All Forum Posts by: Matt Pastier

@Mike Muniz Once you get to know the realtor a little (and trust his/her judgement) start asking for referrals for contractors, local mortgage companies, etc. That way you can build a local team and have the pieces in place when you decide to buy.

@Krista Manna You can build a list and see the pricing at the end with no obligation to purchase. It’s completely based on the list you put together and the specific info you want in the list. That way you can play around with it and make the list fit your budget. For my first list I did absentee owner multi family in a specific geography. The list was cheap and it was a good place for me to start. Hope that helps.

@Ezra Harris I think it’s great to have these skills. YouTube was my go-to for my first deal. It was small enough that I was able to do a lot myself. My next deal was a duplex, and because of the work I did on my first deal I knew I was in over my head so I found my contractor. I also just wanted to save more time to spend with family. But it was a great learning experience. I now know what I’m good/fast at and I still find things to do on each deal that aren’t too involved. I also have a better idea of timelines and costs! Great topic thanks for posting it.

@Christina Acevedo Congrats on your duplex! If you have the time/ability I recommend trying to do it yourself. No one is going to be as concerned about getting good tenants as you, and at the end of the day I’d rather have a place vacant than have one filled with a bad tenant. Once you get a system in place it becomes easier. Two things that help me the most are setting qualification standards (many unqualified prospects will self eliminate) and doing open houses to save the back and forth of private showings.

@Jacob Kovacevich Hey Jacob - good for you for taking action! I wish I had done this right out of college too. It’s going to set you on a nice path.

Are the gas and electric completely separated in both buildings? This was something I didn’t pay enough attention to when I BRRRRd a duplex. If they’re not it’s not huge deal in my opinion, but it will impact your numbers and you’d need to decide how to handle it.

Your closing costs on the 2nd building seemed low. They were very exact, so you may have gotten them from a bank, but I’d still say they will probably be a little higher at closing.

Are you going to get an inspection when you purchase? That will be an additional cost, and one you should absolutely invest in. It’ll make sure you don’t get stuck with a major issue (most of the time) and will help you to learn more about the building.

Lastly, are you considering repair money at purchase? I know you said the one is good as-is, but I have never bought a property that didn’t need some things right out of the gate. Especially after you get your inspection and see the list of things that might need fixed. You can always negotiate for the seller to pay for some, but I’d still anticipate having some things fall on you. Something as simple as changing locks can quickly add up. My point - just make sure you have some extra cash saved. If you don’t need it great, just be prepared.

Good luck to you! Hope this helps.

@Hank Lloyd How well is your rental unit performing for you? Are you happy with the cash flow and returns? If not, does it make sense to sell it and then use the proceeds to invest in properties that cash flow better? I recently took advantage of the good market we're in and sold my first investment property (SFR). I got my money back and then some, and reinvested the money in a multi family that is going to more than double the cash flow I was getting for the SFR. If you did sold, you would get DTI room and could take advantage of the low interest rates. Just another way to look at it.

@Chris Rogers Most banks are going to want to lend to a person, not a business. If you are about to do a BRRRR my advice would be to talk to lots of mortgage bankers. Ask lots of questions and compare their products. They can vary quite a bit. Talk to smaller (community) banks and credit unions. They are more likely to have better rates for an investor on a cash out. Make sure you keep yourself in a place to qualify for a loan in 6 months. That's the typical time period they're going to make you wait before lending based on appraised value.

@Aaron Moayed Congrats Aaron! In addition to what others have said, also talk to your utility companies about what happens when a tenant moves out. In my area, I can fill out a form so that utilities automatically revert back to me when a tenant moves out. The benefit is that I am not charged extra fees to have them put back in my name.

@Bryant Bagley I’ve been using Cozy for over a year now and have not had a single problem. I use Cozy for rent collection and tracking maintenance, and I use Stessa for tracking and analyzing my finances.

Cozy allows you to collect rent and also send bills for things outside of rent. You get emails updating you about payments that are scheduled and when you can expect them to hit your bank account. For $2.99 you can shorten the window for money to deposit, and that will max out at I think $15 or so if you have lots of units.

I haven’t used Cozy for finding tenants, but that’s because we already had a process established when we started using Cozy. We might give it a try at some point.

@Eric Luzier Thanks Eric! I appreciate it.