All Forum Posts by: James Stoughton

welcome.   I used to live in Bangor and now I have a 4 unit and a duplex off of Ohio st.  I'm not sure what the best areas are but I was always warned to stay away from 1st street. I had heard that the city was trying to revitalize that area but I'm not sure if it has improved or not.  

Good luck with your  investing.  This forum is a great place to learn.

"Can I ask, how is wholesaling through contract assignment NOT investing?"

It just occurred to me that wholesalers are not investors.  Unless they actually invest money or take ownership of a property.   As far as I know this doesn't occur when assigning contracts.  Facilitating deals puts them in the realm of real estate agents, just without the licensing/ professional standards associated with being a professional.  So I think a wholesaler calling oneself an investor isn't quite accurate.  

I contacted a few local banks and they all required 25% down for investments.  I went with the local banks because it made it easier since I'm out of state.  But since you're local I would search for a broker online and see what they could offer.  Best of luck!

Hey @Nick Mullins welcome.  I have several properties in bangor.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.  Best of luck!

yea SoCal is a tough place to invest. I would love to buy here but it's not gonna happen anytime soon. For now I'm resigned to wait until the next downturn. But I do think if you work hard enough you can make it work. Good luck!

welcome! This is a great place to learn so take advantage of it. What type of investing are you looking at and what areas do you want to be in?

personally I wouldn't do it. I don't like bidding wars to begin with. Also there's not much of a cushion in case of additional repairs. How certain are you of the arv and will it sell quickly?

Well, 15-20 thousand doesn't seem like a lot to get started. I'm guessing you might be able to purchase a duplex in your area? Just make sure to have enough reserves for repairs/ improvements.

I know next to nothing about commercial investing as I only buy multifamily residential. I tend to think that residential would be easier starting out. I'd like to hear from somewhat who started in commercial and how they got into it.

well, you just have to make working out a priority. I have a mental schedule of what I want to do each day and make sure I allow enough time for the important stuff.

I've also found that working out from home saves a lot of time. It also helps to stay motivated when I know I only have a certain amount of time to work out. Usually it's an hour in the afternoon right before I pick up the kids. I know I better do my workout or else it won't get done once they are home.

Like the title says, I closed on a 4 unit apartment building in Bangor, Maine! It took about a month longer than anticipated because the seller was just a mess. The asking price was $116,000 and we closed on $100,000 (The appraisal came back at $138,000)

I put 25% down with about 8k in closing costs (including several points, taxes, insurance) so my out of pocket costs are $33,000. Monthly payment on 74,000 is about 350 a month or $4200 a year.

The 4 units are a 4/1,3/1 and 2 2/1. 3 of the units are occupied but all them are below market rent totaling $1700 a month. I plan on getting them all up to market over the next year. Here's how it will look...

4br-$900 (currently $500)

3br- $800 (currently $600)

2br- $700 (currently $600)

2br-$700 (currently $0)

Total projected income $3100 a month or $37,200 a year. With 10% vacancy it $33,480.

Expenses- monthly yearly

Taxes- $220 $2640

Maintenance-(10%) $310 $3720

Insurance- $130 $1560

Prop mgmt. (10%) $310 $3720

Utilities- $100 $1200

Landscaping/ plowing - $50 $600

Heating- $700 $8400

Total- $1,820 $21,840

So if I've run my numbers correctly my NOI should be 33,480- 21,840=$11,640 a year. After financing $ 7,440 a year.

Now that I've got that all written out, I see that I really need to focus on getting the rents up to market as well as cutting some expenses. Heating costs are really a killer in Maine so I'm going to focus on improving the energy efficiency by replacing the old windows and insulating the attic. I also just found out about heat pumps which run on electricity (as opposed to oil) that can pull heat out of the air. I have to see if this is feasible in my property but if it is I might be able to cut heating costs by 50%.

I have to say that if it wasn't for bigger pockets I probably wouldn't have had the confidence to buy a rental yet. There really is a ton of info on this site. I just want to thank everyone here for all the advice and help that they give.