All Forum Posts by: Travis Beehler

 Absolutely welcome!  Hope that helps! :)

 No problem!  I'll be happy to give you their details.  I'll do it over PM, as I'm not sure about the rules on here for that kind of thing.  You'll want the commercial side of things, so it won't matter if you're on your 4th, or 20th home.  My bank I use knows that this level of homes is profitable with me, and is being used as a stepping stone towards multi families.

 Actually I did initially have difficulty finding a lender who would not only loan for properties below $50k (Most banks use that number for their lowest amount that I've found), but also it was difficult to find a lender who'd do loans that low, AND do them as commercial loans.  I don't want properties in my personal name because of Debt to Income ratios, legal issues, taxes, etc.

I had to go through about 8-10 banks before I finally found the one I like. I sat down with my current lender, explained my goals, showed them I was serious with an LLC, cash in hand, good faith gestures like being available after business hours (Some bankers like to work after the bank closes to get more done), etc.

 Thanks!  Smaller place, around 1,000 square feet, 3 bedroom.  Needs slight amounts of work (Less than $1k worth), existing tenant, etc, etc.  Basically one of those "worst house in the nicest neighborhood" kind of things.

 No problem Eric!  I believe it's based upon assessed value.  It's been assessed at $35k.  St. Louis, Missouri has some pretty high tax rates in certain areas, so I've got a third party company who will take all my properties and appeal their respective tax bills to save me a few bucks. :)

No worries on being a beginner!  We've all started from somewhere.  I only wish I started sooner. :)  Feel free to ask whatever you'd like, and I'll happily answer.  Before I found Bigger Pockets, it was VERY difficult to get specific questions answered. :)

Oh you bet!  Purchase price $33k, put down 30%.  Bank has a rule if I'm a customer of less than a year, I can't buy more property through them.  I'm not a fan of such rules, and they said ok, they'd break that rule for me, but instead of normal 25% down, they'd ask for 30%.

New roof, etc, in great shape.  Current tenant is paying $600 a month, market rent is $750.  I told them if they continued to take care of the property, their rent would be $650 starting out, then next year go to $700, then the following year to $750.  It's in a nicer neighborhood and they've been getting a really good deal on rent, and they know it. :)

But, as for expenses, here's the breakdown:

Price = $33,000

Downpayment and closing costs = $11,650

Insurance = $853 per year

Property taxes = $1,354 (Got a company working on reducing that)

Property Manager = 9% of gross rent

Cash flow = $258 per month or 26.5% COC if my math is right. :)

Hope that helps!

Hooray!  Just got the documents into UPS' hands to next day air it to my banker.  We're closing on Monday, and that will make it my 7th rental so far!

Just a year and a half ago, I had just 1 rental making $250 a month in profit.  Now I'm pulling in a tad under $2,500 a month!

I want to thank Bigger Pockets, Brandon Turner's GREAT webinar's (I highly recommend them), and I especially want to thank all those people when I told them I was going into real estate that I would fail.  It kept me driven, focused, and honestly, pissed me off a bit.

Now that I've done my homework on what to do and more importantly what NOT to do in real estate, those same people have had to eat crow and admit that I do know what I'm doing and that they were wrong.  So neener neener to them. :)

As for everyone on here, trust me, stay focused.  Keep your eyes on the numbers.  Math doesn't lie.  Understand that you will feel discouraged.  You will have obstacles that make you want to give up.  You will be told "no" dozens of times.  If you persevere, you will eventually hit your goals and make a success of yourself.  You only fail if you give up.

Awesome!  Thanks!  I know how hard it can be to run a large website such as this one (I'm an IT Manager, and deal with infrastructure that would power sites like this).

Kudos to you guys!  The site is running perfectly from my end!

That's why it's absolutely critical to vet your property managers.  For example, I'm interviewing my third property manager as we speak.  My first one was absolutely AWFUL.  My second one was worth his weight in gold, but his company fired him for reasons that weren't due to performance (I believe him), and the one that replaced him is AWOL as we speak.

So, I believe in interviewing property managers just as I would as if I were hiring someone to work for me at a company.  Ask questions.  Ask HARD questions.  Press them on their answers.  Ask them to elaborate on an answer.  Ask them how you can get a hold of them after hours.  Test that answer.  Ask other owners about the property manager.  Check their ratings on places like Yelp.  See how long they've been in business.

Things of that nature will go a long way towards getting a quality property manager that is looking out for you.

Now, there are shady property managers out there, no question.  However, if the OP doesn't want to deal with these kinds of things, then I merely suggested an alternative to his predicament. :)

True. But it falls on them if things go sideways.