All Forum Posts by: Michael Plante

The person I'm the mirror.

Why - because no one has more incentive than you to outperform the  PM that is trying to fill 100 other properties too.

Plus, easy to self manage from your phone and save the 30% PM fee.

@Michael Plante, I'm not really sure how to answer your question except to say that I just have not found work that is suitable for me. I'm guessing you're believing the narrative peddled by the media that there are just soooo many jobs available just waiting to be filled. IF there are, then those are the jobs that pay far less than I'm used to being paid and so I'm not going to take a minimum wage job just to say "I'm back to work". And I'm not going to start working as a sales clerk at Forever 21 which might pay a few cents more than minimum wage but since I have no experience in retail, I'd probably still start at minimum wage.

I'd rather keep looking for work in corporate, government and the nonprofit sectors where I have years of experience and can expect a salary that factors in my experience. In the meantime as I continue my job hunt(I said this in one of my earlier messages here), I am seeing if & how I can make the most of money I have and excellent credit to get into RE investing by starting out with a simple, quick cosmetic fix & flip. I have no wild dreams that my first or even my second project would make me rich either. I want the experience. If I can make $20 or $30k in the process, that'll be great. I would start 2022 with some experience under my belt and working relationships established.

Thanks for asking though.

Hi all,

I'm reading here on BiggerPockets and other places of how it is totally possible to start investing in RE doing fix & flips with no money down or very little AND without having current income. I think I might've read something about that in Rental Property Investing by @Brandon Turner, if not, I definitely read it somewhere here in BiggerPockets. 

My situation is that while I am still looking for work, I want to make the most of my excellent credit and the money that I have. I'm looking at various HML's trying to find one who best fit my needs and I'm looking for quick, cosmetic fixes that cost no more than $150k to buy and no more than $15k to fix up that'll have an arv in the $185-$200k range.

These numbers are based solely off of my own cash on hand. With the right HML obviously I could look for slightly more expensive fixers and have a larger rehab budget but I still want my first project to be super simple, not a gut job or anything that needs more than 21 days to complete.

Is there anyone here who started out this way and "against the odds" successfully completed a project through to selling and making a profit? I'd love to here from you.

Thanks all!

Steven

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!

Person A buys a $100k house, pays all cash (into it for $100k).

Person B buys $100k in balanced index funds (into it for $100k).

Person C buys a $100k house, putting 25% down (into it for just $25k).

Person D keeps $100k in a checking account (into it for $100k).

OMG INFLATION!!! WE JUST HAD 20% INFLATION OVER X YEARS!! (If I could predict X, I'd have a crystal ball)

Let's grant that this inflation is perfectly distributed across all asset classes but checking accounts and greenbacks. We're just going to use nice round simple numbers. Gallon of milk is up 20%, gas is up 20%, wages are in theory (lol) up 20%, gold/silver up 20%, bitcoin went up 1000% then dropped 980% 2 milliseconds later (good luck at that casino, and props if you win, someone has to), so it's up 20%, rent is up 20%, stocks on average are up 20%, you get the idea. The dollar is basically down 20%, that's what inflation is, the same $1 gets you 20% less of everything. Same coin, two sides.

Person A has a $120k house. Net worth value, $120k. Into it for $100k. Not bad, picked up $20k on $100k.

Person B  has $120k in stocks. Net worth value, $120k. Into it for $100k. Not bad, picked up $20k on $100k.

Person C has a $120k house that they owe $75k on. Net worth value = $120k - $75k = 45k. Into it for $25k. Picked up $20k on $25k. Hold the phone.

Person D has $100k in a checking account. Into it for $100k, still has $100k, but groceries are 20% more expensive... whoops. Clearly this is last place.

Person A turned $100k into $120k in net worth. Person B turned $100k into $120k in net worth. Tied.

Consider that C turned $25k into +$20k in net worth. Everyone else had to come in with $100k to make $20k. They came in with $25k to make $20k... Persons A and B started richer, and remain richer, but person C is actually gaining ground, A and B are just treading water with inflation. 

Consider further that maybe Person C isn't poorer than the other 3. Maybe Person C has the same $100k like everyone else. Great, that means Person C could have picked up 4 houses for $100k a pop (25% down each) before the inflation, each now worth $120k... into it for $100k like everyone else, net worth value $180k.

Buying stocks has significantly lower closing costs than houses, so Person B would actually beat Person A, but C would still come out ahead. Closing costs are why I'm not convinced that buying real estate free/clear is really that great of a hedge against inflation. If we assume that equal application of inflation, and we're JUST looking at inflation, stocks come out ahead (There are real life reasons why real estate might [& often does] come out ahead of stocks, we're JUST looking at inflation here, with a very simplified model).

Originally posted by @Scott Mac:

What @James Wisesaid.

Plus, 60 amps, that might be old 110V service and those old fabric covered wires.

The flickering and surging might be the OLDEN DAYS fabric wires arcing inside the walls (a fire on it's way to starting).

Even if the outlets have 3 prong holes and you see some ROMEX, it doesn't mean they redid the whole system with ROMEX, there will be hidden from view junction boxes that might still have old wire in them, or old plastered over live wires.

Fix it quick--flickering and surging is not a good thing--it's very dangerous.

You may be forced by law to bring it up to current code, GFCI Breakers, etc... ($$$$)

And make sure the smoke detectors are up (not expired) and working properly.

I shudder to think how you will feel if someone burns to death in there.

>>>>What @James Wise said<<<< Get a GOOD Licenced Electrician in there ASAP...

And some of those old houses have no fire stops inside the walls, meaning they go up in flames very, very quickly.

Make sure the electrician "Pulls the needed Permits" and is licenced and has good references.

Yikes! Thanks for all tips I'm on it,  and working on finding a good licensed electrician.  Here's the panel at the house for any experts on here.  Like I said I've never had any power complaints with previous tenants with the 60 amps. I'll upgrade but still want her out of there.