my third property which will be a house hacked duplex and AirBnb for the other unit. We are pretty excited!

Also I noticed you were from Cincinnati! I lived there for 2 years, I actually have been away for about 4 years now but I sure loved it. I stayed in Norwood and Cincinnati and Miamisburg while I was there. 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $165,000
Cash invested: $14,000

I bought this house just to have a place to live while I went to college. I kind of got screwed over because I knew nothing about real estate but that is exactly what triggered my obsession with learning all about it so that it wouldn't happen again. Then I used the BRRRR strategy and now I have a long term tenant in there and have loved it ever since!