All Forum Posts by: Sean Walton

Welcome to BP

Vacant homes are good prospects since the owner is not using it nor earning rent off it mean while they are paying property tax twice a year and either paying to maintain it or letting it deteriorate so in theory they may let it go very cheap if you can find them. However if you are driving an area and there are a ton of vacant houses I would probably avoid it unless you know of some kind of planned new development or many businesses going into the area.

Derek Fahy do you know what kind of investing you want to do with this property? House hack? Flip? Do you know what cities or parts of cities you are interested in and willing to live in? Do you have enough income from your day job that immediate cash flow is not necessary?

@Andy A., @Eduardo Zepeda, @Brite Zhou@Ryder Meehan, @Johnson H., @Alok Jain@Puran Zach Grewal, @Samir Pathak, @Alex Chau, @Adam London, @Ariel Smith@Ori Skloot, @Andrew Muff, @Account Closed

Thanks for all the interest. It seemed like people prefer SoMa and Natoma Cabana has a lot of space. Hopefully it won't be too loud but since this is more one on one networking no presentation that should be fine. Let me know with the doodle pool what days work for you and feel free to invite others. If you can' make it this time we can try and change up the venue and time to accommodate more people. http://doodle.com/poll/spz6xevgv5crrkty

Get a good relationship with a title company in your area ask them to give you the names of the top cash buyers in your area then you know they have done deals before and are probably going to close on your deal

Get it under contract as soon as you can. Ask the seller if they need the money right away or if you can get seller financing or buy subject to their existing loan. Once you are able to rehab then refinance and pay off their loan. If you don't have a lot of experience you should pay for a home inspector prior to closing.

Im not sure about the legality of making the building smoke free without warning but I would check if your city has instituted a local law. This is an interesting article it says you could be liable if a tenant complains and you take no action http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?A=3137&Q=484872

@Meghan McCallum  I think it is a great idea in all markets but especially larger cities. I can't remember which BP podcast it was but one guy said if my tenants pay less on utilities they have more to spend on rent (my opinion is it would reduce turnover and vacancy but not necessarily command much higher rent).

You mention a roof garden make sure your structural engineer is aware of everything you are putting up there the roof may not be designed for much soil and pavers.

If you have radiators I think this thing is genius https://www.radiatorlabs.com/our-system/how-it-wor...

I would look at getting spray foam insulation into the wall cavity but consult with a good architect or building envelope designer to specify it because if not done correctly you can get mold inside your walls. 

Consider doing all the windows at the same time otherwise your building may look weird and you will probably get better pricing. I think the tenant will appreciate not having condensation in the winter and not mind the temporary disruption.

I'm not about the paybak period in Illinois for solar hot water and solar PV but might be worth looking into. I remember it being sunny a lot even when freezing cold in Chicago.

Depending on the head height in the basement it might be worth putting some insulation down on the slab and then putt the flooring over it. Won't improve the heating bill much but will make the residents feel warmer.

I would say getting a 3rd party to install submeters will be more effective at effecting peoples behavior than proportional metering but if submetering each unit is too hard maybe submeter by floor and pit them against each other. Most efficient or most improved floor gets free pizza every quarter.

@Account Closed is part right. The ROI is hard to capture back or quantify on a lot of these things if tenants are paying for utilities but if you can get better tenant pool, higher rents and less turnover that is worth something.

Hi @Doug Martin I think you have some good advice so far in this thread. Some things I can add

1. Diversify. Don't have all your investment in one market where a disaster or economic downturn will kill you. Even keep some in stock, bonds and t-bills in a low fee index fund (that is boarderline sacrelidge on this site but since you already have a good nest egg good to stay diverse)

2. You are an accredited investor based on your income and net worth so that gives you access to investments that others don't have so you can use that to your advantage with access to things like realtyshares and wunder capital but those things are less regulated and because you are "accredited" the government assumes you are smart or responsible enough

3. Get a good tax person who can give you good advice. $50k a month in W-2 Earnings may end up being a lot less than $30k/mo in real estate gross because of depreciation and other perfectly legal deductions. I.E. you get ot keep more of your real estate earnings.

4. Try one rental before you get too deep into being a landlord you may hate it. If you are a sweetheart and people see you as a rich ballplayer tennants may take advantage of you. Buy in an LLC and hire a good property manager

5. Consider commercial real estate in safe markets. I think Amazon etc. are hurting retail. Consider a medical office building near a good hospital or senior housing as good growth markets.

6. Listen to at least 50 bigger pockets on 1.5x to 1.7x speed in the car on flights, the gym etc. to see how many avenues there are out there.

7. Talk to other people you know and trust that have gotten into real estate.

Depending on the location and orientation of you roof I would look at solar water preheat there are tax credits and financing that makes the payback period pretty short. There are also potential options to add 3rd party meters at the units but again depends on your building configuration.