All Forum Posts by: Ryan Evans

I'd focus on getting your financing figured out. At least in Cleveland you'll have a really hard time getting anyone to pick up the phone if you haven't chosen a market and got a pre-approval on hand. You've gotta know the right questions to be asking to be taken seriously out here!

I'd advise getting an attorney that specifically operates in the real estate world and has rentals of their own. It's been a huge help being able to work with my attorney and he actually "gets" it. Plus if they know their stuff they'll have the real estate specific documents for LLCs, leases, evictions, notices, etc., right on hand. 

Oh dang, that's a big one. That does sound more reasonable then. And just so you know, you should probably expect to pay around $300-325 per installed double hung window, assuming standard sizing and good quality. 

I'm not sure it would hurt to refi twice, but I think you'll pay more in fees/closing costs. A heloc could get your rehab done, push your value up, then if you refinanced at the higher value you could pull out more cash and pay off the heloc. But I've done cash/private money deals so I'm not the best person to ask about conventional financing. 

You're right in that it's tough to justify an expense like that with an increase in rent alone. You might get a few extra bucks in rent, but it's not going to pay for the siding/windows. Though, it can help with ARV and a potential refi/heloc down the road, which could help you get into the next deal. And it will give you some peace of mind having a more solid property.

Windows should come before siding as you'll be working backward otherwise. 

And I haven't managed a full siding project, but 14k sounds a bit steep. Might want to shop around a bit. 

I once went to a real estate meetup where the topic was legal issues of wholesaling and it was put on by a real estate attorney. It sounded like while wholesaling is legal, the majority of wholesale deals are done illegally in some capacity since there are so many gray areas, but most legal issues fly under the radar. 

At some point, the speaker said "wholesaling is like murder. If you bury the body deep enough, you probably won't get caught." hahaha. 

I'm not a wholesaler. Sounds like way too much work! 

Yikes! This thoroughly explains why I get a message on BP at least once every two days for PM recommendations! 

I work with a few out-of-state investors to stay on top of their properties since I'm now local. But this is stuff happens all the time here! 

I'd keep your personal life and business life separate. Simple as that. If he needs his own place, go ahead and help him out as a friend in finding another rental. But there's no upside to renting your place to him. 

@Jon Passow have you done out of state flipping before? I see you're from the area so I assume you know the risks of buying in the wrong neighborhood, but it seems to me that if you don't have systems in place to monitor your rehab, you might be getting in over your head. It's hard enough to get a contractor to show, let alone stay on track from afar. 

But if you're going for it, get everything in writing. And I mean everything! And get plenty of pics/videos as others have said. It's all about expectations with contractors and you've got to lay it all out up front. 

For what it's worth I probably have to hire about five contractors for every one that actually shows up. And most people I talk to would say the same. 

From my experience, it seems like most commercial lenders don't care where you are as you're talking about a non-residential loan. There are probably plenty in your area you can talk to about lending in OH. 

As for property managers, that question gets asked almost daily so you'll probably have better luck doing some research on the forums. I've only ever met one person here who was happy with their PM, so do your homework!

I've used salesforce and a bunch of the other "best" ones out there and I've found Cloze the best. syncs multiple accounts and businesses with all your social contacts. tracks opens and makes everything intuitive. and I use the pro version at only about 20 a month.