All Forum Posts by: Matthew John

@Kyle Schlosser I buy in Metro Detroit (suburbs). I live here & grew up here. I've pretty much narrowed down my ideal places to invest down to a few Zip codes. Too many people try out of State investing here without a good team on the ground and get burned. 

I'm happy to connect with out of towners! 

@Zevi Arem I got bank loans for them both with my own money. I had to bring in 2 different credit partners because I don’t have a normal W2 job, but I had cash for down payment. My next deal I am partnering with a noob, but they can bring some value to the table & it’ll allow me to keep going. Looking at bringing in a private money lender or hard money lender for deal #3 now that I have some credibility under my belt.

@Deodat Ramdat It's in a rough spot. Why did you choose down there?

I started researching on BP in May 2018. I bought my first and second deal 4 days apart in August 2018.

Bought a turnkey Duplex & a BRRRR. Looking for deal 3 right now.

To answer your question - You should start looking right away. 

@Deodat Ramdat Whereabouts in Detroit?

Income & Evictions are most important to meet. Originally I put 600 credit and higher, but quickly found out that most people have 500s. No cats is a must for me. I also said no dogs but almost everyone has a dog. 

I also ask for 1.5x rent for security deposit + first month's rent + cleaning fee up front. 

I like to be flexible, but when I'm flexible I ask for more up front and do shorter lease terms. If everything is going good after a short term, we can sign a longer term lease. 

@Melissa Dunn If I was in your position then I would just set a flat fee. It's kind of like a Wholesale deal. You're finding the property and they're paying for it, only difference is you aren't renting it out (I don't think), selling it, or living in it. 

You should get a fee (whatever you think is appropriate) for finding the property and doing the leg work and also managing the rehab. 

You can structure it however you want, but to me it would make sense to just do it like a Wholesale and take a 'finders' and 'rehab management' fee. 

@Eric P. What are your goals? Have you considered buying with crash, fixing, and refinancing into a bank loan? Have you considered partnering up with someone either as a short term lender or cash partner?

I don't have a regular job either, but I've still managed to get deals going by using some creative strategies. 

Also curious where you're at in MI because I'm from Metro Detroit. 

@Ryan Alacon If you're looking in the Midwest, you should consider Metro Detroit. I'm seeing massive expansion downtown through the Automotive industry. Ford is building, GM is building, Chrysler is building, and Cadillac just moved their HQ back here. 

I'm not talking about downtown, either. I focus on areas near their tech center and plants in the suburbs. There is a solid, growing, working class market here with a great 5 year outlook. 

Plenty of opportunity here in that 50k - 100k range that rent for $1000/month or more. 

I see many California investors get smoked trying to buy, rehab, and manage property without doing the research. They buy houses on the wrong street and have constant issues. You really need boots on the ground in the Midwest if you're going to invest, but the rewards are certainly worth it!

It's a case-by-case basis. 

I actually just purchased a Duplex where I was able to add value to it & increase rent by leveraging the lack of internet. 

With my Duplex, the upstairs tenant cannot access internet on his own because Comcast doesn't see the house as 2 units. The previous owner was charging $795 for the bottom and $575 for the top. After purchasing my own modem and adding basic internet services, I successfully raised the top unit $25/month to $600/m and the bottom unit to $1000/m. 

The top unit was already rented out when I purchased it, but adding that small amount of value to the bottom unit worked well with my listing because no one else was offering it. 

To me, this was the only solution. Otherwise I'm hoping tenants get along and share the internet/work our arrangements. I would rather control the situation and make sure everyone is happy!