All Forum Posts by: Matt Jones

 Yes, you can call or text me at the number in my signature.  I look forward to talking to you!

@Steven P Daugherty you shouldn't have any trouble buying down here even though it is a year after your last purchase. When you receive orders it relieves any expectation from the lender that you stay in a house for a certain period of time. DTI(Debt to Income ratio) can be the bigger challenge for some investors in these situations but most of the time you can make something work. I invest here in Pensacola and along the gulf coast and have experience working with lots of service members & house hackers as an agent. I'd love to help you find a place and I'll send you a message. As far as specific areas to move, I'd say that depends on which base you will be stationed at, what your family likes to do and what your investing goals are.

Congrats on the recent acquisition Jeysson!  These days I have a property manager for the bulk of my units  so I can't promise to recommend the "best" software but I can give you some suggestions that are free/low cost and that are sufficient for most landlords until they reach double digit units(or even more).  Currently, when I do need to accept applications, screen tenants or collect rent, I do it through Apartments.com because it's free and relatively easy.  The screening reports aren't quite as robust as when I owned a property management company and used professional software but they are good enough for the receiving applications, screening and collecting rent that I do need.  BiggerPockets also offers free tools and leases to the pro members so you might look into that.  Another option for lease creation is to reach out to a local attorney and have them draft a lease that you like and can re-use.  Feel free to PM me with specific questions or for resources.  

 Welcome Carl!  Are you planning to invest in small multifamily(2-4 units) or in larger deals?  

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $1,215,000

My wife and I partnered with a few friends and past clients to buy a 12 unit property(three fourplexes that share a parking lot and dumpster) in a growing suburb of Pensacola, FL that is known for its great school district. The units were in very good shape overall but dated inside. We will be updating them as we have any vacancies and raising rents to market for new leases.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I have been interested in syndication for several years and this was a first step to doing bigger deals. I'm excited by both the deal itself and the lessons learned along the way.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I'm a real estate agent and I set myself to receive an alert anytime that a multifamily property is listed anywhere between Navarre, FL & Perdido Key. I received an email when this property was listed and I jumped on it immediatley.

How did you finance this deal?

Commercial Bank Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

We structured the terms to win a multiple offer situation without overpaying. Also, two units were vacant at the time the property was listed due to recent move-outs. We had those units left vacant so that we could do a cosmetic renovation and increase rents. Overtime we should be able to push rents 20-30% by performing interior upgrades as units come vacant. We were also able to secure insurance at 60% of what the current owner was paying which made a huge difference in the cash flow.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

All of my previous investments have been solo(or with my wife). Bringing on partners adds a layer of complexity and most importantly takes some extra time. We were pressed to close on time but managed. I would allow more time on future deals. As the largest percentage owner and the manager for the deal I also took on additional responsibility, financial and otherwise, and would probably price it into the deal to be compensated for that additional work in the future.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I was the buyer's agent for this deal.

We have a couple of STR's locally, one 2 bed and one 4 bed. The demand for MTR seems higher for 1 & 2 bedroom rentals so splitting up by the bedroom would probably work well but I have doubts about the demand on furnished finder for the full 4 bedroom house.

 Insurance companies, families moving to the area or just between houses in the area that need a medium term option or possibly military rent by the room(although GB isn't super close to any of the area bases) could all be a good strategy.  If you want to go MTR then advertising on all of the channels plus to snow birds would probably be the right strategy.

It wasn't a mansion but the 2nd home that I purchased was a luxury home of just a little over 3000 sq ft with high end finishes and I bought it planning a live-in flip/ house hack.  I rented out 1-2 rooms for most of the time that I lived there and made some repairs and upgrades as I went.  I agree with posters above who note the higher risk so be sure to run your numbers but it's completely doable!

Sending you a PM.  There are several good managers in town but there are always some bad ones too so I recommend interviewing at least two options.  Get together a list of your top questions and ask them all to any PM that you interview.

@Bruce Lynn is right about NAS Pensacola being a frequent reason that people move in and out of the area. NAS Pensacola is unique in that it has a civilian led and run Navy Housing office that acts as a free resource for active duty and retired military that are looking for housing options in the private sector. They also have resources for military housing but the Navy Housing office that I'm referring to is run and staffed M-F by volunteer realtors. Ask PAR(Pensacola Association of Realtors) about the housing office when you join. In the past they required you to be licensed for at least a year before volunteering but these days they are short on volunteers and will likely bring you on right away.

As far as brokerages, I'm with Keller Williams and really like them.  They offer day and night time training classes for new agents and assign you a mentor to help get you on your feet and walk with you through your first several transactions.  Feel free to PM me with specific questions or for a contact at KW.

@Mohan Indugula

California and Florida are two huge states so you'll definitely have to narrow down your target areas some to get a specific comparison/answer.  I think most people would tell you that the answer, in general, is Florida.  I'm in Pensacola and we have a lot of investors from higher cost of living states like California that invest here in an effort to get better cash flow and/or returns.  I'm sure that some areas of Cali are better than others for investing and depending on your goals there might be great markets near you.  There also might not be.  What are your investing goals?