All Forum Posts by: Troy DeLong

Hey Chad, welcome back to Lansing. 

I'm not aware of any particular brokerage that is KNOWN for being "investor friendly", but each brokerage usually has an agent or two who is well versed in investments. I'll stay fairly neutral here and suggest you search for investment properties online (Active and Sold) and keep a tally of which agents are buying/selling the most investment properties and see if you can't interview with them when you get in town. 

Best of luck! 

@Brandon Paisley Landon Allen (Above) would be an awesome one to connect with to talk about Wholesaling & house hacking. I'd be more than happy to chat with you and answer any questions you have related to on-market properties and maybe even get in to see a few. Tagging along to the Lansing investor meetups is also a great way to network and connect. 

@Alex Roter Yes, that part about the 'Initial Distribution' does help a ton! Thanks Alex. 

@Alex Roter Would the grand total rehab loan (Purchase and rehab) be for the ARV of the building? Is there anyway I could accomplish the rehab under budget and pull more money out of the loan than keeping 20% in? If that makes sense... My goal is to KEEP as little money into the deal as possible.

@Michael Temple I had given some Lease Option, Seller Financing and Sub-To strategies some thought but couldn't get past the road block of 1) Having to put about $40k of MY own money in the place, and 2) How would I get that $40k back out of the deal? Or would I have to leave it in the property for years? 

I'm just concerned about putting that much money into a property that I don't own. 

@Julian Wyer Do you own the house out-right (ie. No mortgage)? Or do you still make monthly payments on it? 

Either way, when in the BP calculator, I would input $0 for your PURCHASE PRICE, 0$ for CLOSING COSTS and select 'Cash Purchase' under the LOAN DETAILS. 

Then, if you are not making any monthly mortgage payments and the house is paid off, there is nothing else to do to "Manipulate" the BP Calculator. If you are making monthly mortgage payments still, scroll to the bottom of the BP Calculator under EXPENSES, select 'Other' and input your monthly payment mortgage as a 'Mortgage Payment' expense.

Hope this helps! 

@Account Closed I'm a local agent/contractor and soon to be (fingers crossed) investor out of the Lansing area. Would love to chat to see what you're after and answer any questions I can about the Mid-Michigan area. I've worked with several out-of-state investors now, all whom I've met through here on BP. 

Also, Joe (above) has a WEALTH of knowledge and is a great one to chat with. 

If your HELOC loan is big enough for the purchase and rehab, I highly recommend you do it! 100%.

A HELOC is essentially a high limit credit card that you pay yourself interest on. No sense in paying interest to someone else at much higher rates and fees. When it comes time to writing your offer, a HELOC is considered cash. Hard Money is NOT cash, but still just a loan/mortgage when writing your offer.

Plus, any HML will want to do inspection draws (depending on size of rehab) and will just slow you down. I would argue that the only difference between HELOC and a HML (or Private Money) is 'who is the bank' and 'what are the fees/interest'. Risk on the purchase and rehab doesn't change.

I've listened to the Bigger Pockets podcast for a while now and recently added Real Estate Rockstars to my podcast list. Both started episodes in the early 2010's. Listening back to those older podcasts (2012-2015) I've heard so many of the "Expert" guests predict the crash that was supposed to happen "within the next couple years" and used that as a reason why they were holding off on buying new properties. The many 'crashes' predicted have still never happened... 

If someone is confident enough to sell you on the idea of a crash, they're either lying or just don't know what they're talking about. Buy at a decent price, in a decent area that could still support good paying tenants during an economic downturn, ensure your property will cashflow, and ride out any "crashes" until it makes sense to sell. 

@Usman Siddiqui Hey Usman. I would look at the rentals that your Realtor is using for the $3,500 and $4,000 numbers and see what quality of kitchens they have. That would be your deciding factor for what to get. I would have to think they are very high end homes if you're getting those rent numbers. The cost difference between quartz and granite over the life of the counter top is small and well worth the investment, especially in a B+ / A+ neighborhood I think. I would avoid anything less than quartz or granite. Hope this helps! 

Property: Triplex
Layout: Main level = (1 unit) 2 bed / 1.5 bath 
           Upper level = (2 units) 1 bed / 1 bath 
Condition: Both upper units are messy (tenants) and rented under market value. The bigger, main level unit is not livable at the moment (Flooring all ripped up. Needs all bathroom fixtures and appliances.) Property appraised for $146k last year (2020) in the As-Is condition of the lower unit not being livable.
Status: Off-market property found through direct mail.
Seller Motivation: He doesn't "have to sell" but would consider it for the right price. Says he isn't losing any money but also isn't making any. The owner is getting older and is tired of being a land lord. He's not looking forward to having to fix up the lower unit. He won't sell for anything lower than the $146k appraised value. Or, that's what he says... 
Current Financing: Owner still has a loan on it. 

My question... What are some creative ways I could acquire this property, fix up the lower unit, get rid of the messy tenants, fix up their units, and rent this place out at market rents. Repairs are gonna be around $40k and ARV would be around $200k.