All Forum Posts by: Brian H.

Hi all! Have you had better success with larger lenders or more "home town" banks for refinancing your BRRRRs? 

@S L Martinez   Yes, it is a very different type of buying/selling compared to home buyers.  

My dear, sweet mother is a realtor in my area and was my first realtor. We never closed a deal together. We are too alike and butt heads. She is incredibly well-respected in this area as a realtor and has been VERY successful. But, she has no idea how to approach it from the investor's standpoint. SO, I had to fire my mother. Lol.

 Would you be able to expand on the risks of courthouse steps auctions for us newbies to consider?

@Josh Cooper Basically put, for BRRRR you are looking for properties that need a bit of work so that you can add value to them. Turnkey properties already had the work done, so the increase in value, as far as I understand, would only come from maybe property values slowly increasing in that area or something like that. Really would be tough to make that happen, or if it did happen it would be a slow process while the property value slowly appreciates.

@Tim Hocker I am very new to all this as well. One thing that I read/hear again and again is that going into buy and hold, you really do want a larger financial cushion. What if you get this property, only have, at most, $2,000 set aside for any expenses and then there is a massive pipe burst issue and you have to do some major repairs? Or suddenly it turns out the roof wasn't in as good of condition as it seems and starts leaking badly and needs large repairs or replacement and you only have $2,000? You will lose your shirt! Or, go further into debt trying to take care of these issues... which doesn't help either because then you are now paying down that debt (credit card or what have you) and your mortgage/other expenses. Be VERY careful. It has taken me almost two years to have my first flip on the market. 1.5 years of that was just me reading, listening, and watching to make sure I had the deepest understanding I could sans-experience. I almost bought two small side-by-side SFH to rent out a year ago and am SO glad I didn't. I went the flip route instead and now will have a much larger base capital to work with.

Whatever route you pick, go slowly at first. Be very, very cautious. Be overly cautious while getting your toes wet.  We can be more aggressive and open to greater risk as we accumulate more capital AND experience.

@S L Martinez   Yes, the finding a realtor that understands what we want to do and how the process works for investors vs. home buyers can be exhausting. I am still working on that here in Western NC. Trying to find realtors in other areas of the state that are reputable and have experience with investors seems to be very difficult for whatever reason. haha

@Michael Wagner @Scott Krone

Thank you guys for your responses. Sooooo much goes into this! Which is good! I am a very thorough person. Just amazing when you first just kind of think "Hell... I could put up some steel building and rent out the units easy!" haha.  

I have looked at a few facilities for sale near me but the lowest priced one is around $600k, and based on the business' reviews I feel that is probably a bit high. I am still in the process of selling my first ever flip, so I am assuming no lenders would even consider me at that amount.  

It seems to be in an area where people have had problems with units being broken into and the reviews talk about lack of security cameras or adequate fencing. I see only chain link fence around the property maybe 5' - 6' high, so I am not surprised. They have a keypad operated gate... but when people can just hop the fence, what purpose does that serve? So, my thoughts are that it probably has a pretty high vacancy at this point and could be a value-add property. I also get scared to share a property or business I am interested in because what if someone else with better access to funding sees what I share and steals it? Not you guys, per se... but even people just reading this.  Is that just paranoia or something to actually be cautious about?

@Michael Wagner  Seems like you are the only one left on BP from this post... I did watch your intro seminar and it was interesting.  

My main confusion lies in how to calculate needed funds for a construction. Say I found 4 acres of land. I realize I do not need to create a 4-acre self-storage facility right away.  When people talk about the cost per sq ft. (say $35/sq ft.), are they talking the square footage of the land? I'm just trying to figure out how to calculate this more clearly.... also, how on earth do any of us normal folks get lenders to back a new storage construction? 

Thank you for the update!!

Also, @Account Closed , did you end up using them or having much interaction? Also, you said you have used Sherman Bridge? How was that?