All Forum Posts by: Ryan Russell

Hello fellow landlords, I desperately need some advice and wisdom from more experienced landlords.

I bought my first duplex last year and have self managed it. I’m renting by the room all 6 bedrooms. Things were going really well until my most recent tenant moved in. She passed all of my screening tests, background check, rental history check, good credit score, 3x monthly income of rent, and all of her references had only glowing things to say about her. 

Fast forward a couple months, one tenant has already moved out because of her, and a second one has just informed me that she will also be moving out.

The tenant of concern is very kind to me upfront, pays on time and keeps the house clean, but I can tell she’s extremely manipulative and inconsiderate of others. My issue is that she hasn’t done anything deserving of an eviction, but all the **** has hit all of the fans ever since she moved in, in more ways than one. I’ve gotten a call or a text just about every day with more and more complaints. 

What are my options? I want her out before I lose all my other tenets. But I live in Denver, where the housing market is extremely difficult and expensive, and it takes longer than a couple weeks or months to find a place to live.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 

Thanks and Merry Christmas, 

Ryan 

Hello my fellow investors, 

I am currently looking at partnering with a colleague to purchase a property for both personal leisure as well as to STR. Currently speaking with lawyers on the benefits/drawbacks of purchasing under personal names vs LLC.

I also just recently listened to Episode 527 of the Bigger Pockets Podcast with Pace Morby where he talked about some sort of Title Transfer Insurance that will pay out your loan in the event that the bank calls your bill due upon transfer. 

Has anyone worked with a company like that or have any names for me? I'd be interested in purchasing this insurance in the event that we do decide to transfer to our LLC.

Or, does anyone have any advice on a better way to structure a partnership such as this? Legally, contractually, etc. 

Thanks all, 

Ryan Russell 

Hey all! 

I am currently writing out a proposal for a potential partner investor of mine to help me purchase my first property. They would be paying the initial 15%-20% for the downpayment on a duplex/triplex deal that we find -- and I want to give them a good understanding of their expected ROI. I want to be as transparent as possible with them and I also want to take this opportunity to learn a little more about the numbers of real estate investing. What is a good way to calculate an ROI? I saw the equation "ROI = (Gain on investment - cost of investment)/cost of investment" but I wasn't sure if this really encompassed well the longevity of real estate investing.

Finally, since this is both of ours' first deal, would it be wiser to invest their money, put some sweat equity into the property, wait a year, refinance, and then give them back their original investment + 15%? Are their any dangers or calculation I could be missing with this financing option? 

Any thoughts or guidance on these strategies would be appreciated! Thanks! 

@Michael Carbonare Agreed - I certainly wouldn't borrow, just co-sign. But I don't even want to do that. However, I'm not worried about making the monthly payments, especially since I'll be house hacking, it's just the initial amount I need help working out. I spent two years out of college making no money at all, and just recently got a fantastic new job, but haven't been working it long enough for it to make a huge difference on my loan...

@chris freeburg 

I have considered co-signing with parents and have spoken to both my own and my inlaws. My only hesitation is simply hating that I need to ask for help from "mommy and daddy"! ha! Call it a pride thing I suppose. That said, if it's my only alternative, I will not hesitate. But I wanted to search for alternatives. PRIMARILY, I want to avoid the un-creativity of thinking my ONLY solution is just to spend more money when I could leverage other more advanced solutions others might have used before to save $$$. 

@Jason Wray

I love the suggestion, however, this will be our first property/home. We are currently renting a small apartment for $1,300 a month, with utilities it's near $1,500. That's almost a full mortgage...we are ready to buy our first property, live for free by house hacking, then purchase another property in a year, rinse and repeat until we have enough cash to start purchasing investment properties flat out. Do you know anything about additional loans that can be stacked on top of a conventional loan? What about for first time home buyers? 

@Matt M

I have considered townhomes and have looked at several. They do save you a lot of money! And yes, while house hacking can be tough, my wife and I have sat down and both agreed that having roommates for 2 years is a worthy sacrifice to reach financial freedom for the rest of our lives. She's pretty rad - and no kids expected for at least another 4 years. THAT SAID, I still don't want to live with roommates and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with my wife living with other people we don't know well, so we are looking into spaces with two living areas: duplexes, houses with finished, walkout basements we could renovate, and other creative ways we could jerry-rig two living spaces. I'm pretty handy with a hammer and wouldn't have any problem through up a counter, wall sink, etc. The issue with townhomes is not many have the features we are looking for..

Thank you gents for your feedback! 

Hello you beautiful, driven people. 

My wife and I are getting ready to take the plunge on our first investment property. Yay! We'll be implementing the house hacking strategy, but we have a small issue. We live in the Denver, CO area, which is hot. I was approved for a loan for 350k and have around 18k for a downpayment, however, as I have been finding in the past year while I enhance my "deal analyzing" muscles, it's hard to find anything more than a 2 bedroom for under 400k - and I've really gotten in there - if by chance you do, it'll need thousands and thousands in repairs and we do not have the cash flow for that on top of the mortgage. 

Other than co-signing with someone with money, waiting another year (because let's be honest, then it just won't happen) what are some creative ways I could come at this purchase to finance it? OPM? Hard money? What do you all think? 

My real estate agent (who is awesome) has warned me against foreclosures, as I was looking into some, because of the condition you usually get them in and the fear that it will tank us before we even get started. 

Preciate your thoughts, comments, experience, and encouragements!