All Forum Posts by: Ryan Evans

@Adam Craig I've done it a couple different ways. I've charged an hourly rate for my time to do things like manage contractors. I've also just given a flat rate and acted as a GC since I have a contractor network on the ground. 

A lot of talks about an economic downturn are focused on other causes than the real estate market itself, unlike the last recession which was largely caused by real estate. Of course, the housing market will be affected, but it may not be a significant cause of a downturn. 

Tons of cities went through major appreciation and priced people out, they're now looking at other markets and causing appreciation elsewhere. That led me into a new market in the midwest and lots of investors are doing the same. I'm not too worried about a downturn because if you buy right and have good properties, there will always be a demand for quality housing. Even if I had to cut my rents I'd still be able to cover my costs, but the appreciation markets can't always say the same! 

In my area, tenants can pay their rent to the city or county (can't remember) if the landlord isn't maintaining the proper living standards in their property. The agency will hold it in escrow until the landlord can show that they've fixed the issues. Slow sinks and toilet issues likely won't be a good enough justification to put rents in escrow, but water intrusion and pest issues might be. 

So like @John Underwood said, check with the right people to see if you can do something like that to put some pressure on the landlord. Just be sure to track everything and do it by the book. 

I do something similar with some investor friends from the west coast. And there are a couple of ways you could approach it, depending on what you're both comfortable with. I image the way with the least paperwork might be for him to buy a property directly and have you manage the rehab for a fee. You could also buy it as partners, get it stabilized, and split the difference when you pass it off to him. But from the tax standpoint, you may want to run a couple of hypotheticals past your tax people and see what they have to say. If you do this repeatedly, you'll want to get a good system down! 

Awesome work, David! It's great to see other young people getting after it! I'm 28 and only have 7 units so far, but will be in a similar place in another year or two. Make no apologies for having fun with your success! 

Hey @Jacob Silvermetz would you ever sell off your Arcade Ave property? I've been buying in the neighborhood and could use another project! 

Also, US bank commercial does the kind of loans you're looking for as well.

You're doing the right thing by flying out and seeing it for yourself. It's a much different world out here and I was starkly reminded of that again last night coming back to CLE from Cali! And there are still plenty of deals out there if you know what you're looking for. I just went under contract on an easy single house from the MLS that will cash flow $250/month on the conservative side.

And if you're planning a trip, you should try to line it up with some investor meetups happening around town. They're always a great way to grow your network quickly when in town for a few days. 

It's going to be a huge learning curve either way, so the most important thing is to just go for it. You'll have better returns on multifamily, but there are pros and cons to each. It's likely you'll see more appreciation with SFR's, though. So it will still depend on your strategy. I've got a few duplexes in Cleveland that I love, but I'm making offers on singles right now to balance out a bit.

And as a general rule of thumb, I wouldn't listen to non-investors giving investment advice. Get your advice from people you want to be like! 

If you're looking to take on a rehab project, you should be willing to pay a few dollars to learn the business you're attempting to get into. If you have to, pay a contractor a couple hundred bucks to walk you through the house/rehab estimate process with you and you'll actually get a feel for the business. If you keep doing it, you'll get a feel for the costs on your own over time. 

In my experience (and many others, I'm sure) only a tiny fraction of wannabe investors actually pull the trigger an buy something. So you're asking someone to take let's say a 10% chance bet on you, when they might not even get the job anyway. If they're a respectable contractor, they'll value their time. And you don't want a contactor who doesn't value their time. 

Agreed. There is a lot of hype around no money down. I see it often lead to people wanting to start wholesaling, then promptly dropping out of real estate all together after realizing that wholesaling is a lot of work and it's vastly different than having cash flowing rentals. 

The most common scenario I see is from the "investors" who haven't done a deal, but are only willing to buy at 60% of market value or whatever, thinking they'll walk right into $30k in equity on their first deal. They sit on the sidelines for years. Meanwhile, they won't even pull the trigger on a 5% down duplex to just get started. Everyone wants to make money, but only a few want to put the work in. Sure, you can find those deals, but the newbies shouldn't wait around forever! 

I've done no money down deals, but only after I proved myself with my own cash deals.