All Forum Posts by: Matt Leber

@Johan Yang you can do it on the full site web version on your computer. I haven’t figured out how to do it on the mobile app. On your laptop, you can go to the “local real estate” forum and there should be a Florida section. Within that Florida section there will be a Tampa specific forum, I’m guessing. I know there is and Orlando one.

Alternatively, you can set the word “Tampa” into your keyword alerts and you will get a notification each time someone types Tampa in a forum. This works on mobile and desktop versions.

@Kalyn Williams as far as issue #2 goes, we faced something very similar. The seller did not want to tell the tenants about the sale before our inspection because he feared they would suspect a sale and leave (they were M2M leases). And if we decided to back out after the inspection, then he would be stuck with unhappy tenants/vacancies and no sale. He instead told the tenants that he was doing an inspection to get a detailed report of what improvements he needed to make to the duplex and I was there because he was getting too old to manage and was hiring me as his new property manager. I was a bit frustrated with how it was handled but I didn’t feel it was my place to go tell them when I wasn’t even sure we were going to go through with it since we hadn’t done our inspection yet. And they were long distance properties so I wasn’t going to go drive there a second time multiple hours away just to tell them I was buying. I’m sure they had a hunch anyway that he was selling.

Needless to say that 2/4 tenants (it was 2 duplexes) moved out immediately when they learned the sale was going through. So you can expect that. But we benefited in the end, because we were able to raise the rent over $100 per door with relatively little reno work. Good luck!

@Lauren Milam I would say once it’s showable you can begin officially marketing it. Although, it depends what’s in your lease. Some landlords have a clause that allows them to show the unit before the existing tenants move out. But if you are planning on doing some minor maintenance anyway, might as well wait until the unit is clean and showable. It’s tax refund season, so you should have a nice pool of renters who have recently gotten a sum of money. This should be one of the easiest times of the year to find tenants as long as you price it right. If it sits longer than 30-40 days after you start marketing, you might consider dropping the price. Good luck!

@Ashley Massis Class I'm not very familiar with your area, but if you are looking at townhomes, be especially aware of HOA fees. In my market, townhomes are priced lower and appear on the surface to be great cash flowing properties, until you run into that darn HOA fee. Typically, we find that HOAs are much more expensive on TH than single family. Just something to be aware of when running your numbers.

@Tessa Burks do you have an avenue already set up for accessing the equity in your home? Such as a HELOC? If not, it may take some time to close the cash out refi or HELOC. It typically involves getting an appraisal and other closing cost items. From my experience, you can't really use that $20k unless you have a way to pull it out.

Also, do you have the 20-25% down plus closing costs to close a conventional loan on a multi family? You’ll find most conventional lenders will require 25% on non-owner occupied multis, or usually at least 20%. Although I’m sure there are some exceptions.

@Austin Eddy welcome! Can you be more specific in what you are seeing in the properties you are analyzing? It might just be that some parts of central Florida are becoming more difficult to find cash flow properties right now. Which is true! What areas are you looking in? We typically use the 1% rule to narrow down our list and then select a subset from there that we think will be the best properties to do full cash flow analysis on. From there, you choose the best cash flow performer or a combination of best area/performance from the list.

@Stephanie Parrish welcome! I’m not in Chattanooga but I did propose to my wife there on Lookout Mountain at Sunset Rock. Beautiful area! We have since done a few deals, investing in Central Florida and Jacksonville! Good luck on your journey, just here to encourage!

@Joseph Bennett you'll have a stressful issue if you run into a capex problem early on. I would wait a bit if I were you. Most of the multifamilies I have been seeing in Central Florida (Orlando at least) are overpriced to begin with - and they need capex rehab on top of it. If you can find a perfectly "like-new" multifamily, you will probably be OK, but those seem like a rarity. Also, you don't have enough savings if you're financing conventionally. If you are doing FHA that would be a different story.

If it makes you feel better, my wife and I are also in our mid 20s and have similar earnings/savings as you. We are in a “keep some cash on the sidelines” mindset right now with the way the market is. It may be valuable to have that liquidity if markets correct. That being said, I’m not able to time the market. If a great deal was in front of us we would still pull the trigger. At a savings rate of $2k/mo you’ll have a nice reserve in very little time. You’re in a good position. Don’t rush in and stretch yourself too thin. Good luck!

@Ariadne Latorre I would argue that I am invested in Orlando. I selected my primary residence in Lake Nona Orlando by running the numbers as if it was a rental. It would provide me ~$300 per month in cash flow if I moved out today and it’s a class A property that would attract good tenants. I live there and househack one of our bedrooms to a friend who is a manager at the nearby Boggy Creek Amazon fulfillment center. My mortgage/tax/insurance to live in such a great area are only $550/mo. Can’t live anywhere else in Orlando for that little. That being said, it will eventually become part of my strictly “investment” portfolio.

We have made offers on a few places in Orlando in the last 3 years and were bid up to the point where it would have been foolish to chase price. We have had to use walk away power, the competition is higher here. When we are in buying mode, we are simultaneously looking in other counties as well. We just happened to land more deals outside of Orange County so far than in it. Buts it’s only been 3 years since we started investing. Orlando is still a target area for us, but not the only target.

@Jeremy Schanderl nice job! My wife and I also househack out a room in our starter home. Great strategy!