All Forum Posts by: Pat Lulewicz

Your HOA may cover your lawn; case by case. Sometimes they only do front. Sometimes both.

Your HOA may cover pest control, but that's something to consider.

Regular Maintenance - within the 1st year on a new build, you shouldn't pay for anything. The builder warranty should cover you but make sure you read ALL the docs thoroughly; this is the biggest advantage of buying a new build, so use it A LOT. Also, make sure that around month 9, 10 or 11, you get a THOROUGH home inspection done so the builder can repair any/all items that fall under the warranty up to that 1-year mark. Finally - make sure you register HVAC and appliances. Most HVAC systems will have a 5-year parts warranty; you need to register it to get 10 yr.

Water/Sewer/Trash/Recycling is usually under the same bill through the City. Some HOA's may cover 1 or multiple of these 4. Each neighborhood is different, especially with new builds, since they can straddle cities/counties or be unincorporated, but generally speaking you will be responsible for all of the above 4.

This staging company looks like they got you. Were they affiliated or recommended by the mastermind? Would really love to get that answer? That is robbery for a 2/1.

Mastermind seems HIGH ticket for an STR tutorial. I personally wouldn't include a mastermind in your "cash invested" or ROIsince that's just a general/high lever business expense, not an investment in any particular. This also goes for what you're grouping into OpEx...some are just overall business management so the asset looks worse because of your accounting for them.

Overall though, $6k of cash flow, $Xk of principal paydown, tax benefits, and 3% appreciation seems like a fantastic investment. People seem to forget their guests are paying down a mortgage and the taxes you're saving is real dollars...consider rerunning your calc to improve your perspective. 

Don't forget RE isn't a 3 year hold...10 years (less with other benefits from above included) is not a long period of time with a physical asset. It sounds as just like you got pulled in with a mastermind class for $10k, you see shiny objects like crypto or stocks going up and think your approach/investment is bad. You need to take a 30-50 year approach.

@Logan Carter like everyone has said, y'all need to read the lease to get your answer on what each situation's requirements are, including  the month-to-month scenario. My leases revert to month-to-month unless written notice is given that we're offering only an annual renewal option. If it reverts back to M2M, a 30 day notice is required to terminate the lease from either party to the other.

Depending on the location that you would be comfortable with or the level of renovation you're willing to take on, its getting very hard to find something like this in your price point (for turn key) or that will cash flow after renovations and occupancy.

@Jaron Walling generally speaking I would agree, but in the Triangle, there's probably less chance that he'd be successful in finding an existing multi where it would make sense. Plus location of existing multi's that are "affordable" hurts the cash flow numbers. On the flip side, having more choice in location with an existing product could be advantageous to both his personal life and the earnings potential; add in the second unit having the potential of being a STR/MTR and location becomes even more important.

The contract/permit side CAN be challenging location by location; assuming he's working with someone who knows what they're doing, Raleigh makes it easier to get permits for these larger "small scale" projects than Durham.

Assuming that you are thinking of finding/converting a basement unit: There's some opportunity in Raleigh for this type of conversion, but they are definitely far and few between, and price point will generally make it prohibitive since they are in higher priced pockets. There are many more of this type of property in Durham as older homes with basements are still price accessible.

To make it a "legal" or permitted duplex, the process is definitely cost and permit intensive, and in most cases may require you to use a GC or similarly licensed tradesman for parts of the project. Review each cities Codes before getting too far down the rabbit hole so you aren't disappointed when you're under contract or post-closing.

What are your cash flow/ROI expectations and what calculations/assumptions are you making to get there? Is it $1 per month when you subtract PITI from rent? Or is it $200/m with 10% Capex/Maint baked in?

Take a look at areas such as Burlington, Mebane and Graham (Alamance), and Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem (Triad). These markets are very large in NC (comparable and larger than Fayetteville) providing for great economics as well as a more diverse employment base.

Doing a renovation is not as intimidating if you have the right team that can provide you comfort with before-and-after's of other projects they've done, plus accurate $s surrounding those projects. You just have to decide if Purchase + Reno still meets your investment return goals.

Lot of new-co that gets grabbed by investors which adds supply. One of the "hottest" apartment building cities in the country which FLOODS supply and many young renters tend to go for class-A apartments and their amenities, which are seeing concessions in lease-up. So your competition is getting larger as a landlord.

Traffic and infrastructure are starting to have issues keeping up with all of the building. On the flip side, more building does mean more inventory so if you can be part of the above point, you can get a pretty new home that tenants want. Granite vs formica is starting to matter to picky renters...since they have so many options.

Our ACs get stressed faster than cities with moderate climates year round so keep your CapEx handy.

@Adam Walker check to see if they have other properties they do this for and ask for those landlords' contact info like you would with other tenants. If they haven't done it before, the risk is definitely higher. If they have references and those landlords are generally "happy" with the experience, then its a good operator. Your home IS in a location that could make it a good STR/MTR given proximity to attractions and it's in beautiful shape so I don't think the operator is pulling the interest/opportunity out of their a**.

Attorneys would probably argue with me, but if their LLC is going to rent it, I would still get the individual on the lease or at least a co-signor guarantor agreement so that you have the EIN and SSN for purposes of evictions and collections.

I'd say the biggest qualifier (assuming they can operate it well) is their credit score. If they have a 500 credit score and are trying to make a buck a popular investment strategy, they could just as easy shut down the LLC, stop paying you rent and jump ship since their credit is already bad, whats another hit. Low risk, high reward for them.I would also consider getting a 2x security deposit + 1st months' rent + last months' rent. Don't go more than 12m lease, and even consider a 6m to test the waters, though they will push back because it doesn't given them enough runway to buy the furniture and get runway.

If your PM is going to be managing them, make sure that they are just VERY diligent on collecting timely rent and get agreement to do quarterly (or so) walkthroughs/inspections to make sure the home truly is being maintained. In addition, get GRANULAR on which expenses/costs are tenant responsibility vs which stay with you. Who does HVAC maintenance? What happens if shower pressure deteriorates dramatically - are you on the hook for the plumber or them? Water heater? Appliances? Etc....everything should be very detailed/itemized and hyper documented.