All Forum Posts by: Spencer Abeyta

Hey there Cassandra! I personally use the BP leases for both of my properties and they work great for me so it was well worth the initial cost. Be firm with when rent is due, when a late fee will be applied, etc. Accidents do happen in people's lives so in the end it is up to you to decide what is an 'acceptable' reason for rent to be late. Just don't let them not pay you rent for an extended period of time because if you are new to being a landlord a lifelong tenant could take advantage of you. In the worst case senario it is also good to know and understand your state's eviction process and how long it can take. I wish you the best!

Hey Curtis,

If you can find a genuinely good deal you will be able to find a partner easily. If you want to support the BP community I would recommend finding the deal and bringing it to BP and try to partner with someone through the site! There are plenty investors in all different areas looking for deals. Try networking at local REI meet ups and get your name out there as well. As for formatting the deal this could be difficult as you are pulling the deal off the MLS and every realtor that has an investor also has access to the same listing. I would aim for a smaller equity stake if possible as the partner would be bringing a larger sum of money to the table. This is all flexible and you just have to find a partner and see what they are willing to work out. I hope this helps!

Hey Matt I'm in the exact same boat! I'm trying to pick up another property this year while going to college and the biggest hurdle I am running into is not having money saved up and not having a long enough work history at my current job. I would recommend working and building up some cash reserve because you can invest with no money but it is much easier with some money. I think we have an advantage of being in college because we have friends also in the college town looking for a place to live and college students normally pay more for housing. I would recommend looking for a residential house with atleast 3 bed 1 bath. I look for this because you can live in one room and you can rent out to two other friends. If the cash buyers you know have a flipping business I would highly recommend looking into working for them. This would get you knowledge of repairing houses and further build your relationship with them and increase the likelihood they would bring you in on some sort of a deal. You could even commit working on the house for a certain amount of hours a week for free in exchange for a sliver of equity. It's worth a shot and worst they could say is no :). Good luck!

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Colorado Springs.

Purchase price: $165,000
Cash invested: $6,000

My Uncles had a duplex that he wanted to sell but it needed some TLC. The front unit was rented out for $600 a month and we raised the rent to $800 after purchase. The tenant in the back unit that was paying $450 moved out. I saved a lot of money by rehabbing the back unit by myself with the guidance of my dad that would help on plumbing and countertops. It cost about $3000 in materials, a $2000 electrician bill, and one month of my time. The back unit rented after renovations for $850.

Hello Nikki!

It's good to have a general understanding of multiple ways you can make money in real estate. However, I would say it would be best to narrow your focus and dive in deep to a certain aspect of investing. As they say, the riches are in the nitches. Study your market to find what strategy would work best for you because not all strategies work in all areas. It is great you have a friend that is an agent because you could have them set you up on an email alert when properties come onto the market and you could analyze these deals and get a better understanding of the market. Local meet ups would be a great way to find out what other people are doing and help get an idea of what works in your area. Good luck!

Hi Andrew welcome to BP!

There are a couple ways to give your dad a worthwhile return. You could borrow the money from him that he is pulling out of his house at a higher rate than it costs him. Example: If a HELOC costs him 5% interest you could borrow the money from him for 10% interest so he would be making 5%. Another way would be to partner on a deal and split equity however you two seem fit. He brings the money and you bring the deal is a good way to go about it. And because you want to do a buy and hold you could split cashflow with him so he would be making a return on his money.

Hello Aaron!

I wouldn't necessarily base my offer based off the list price but instead base your offer off of what number works for you. If you can afford to pay $100,000 and the list price is $105,000 I would offer $95,000 in the hopes of meeting in the middle at your number. Of course the cheaper you can buy it for the better. It is important to know how long properties are on the market for in your area as well. Because if properties go under contract in a couple of days it would be better to give a strong offer that still works for you instead of trying to save money and having someone else come in and steal the deal. I hope this helps!

That's awesome! I hope all the time spent studying is well worth it! Good luck!

Hi Amanda! 

It will be very hard to invest with only $4k to start, but it's not impossible. It depends on what market you are looking at with how far your money will stretch. I see that you are a real estate agent and that gives you an advantage in my opinion. You have access to a local MLS and from this you can get an understanding of what houses are selling for in the area. This helps you be able to quickly identify a good deal when you see one. I understand the want to rush into a deal but I think it would be better to put yourself in a better financial position so you do not strain yourself on a deal. I would work hard building your real estate agent business and saving away money from every sale to go towards to funding a deal. This is advantageous because as your client base grows you are bound to connect with people that are investors and from there you need to build a relationship with them. This could involve taking them out to coffee or even giving them a reduced commision on a sale or purchase. Once you build a relationship and have more money saved up I'm sure an investor would love to consider going into a deal with you. If you get a deal with them this is an amazing opportunity for hands on learning and adding more tools to your toolbelt as David Greene likes to say. Then with this experience you can decide where you want to go from there. Good luck!

I would check the lease that is currently in place to see if there are any rules reguarding the tenant maintaining a certain level of cleanliness or liveability to their unit. If there is, this could be grounds for a possible eviction. However, this eviction would be more difficult because it is a lease violation and not as clean cut as the tenant not paying rent. And worse case senario if you can't find a way to remove the hoarder, try to calculate the cost of people not wanting to live next door and see if you can get a lower purchase price where the numbers work for you. Good luck!