All Forum Posts by: Andy Luick

Great share guys.....that's the power of BP....people on the ground, in the marketplace offering advice. Love it!

I buy quite a few townhouses but you have to be very careful with them....especially if they are financed...I only buy with cash. HOAs usually control what's going to happen...get the wrong board and a special assessment and your tiny monthly return can become a negative very quickly. I like townhouses for a variety of reasons but try to do one where you don't have an HOA, where you have plenty of parking and try for an end unit. Visit the property weekday, nighttime and weekend to get a feel for what's really going on. If you have the parking, I'd find one where you have a basement to finish off for an additional room...and rent the other bedrooms separately. You'll have little vacancy once it gets rents and your net rent will be 2x to 3xs what you'd get otherwise.

Cash-on-cash returns look terrific on a deal like this IF everything does as planned! However, you can take that same $13k and JV with the right group to get a straight 15% return with almost no risk and no work on your part. If it doesn't goes per the plan....your winner becomes a LOSER that someone like me will pick up and turn into a winner again. With the right program, the real money to be made in real estate isn't made by long term ownership....it's buy, fix, rent...sell....and do it all over again. Happy Investing.

Just network like crazy....and give newbie wholesalers a moment of your time...every once in awhile one will surprise you although I have many of them shilling me the same property at different terms. Personally, i'd get rid of the license or have your significant other get one. I think it places you at a disadvantage with disclosures. Networking is key...and not dickering is the other. I pay what they ask for the properties unless it's trashed and their pricing isn't even in the ballpark. Also, close your deal no matter what. Most wholesalers have tied the property up with earnest money and need to do a simultaneous close....I have several that give me a few days heads start on their listings because they know I am going to close no matter what.. A couple of them I steer deals to that I either have no interest in or it's their area of specialty...like HUD and i don't mind paying $5k more for it when they have the system and connections to get it for me.

@Dewayne Gammel - good point Dewayne and that is certainly true of every american city or market...same with atlanta. i am doing a 3/2 now in what some would consider a war zone but I've known the block for almost 15 years and it's solid....venture 1/4 mile in any direction and it's pure war zone. We will have about $45k in this with purchase and repairs, it will net rent...not gross...net rent for $1,000 a month and will be sold off for about $90k.

Like I said, there are a bunch of solid posters here on BP from memphis. It helps that the investor here grew up in the area...might be an awesome block but something that went for $200/mo could never be that good unless it was rented to family. Just be super careful. I think it was memphis where a landlord was recently shot to death collecting rent...or attempting to.

I would contact the local real estate investing association and see if they have any referrals for you. If you have family members who can keep an eye on it or collect the rent.....great...but most tenants in these kinds of areas don't even have a bank account so it makes collect the rent tough.

Can't tell you what to do but this sounds like, not to insult you, a ghetto rental. Memphis is like other cities...except it's typically at the top of murder lists...the war zone areas are very tough to rent manage in. There are a number of posters here from memphis who can help but I would strongly suggest that you pay someone to rent AND manage...if you can find them. Otherwise, your rental is likely to have a revolving door. I just had a memphis investor join us yesterday after he sold several units he had there....he couldn't keep management or tenants and the repairs/vandalism ate him up. These units always hit the 2% rule....if they stay rented....but they rarely do so be careful..happy investing!

If you took those houses and turned them into shared housing as I do....I realize a totally different model....then you are effectively turning a single family into a multi-family with a much higher net rent. We get 3x's the net rents on our units and that's how we sell them to back-end investors. I love BP but I think it's utterly ridiculous for people to invest making $100 a door as I've seen discussed here elsewhere. Mark seems to be hitting great numbers and must know his market very well. Being an agent helps in accessing current market information but it can hamper you on the buy side when you have to disclose it and every seller thinks you know some secret or that they must be giving the property away. I got tired of disclosing it so I gave my license back. I understand that Mark is flipping retail and that's a whole different animal...I've done those too. The key to successful investing is finding the right niche, exploiting it and/or partnering with those who can exploit the niche fully. Most of the successful investors here are buying off-market deals through private sources...by the time it's hits the MLS in most major markets, you're already too late. 90% of what I buy if off-market but I am in huge market so the numbers might be different for others. Thanks for sharing

There must be other things going on here...can't see why you would even begin to think of suing someone over late fees. If it wasn't addressed in your agreement/contract with the property manager and he/she had no contractual obligation to collect it....you're out of luck. In most PM agreements, late fees go to the PM and do so for a variety of reasons. It's time consuming to chase down tenants. The PM might have to make multiple trips to the property. Where was the property? If it's inner city you were very lucky to even get the rent for 3 years. The property manager didn't get a paid anything extra for chasing your tenant around for 3 years. Everyone is so quick to run to the courts...and guess what....it's a utter waste of time. Principles are very expensive and you might be right but suing gets costly. Plus, getting a judgment is only 1% of the process...collecting on it is the other 99%. Just bear that in mind. I've been the PM and the investor and been on both sides of the issue. I just want the rent paid...if the PM gets a late fee, I could care a less. I actually pay my PMs a bonus if the rent is paid on time for 6 or 12 months. Happy Investing!

I like Bill's idea - but for me, absolutely not. Ask yourself this - would you buy a puppy from these people? Probably not...that means a tenant with multiple dogs in your house. I'd send him a notice certified mail informing him that there are more than enough dogs in the world and that you don't wish to permit this in your property. He's likely to do it anyway from the sounds of it. Give most tenants and inch and they will take a mile. Where in Arizona is this? Phoenix?

FYI - on the master, we'd get prob $750 to $850 for it and the 2 rooms sharing the bath would prob go for $650 to $700...just depends on the unit. It will cashflow better, the net rent will be higher and the resale value will be based on a cap rate applied against net rent....

Become a Pro member here and take it over to marketplace. The numbers look tight but depending on where it was in sandy springs...I'd fix it up, rent it as shared housing and sell out of it...just make sure there aren't any rental restrictions on the unit first.....Happy Investing!