All Forum Posts by: Michael K Gallagher

I'd have to 1 up what @Matt Devincenzo says here. In my experience after owning and operating the rental for a year or so and filing the returns you essentially end up canceling out the "debt" portion of the DTI. So yes your debt is tech higher, but the income balances it and the ratio ends up being the same if not better. I'd much rather have this situation than a partner personally.

option B is still the way to go, to your point its still flexible in use, but more flexible in exit strategy.  having more bedrooms to be has a point of diminishing returns, at a certain point i feel you'd start sacrificing the quality of life and "product" you are offering.  

I don't know if anyone is tracking this specifically but I can tell you that in my market unless its an investment type deal where the buyer is getting a substantial discount, sellers are still very much paying commissions as part of the deal.  We are using it as a leverage point for lower offer numbers thought.

the devil is always in the details.  what are the leases like, who is responsible for large cap improvements like the parking lot etc?  what are the terms on those leases?  any options to renew?  these all will have an impact on the deal.  and to another point here, what's the surrounding market like to release the space when one tenant leaves? is the building and space such that you can easily plug a similar user in the space and be off and running?  or are you going to have to offer free rent or TIA to attract a new tenant?

@Adam Macias would have to agree with this sentiment.  Not something I'm currently utilizing, but makes a lot of sense to me. I find that when done well you are taking a very very targeted approach either at a specific building, lot, or house, or maybe a specific neighborhood and subdivision but it does seem to work best when focused and intentional.

@Shara Lear doesn't matter what platform or program it is, biggest challenge is consistently wearing it and actually doing what it tells you to do.  they all do the same stuff.

@James McGovern unless you've done some kind of controlled study selling identical homes and properties with "premium" and "discount" agents and somehow have a control variable, I'm not seeing how you could possibly have any actual data or facts to back up such a statement. 

@Melissa Johnstone similar idea to what was said already, but if ther is a mtm lease there shouldn't be anything keeping the seller from delivering the property with 1 unit vacant.  if you plan to live in one unit simply make that a stipulation of your offer.  The seller should be able to give notice and with enough closing time can deliver the unit vacant....unless I'm missing something?

@Krista Goodrich love this, thank you for sharing.  I like that you mentioned your "model" meaning you are doing this with intention and that tells me you're a great operator.  

Would love to hear more about the renovation and what you specifically did to the house to have it meet your needs.

@Samuel Gates Don't have any specific experience doing this in that specific area, but it is really case by case dependent.  A huge determination will be what is currently there and to your point how involved the separate run for each utility is.  Adding a sub meter type system will usually be less expensive than separate Utility runs.  

I'd also assume it matters how physically long the run for each will be.  

I've also been in some buildings that would require pretty significant work to the HVAC units to have the controls and such be separated and functional also.  You really want to make sure you get a full idea of the current situation and what will be required to get to your end goal.  In other words is there 1 furnace running the whole building, or is there two seperate systems on separate controls?