All Forum Posts by: Todd Dexheimer

depends on the class and the market. In northern MN the best buildings in my mind will be 1950's or newer, garage stall for each unit or at least off street parking, open hallways. Heat and electric metered separately, mixture of 1's and 2's or all 2 beds. Driveway and front entrance not on a steep hill. Also look for floor plans that are nice. Something that you would live in. Look for closet size as well. Hope this helps some. There is a lot to look for in a building and it will all depend on your area. One thing I suggest is to go apartment "shopping" after you have a building under contract, to see what the competition has.

Call you local commercial brokers and property managers first. Then drive the area and call apartment owners

@David Song I have made all my money on cash flow, since I have not sold. Making money on appreciation alone is a fools game. 

And on the other response, the houses gained the value. The land in say 2010 on a property I bought for $50k was worth $20k, now it's worth $50k, the house is now worth $100k. I did over 150 flips and sold for more than I bought for even as the market was crashing. The land did not gain value, it was the house that gained the value. 

@David Song. Right now investing in under $50k houses may not work. The market is close to or above 2006 prices in most markets, so $50k and under today in most markets will be rough areas. You can still find cash flowing apartments in Columbus that are in B class areas, which is not the case for a big portion of California. 

@Gala Klein, @Anthony Gayden, @Craig J Chelette, @Miguel De Dios, @Robert DeForge. Sounds like you all are in the same boat.  A lot of options and it depends on your goals. You could use the money to invest in other parts of the country like others have said. You could invest in a commercial syndication or you could put your money in a safe/liquid investment, so when the bubble pops you're ready to pounce. I have a lot of experience in buying houses/duplexes that you could get into with a mortgage for under $40k. I also have experience in syndicating. If you want more info on either one, feel free to PM me. There are also some good BP posts and podcasts on those as well. I would say no matter what you do, research it diligently, make sure it aligns with your overall goals and then take actions. 

Congratulations on having money saved by the way, most Americans can't say that, best of luck!

@David Song, @Greg H. said $20k gross. My lowest rent single family gross rent is $15,000, with my highest at $27,000. Out of my 50+ 1-4 unit buildings not 1 is under $15,000 gross. Now not all I have purchased for $50k, but I have not purchased one single family rental for over $100k. These are all in the dreaded mid west. They are all worth over $130k right now, but even if they didn't increase one bit, that $400/month+ cash flow on each one is doing alright. 

I put $100/month away for cap ex on a single family. Cap rate? I don't care about cap rate on a single family. With a mortgage they cash flow over $400 each and my cash on cash is infinite. For my mid west multi-family, I shoot for 9%+ cap rate

 What are you talking about here? Do you really believe this? I live in the Midwest and bought plenty of houses for between $30-80k that are all worth between $150-$250k now. I am not investing in land, I am investing in REAL ESTATE. I have a lot of houses in B and C class areas that gross rent $1200-$2000+. The cash flow is great and in no way is the cap ex to rent ratio too high. There is so much more that could be said. To each their own. 

@Dave Foster are TICs still being done? I think those went by the wayside after the crash

@Stephen J. Miller  I started investing in 2008 buying 1-4  Family buildings. I consistently purchased buildings, renovated them, rented them out and refinanced them to pull all of my money back out. Often times I would use creative financing with local banks and use private money in order to get the deals purchased.  In hindsight the only thing I would've done differently with that strategy would be to buy more buildings Or graduate into larger apartment buildings faster

Google it. If you can't find any companies in Texas near you I know there are companies near me that are doing them and they have things nationwide