All Forum Posts by: Ryan Evans

I'd focus more on the numbers rather than the learning curve. If you're going to learn the industry anyhow, you might as well just get into it. Sure it'll be harder at first, but you'll fail fast and might get a fourplex on the next one. You never know. 

I started with a duplex, bought a couple more and am starting to buy singles, but they haven't been vastly different in terms of how complex they are to operate. 

It can definitely be profitable in your market with price points where they are. But being an agent is a lot of work that people underestimate. It's effectively starting a business and you've gotta put the time in over the years to really make the big bucks! 

Find an asset-based lender who's okay with borrowed down payment funds. Then, find a trustworthy friend with some cash to invest, and a good deal. Put them together and there ya go! 

I was recently a consultant for a coworking space. Running a space isn't necessarily complicated, but it's difficult to keep memberships rolling in. The idea is doable, but it's a hot industry and you've really gotta know how to run a space to keep up. It's not as simple as just releasing desks. But if you know what you're doing, arbitrage can be very lucrative. 

If he wants the house and just doesn't have cash for the fees, you could see about raising the sale price a little to compensate his request. He can pay his fees over 30 years and hopefully it won't hurt your bottom line much. It will just add a few bucks to his monthly and you can save the hassle of potential showing issues, contingencies, etc.  

Congrats on making your first move! 

In addition to what's been said, you should get a good lease put together with any updates you want to see in it. You have to assume their current lease until it expires, but you can approach them after closing and see if they would want to sign on a new updated lease. You want to have all your leases expire in Spring rather than November, and they probably would feel more comfortable with that as well if you're going to do yearly renewals. 

As for the bills, you can call the utility companies for gas and electric to verify that they're in good standing. But those bills will never fall on you if they default. However, water/sewer/garbage are billed to the owner and you can bill the tenant, but it's ultimately your responsibility. 

I made plenty of newbie mistakes when I started buying in CLE two years ago, so feel free to reach out if you want to learn what not to do! hah

If you think you can get enough additional rent to justify turning the unit and placing a new tenant, then it should be fairly simple to give non-renewal notice and hopefully it would be a clean move out. But if they are good tenants, it might be worth not rocking the boat just for a bit higher rent. 

I'm not sure if/how S8 leases work differently, but when you inherit tenants and want to modify the lease terms, the first renewal period is the time to do it. 

Commercial lenders are going to be more worried about the numbers on the deal making sense, so keep that in mind when you're shopping around. The terms may even vary depending on the deal.

If you call some top commercial realtors in your target markets and get their preferred lenders, you should have a good starting point. 

There are certainly lenders out there that will do 25-30k loan minimums on rental properties. They're likely  going to be local smaller banks used to the low price points. Obviously no good for the purchase, but since you already paid cash and I presume will be adding value, it depends what it appraises for. If the price/rent ratio looks good then an assett based lender should be able to do a cash out refi. Sometimes without much seasoning. 

There are quite a few areas around town where you can clear 10%. I'm under contract on a nice little 13 cap SFR in Cleveland proper that I bought off the MLS. The "hot" areas you're not going to see those kinds of numbers, but they're not necessarily hard to find either.

@Rik Patel it is a strong rental market here. There is a slight population decline which is nothing new, but there is also a lot of industry growth and parts of town where people are moving to. Just gotta know where to look!