All Forum Posts by: Mikael Winkler

@Mandee H. You may already be doing this, but I would look at the smaller, perhaps local, lending institutions. They may be more willing to work with you if your DTI isn't ideal. You're less of a rinse and repeat formula to them than you may be working with a larger bank haha

@Alex Brandt Congratulations! I see you closed in January? How've things been going for you with the property?

@Nick Love Usually, I'm an early riser. TYPICALLY up by 5:30am, at the latest. I like to get up and workout first thing to take care of my body. I think physical fitness is extremely important, as it carries over into may other aspects of life. I usually then make some time to meditate, 10-15 minutes of silent sitting. Getting the mind right, and re-centering perspective, is probably the most important thing someone can do, in my opinion, if they want to see success. However, if I don't manage to do that routine certain days, I also don't beat myself up. Which I used to do - harshly.

By nature, I'm anxious and prone to stress. So, Real Estate can really send me on a roller coaster mentally and emotionally much of the time. Recently, I've been reading a lot of Zen/Daoist principles to help me keep everything in perspective. It's easy to fall into that trap of feeling like you need to work 25 hours a day to be successful. But, if you're burned out, and not in a good frame of mind, 24 of those hours will probably be subpar.

@Chen Lerner I would definitely recommend reading Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene. I think that will give you a solid base of how to go about investing at distance strategically. It certainly can be done, I believe. You just have to be really deliberate about building a solid team you can trust...and someone in that market to hold that team accountable. 

What I will say about Columbus, and like @Remington Lyman, I'm biased because I live here, is it is a great, growing market. The metro area is rapidly appreciating, with plenty of opportunity for value-add through rehab. We're projected to add roughly one million people in the next 30 years, as economic growth continues, and those people will need solid places to live. With major national and regional companies like Nationwide and Huntington, "unicorn" tech startups like CoverMyMeds and Root, as well as, numerous development projects around the city, Columbus is poised for tremendous growth. Again, I'm biased because I was born and raised here. So, do you're own research and select whatever market fits your investing goals!

There are a few people working in Columbus, from what I've heard. 

P.S. I do still get some of @Mohammed Adam's central Ohio deals in my inbox. 

@Chen Lerner I do agree with the above that Columbus is a great market to invest in. Still tons of opportunity to find value-add deals that can cashflow and build appreciation. However, I would first live here on BP and soak up as much info as you can. Be on the forums, listen to the podcasts, continue to ask questions, like you are here. 

As you build a solid knowledge base, your goals will probably come into focus organically. Whether that's investing in some of the markets you mentioned, or your own market. As @Jonathan Greene mentioned, don't just immediately dismiss your own market because you've heard certain others are good. Once that knowledge and goals are developed, you very well may discover your market is perfectly viable for what you're looking to do.

Ahhh gotcha. That's not too bad, though. What has your experience been like with Plaid Properties? I have a crew that I'm happy with, but it never hurts to have too many contacts potentially. Do they handle all aspects of renovation/construction, or did you have to contract certain things to others, like electrical, plumbing, etc?

Thank you all for the input! It does seem like the consensus is to go for existing SF value add opportunities, as opposed to building. If the goal is enough equity to HELOC. Only reason it popped into mind is there's a decent amount of land for sale in the area we're interested in, much more land than existing homes that need work.

Hello BP!

I have a general question about building single family. Theoretically, as long as one is buying in an appreciating area, would the after-build value of a new build single family generally be higher than cost to build?

Reason being, my family is at the point, in which, we want to put down roots long term. But whatever home we buy, I want to have enough equity in, with the intention of taking out a HELOC to continue investing in rentals.

My initial thought was to buy a fixer upper to force that appreciation and HELOC after rehab. But, I'm now wondering the feasibility of buying land and building, with the value of the finished home being enough to HELOC after completion. I know it depends on area, cost to build, etc, but more generally, is that a viable way to think about it? Does anyone potentially have experience with that?

Thanks!

@Ryan Mainwaring

That’s the truth! Hopefully you didn’t have any unexpected “guests”! How long did the renovation take?