All Forum Posts by: Tim Delaney

House hacking is definitely a great way to get started. You can use a low down payment to get into a house and have renters help with your mortgage. You say multifamily isn’t common around you - have you actually looked it talked to a realtor? If you are still willing to stay in the same unit as your brother you can get a 2-4 unit building, rent out the other units and still rent a bedroom within your unit to your brother for extra income. In a few years if you want him out you can transition him to another unit.

Real Estate by the Numbers by J Scott and Dave Meyers is a good read. Because I benefit from more business oriented books I also like Who Not How and Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy.

I feel like there are a million threads like this in the forums already…

I use RentRedi. It is free with BP Pro. I like that it links directly to REIHub for bookkeeping. I have about 50 units now. I had looked at Buildium and tried to look at AppFolio but they wouldn’t talk to me because I only had 46 at the time. Both are pretty pricey though. I feel like all the free/low cost ones are pretty comparable. None are perfect. RentRedi is good for collecting rent and handling maintenance requests. I have used it for tenant applications, but I switched to Zillow for that now. Overall I’m not in love with RentRedi, but I think it over delivers for the price.

I am not a tax expert, but here are my thoughts. The loan on a property shouldn’t factor into the taxes. The three units you are renting out are investment properties, if they were put into service this year then you can deduct your expenses on them, but not on your unit. So if those three units are 75% of the square footage then 75% of the closing costs and mortgage interest and taxes would be considered business expenses. Make sure you understand the difference between capital expenses that get depreciated over multiple years and regular expenses that get deducted immediately. If you have not put them into service yet then you may want to hurry up and do that otherwise you’ll have to wait until next year. There are also limitations of how much total loss from RE you can take against your W2 unless you are a RE Professional. If you are uncertain about any of this I would recommend spending a little on a CPA that understands RE investing.

In my market the listings are still typically offering 2-3% for the buy side so I'm not sure that there is a need or demand for lat rate buyers agents yet. Are sellers offering anything to buyers in your market?

Glad you've thought through having reserves, but it would be better if you actually have some - even if it is just an open HELOC on your primary that you could tap if absolutely necessary.

I never wanted partnerships either. I watched my father’s business partnership go bad and never wanted the same. However, done right they can be great. I would not be where I am in RE today without a strong partnership. So instead of (or in addition to) looking for someone that will lend 100%, see if you can find someone willing to be an equity partner - they bring the money you do the work.

 You may want to find a good broker in your area that works with real estate investors. Try your local RE groups on Facebook or meetups. Or ask you lender. A broker can shop dozens of providers for you.

Welcome! It may be more helpful to put some of your specific questions right in a post or separate posts. I can’t help you with any specific questions about any of those towns, but happy to try to answer other questions you have.

Seller financing is just one tool of many in how to finance a deal. Sometimes it can be better than a bank, private lender or hard money. Other times the terms may be worse, but it’s worth it because you have no alternative. Focus on finding a good deal first, then how you will finance that particular situation.

If you have enough to buy another duplex and house hack it you may be better off just going that route. The seller finance deals I have done have come from personal networking and letting people know I am looking to buy any properties they have. I have had no luck trying to propose seller financing through realtors for on market listings.

Bottom line, either spend some time and/or money marketing direct to seller or networking with investors that have been around for awhile.

Are you working with a broker? And are you asking for replacement value or actual cash value?