All Forum Posts by: Will Gaston

@Ron Brady I've read the Color of Law and it's fantastic. Forever changed my view on housing and 10/10 recommend to anybody. I think this a question worth asking but I also believe that any situation like this a thorough cost/benefit analysis should be conducted.

Would (or could?) this cause more problems in the lending world? 

FWIW I think the best way to interpret value is localized, boots on the ground approach.

I'm sure improvements can be made but what could be the unintended consequences? I don't know the answer but I think exploring that first is a great idea.

@Tracey St.Julian I think you can do this w/out assuming the loan. 

I believe many local commercial lenders will require less than 20% down on an owner occupied commercial building. I'd check with 4-5 of the smallest banks and credit unions in your market and see. In my experience, banks love owner occupied commercial loans. You might be surprised what you could get. 

@Brad S. great thread! Is the ATI exemption available in all South Carolina counties? I mostly buy in Richland but am looking at a larger MFH in Newberry County.

As @Troy Gandee mentioned @Andrew R. Lucas runs a great REIA in Columbia. @Christopher Bunge is a great investor agent if you're looking for one.

Cayce, West Columbia, and Lexington (all right outside of Columbia / Richland County) are all good spots. Properties in the City of Columbus are brutal - just a heads up.

@Alexandre Martelly

Yep plenty of commercial 30 year LLC products out there now. Most are underwriting based on the asset and debt service coverage.

Check out Lima One, Finance of America, Corevest, Dominion, Lend Simpli, etc. 

Absolutely. Currently under contract to buy 18 units in the next 60 days.

Macro issues like interest rates, policy, etc are important and have a big impact on real estate but I have no control over those. 

Focusing on trying to get good deals in every market is what I spend my energy on. 

In my market everything must be brought up to code if there is a conversion from a SFH to 2-4 unit and vice versa. That meant insulation, windows, all mechanicals and even replacing a stairwell on the last conversion that I did.

All construction projects go over budget but you need to be especially careful with any converted use.

@Rob Bianco I have a strong opinion on vacancies and lowering rents as I have dealt with both and come to this conclusion.

All 7.7 billion people on our planet want to live in a nice place. 

My experience is that it is much more useful and effective to make your property more appealing than it is to do nothing and lower the rent. 

Sprucing it up will get it rented faster and keep it occupied. Focus on that rather than providing a better price.

@Amanda Thompson I've dealt with this plenty before and I minimize energy spent on this by asking the current tenant when are 3-4 times that they would be okay with me showing it? Seek to understand and find out more information.

If you can't accommodate potential showings then that's a different story.

So many LLs want to get into fights with tenants over avoidable situations. Do not be one of those!