All Forum Posts by: Max Ferguson

First off, I am not in your market so information may be slightly different. For anyone I talk to Zllow and apartments.com have been big ones around here. If your MLS allows rentals on there, I believe it will get pushed to every marketing site like Zillow and Trulia but I may be incorrect.

For Mid-term make sure to post on furnished finder. Short term Air bnb/vrbo/etc...

If it is a high traffic street make sure to put a sign out front and if the city allows on the major intersection leading up to it. 

Good luck and let us know what you find!

Do you have the money to construct an ADU? Not from ND so could be wrong here, but guessing that will be another at least 50-100k. Buy a property that is already multifamily that covers your cost basis, you can get creative after that. You need something stable for your first investment. Leverage the VA loan into a duplex-quadplex and go from there. You may still have to pay in a bit but should be far less than what rent would cost. You are also adding to your net worth each month by paying down the mortgage and incurring appreciation on the property.


Talk to a local investor to see the viability of what you are after, in a market like that it isn't too much of an ask. Buying sooner is generally better than waiting as you have no clue what will happen to the market. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

If there is anyway a lender can push through a small downpayment loan for them, this may be your best bet. Maybe as an incentive you could provide the 3-5% down and pay closing, then maybe you agree to a purchase price that is 180k if it will appraise for that. 

What is the current rent? Would a 5% down loan make sense for them, could they swing the mortgage vs the rent you charge? If they can, then you can definitely get creative here. 

Otherwise, sell to a different investor, if the place is near or slightly below market rate it should sell quickly. I understand if that is not possible though. 

Keep us updated, good luck!

Butcher can be gorgeous but with the 100's of STR's I've seen around my town I think only 1 or 2 had them at most. Tenants will use them to cut, they will need to be sanded every year, possibly sooner.

Much easier to take care of a different countertop. If you do decide to go butcher block, get some glass or plexi-glass to place on top. At that point you may be spending more than a nicer looking, cheap, solid stone option. 

Tough call, sounds like something is going on with her though. Pretty entitled to be thinking that way when you can't afford a place. Like others have said, if this is the tenant's thinking, may be just don't mess with it till she's out. If I wasn't able to pay my rent I would happily have my landlord show the property as it shows I can help them out as well. The landlord may charge me less or even no backrent. Sounds like something fishy is going on and she wants you to bow to her will and "wait" to see if funds clear. She gets the best of both world in this scenario, bully tactic if you ask me. May be I misintrepeted though. 

Keep us updated and good luck!

Hey man, unless Des moines has seen a stark increase in rents, I would guess you aren't going to be able to fill it at $2300. Anywhere other than Des Moines I definitely believe it is not doable. Don't just do a deal to do one, you may shoot yourself in the foot here. 

Anyone in eastern Iowa able to service $2300 in rent will be able to buy a very nice house for a similar number, something to consider. I would assume lots of turnover as most tenants will be looking to purchase eventually. 

You need to look up comparable rents for similar properties in the area to figure out if it is feasible. 

I hope I answered some of the stuff on their for you, but there is a ton of information to be addressed. I would say hold off, the deal doesn't make too much sense in my eyes. I can give you a more in depth explanation if you want to chat on the phone. DM me for my number if that interests you.  Let me know how it goes, thanks!

@Hamp Lee III has this one in the bag, definitely go the correct route and hire appropriately. 

@Ryan Thomson is one of the most knowledgeable house hackers in our area (co springs), so maybe reach out to him first to see if he has any tips on what to instruct the lawyers to include. 

Lastly, you need to find someone local who is doing something similar. Pay them a consultation fee if necessary. This will definitely save you some headache in the long run and quite possibly a ton of money in case something is glossed over in the lease. Good luck!

@Greg Scott is correct. As a previous apartment acquisition analyst we ran the numbers vs their proforma (always pumped) to see what a viable number was for our company. Take gross revenue and minus expenses in the easiest of terms. There are some fantastic calculators online, especially this site. Reach out to other investors locally to make sure there is no taxes/excess fees from laws/excess fees in general that you are not accounting for. Good luck!

Check out Air DNA first, go from there. I'm sure there is a local meetup you could find as well! Talk to as many folks as possible. Tidbits of information can save you unfathomable amounts of money through the process. Good luck!

I love @Ben Firstenberg 's numbers on this. A very nice outline of what to expect. I implore you to do these three things before you jump in:

1. Go to your local real estate meetup, talk to as many investors as possible. I'm talking as many as you can, an uncomfortable number. You will thank yourself later for this. Get a feel for what local syndications and acquisition deals are. Every market is slightly different but Ben provided a nice baseline of range for you to expect. Talking with folks that have previously done these types of deals will help greatly, and could give you some ideas for branching out on your own in case the partnership doesn't work. 

2. REALLY consider who you are partnering with. Do they truly want to be a passive investor? I turn down people almost weekly now because it is a large risk to partner with someone who is not of extreme high net worth. It is a horrible truth about our country but consider if one of them gets sick, a freak accident etc... Will these people have enough money to not need to liquidate everything at a possible loss?

3. Leading in from the last statement, create a SOLID exit plan. A contract written by a lawyer that strictly outlines return ranges, clauses if something extreme happens, how long you plan to hold, etc... This can really save you in the event that something happens. You need the security just as much as your investors, if not more. For me, this is a non-negotiable point of the process. You are essentially marrying your financials to these individuals by creating a deal like this. 

These are just my thoughts, and most deals normally go off without a hitch. I like to warn folks as to the pitfalls of deals like this as it could financially ruin you for years. "Multifamily millionaire" is a great book to check out about acquisitions and structuring deals with other folks. It helped a lot to learn how acquisitions work, and was especially cool to read it while working at an acquisitions company that used a very similar strategy. Good luck and keep us updated!