All Forum Posts by: Matt Lawrence

I have a good idea how to estimate how much my home insurance will cost when buying a SFR - $100k usually around $1500/year, but in seeking our 1st apartment complex, are there any recommendations? I.E., $500k 10 unit property, should I estimate the cost to be 5x of the 100k SFR? $7,500/year? I assume it would be higher but don't have any experience yet on the commercial side.

Any help would be appreciated. 

I'm interested in seeing an accurate analysis too, not a pro here so hopefully some knowledgeable people see this. I will say the vacancy rate @ 5% should probably be measured closer to 10%, good luck to you. 

@Account Closed has the right idea if it would fit with the property. In Tulsa in a decent neighborhood, a home that size 2/1 rents for 8/850 & a 3rd bedroom would add at least $50 to that. With this being your 1st property, make sure to start the rent price higher than average because you can always reduce the price after 1/2 weeks of of searching for the right tenant.

Without knowing the neighborhood, I would assume your rent would be lowest 750 & highest 900 but its good to have your estimate rent at the low end, just telling you realistically what to expect. Good luck

@Shawn Mcenteer Did he happen to specify what % the broker withheld? Last I remember 3% was the standard rate but I could be off; confusing it with an agents take.

Great, thank you @Andy Collins @Nicole A. for the ideas. @Shawn Mcenteer that is something I considered last year but was told by my lender I would be pre approved If I would show a higher profit than I did the year before so I forgot about that option (broker).

I play both cash & tournaments but more cash now as you can see in my results I played more tournaments in 2010/2011.

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=120976

Looks like I have some things to consider next week where I hope I find something that fits.

Are there any other ideas? Should I consider putting the future homes in someone else's name & partner with them to create a business where I do all/most of the work? I assume I couldn't use any of the tax benefits which would greatly minimize my chances of doing that.

Could I have friends put it in their name then transfer the deed to me & put in LLC or does that require pre-approval as well? I'm trying to explore everything possible before I make a decision on my future.

Yes Sophia, that is definitely something I need to explore. After talking to some friends about my situation, I was planning on making a list of local credit unions & newer banks looking for business.

Also, maybe I should target different types of loans? Before I was seeking a 30year fixed 20% down but I should be open to any loan if I'm getting shut down. Am I assuming right that there are some loans I could be pre approved for?

yes but then I'm using my own money & wouldn't be able to accumulate as many properties as I want to. It is an option but I just see it limiting my overall goals. Thank you for the idea

I have been trying to get pre approved for almost 2 years now. I now have a credit score of 800, have enough money to cash buy 3+ homes & because of my job I cannot be financed.

I am a professional poker player & file taxes as a professional gambler. I have been doing it for 6 years now & have filed taxes every year to show for. My lender recently notified me that freddie mac & fannie Mae guidelines have changed that don't count gambling income as "income".

This puts me in a bad position as I want to invest in more homes, but without getting financed I'm limited on what I can do & at this moment I don't want to change jobs because of this change. I only have 1 investment property currently as I had to get a co-signer (my mom). I have thought about different ways I could purchase homes - continue to find a co-signer & pay them a fee? Find investors & put in their name & I manage it & we split the profits? Start to find bigger investors so I can cash buy homes? (which would be hard to find a way to pay back their investment $80,000 - 10% return on a 6 year plan would be $1482/month & I rent for approximately $1k/month).

In this situation I felt the BiggerPockets community could help. Are there options that I am missing? ( I'm sure there are :)) What would some of you do in my situation if you wanted to progressively obtain rental properties long-term to have 100+?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Matt

yes we have the right documents in place, as we did when we first started, to show the proper ownership aligned accurately.

I think we now feel its best to part our ways as far as ownership is concerned so thank you for the feedback.