All Forum Posts by: Travis Wylie

Keep in mind FSBO's are now licensed, but you are, and will be held to a higher standard. If you do sell your mom's house, when in doubt...disclose, disclose, disclose. I'm curious, what was your reasoning for choosing your broker that you did if they never sold a house?

@Marquise Williams - I will message you.  Happy to help out.  And here is the link under the Biggerpockets bookstore for the House Hacking book:

https://store.biggerpockets.co...

Hello @Marquise Williams! I'm a local agent and investor in Harrisburg. I too got started house hacking. Biggerpockets wrote a book on house hacking that you may find interesting. They featured a case study on a 4 unit propery in Harrisburg, Pa (my first investment). I'd be happy to help answer any questions you have. Best place to start would be getting approved for an FHA loan so you know how much you're approved for. If you aren't able to qualify just yet, a good lender should be able to help assist with what you need to do in order to qualify.
Let me know if I can be of any assistance to you. 

@Mike Romano I personally am not very familiar with York but know many investors who are. If you have any interest in Harrisburg, PA (about 30 mins from York) I’d be happy to talk. Harrisburg is the state capital so you have that built in network of jobs. Costs are similar to York.

Good luck in your search!

@Misael Carlos Vera this depends on your experience/comfort level and depends on what you negotiate with the seller. If seller is willing to pay for agent commission then it’s no cost to you to get a professional to represent you. If seller isn’t willing to pay for this and you’re trying to save some on closing costs and you did all the marketing then skipping out on an agent will save you some on closing costs. The title attorney that will be handling your settlement should be able to assist with any contracts needed to close the deal.

@Account Closed I’ve been investing in Harrisburg since 2015. Grew up in this area as well. Harrisburg and surrounding areas can be great for investing but like any city you can also buy in a bad area if you’re not familiar with that sub market. Also, flood zone is something to be aware of as well. Let me know if you have any questions, need any referrals, or if you’re looking to buy some more. 

Hello @Account Closed!  Congrats on your first property in Harrisburg.  How has that been working out for you?  I live and invest in Harrisburg.  If you have any questions or need any help, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

I have my concerns as well about how much longer my will rent collections will continue to what they are, but happy to hear it hasn't been a major issue for you yet.  

Thank you @Account Closed.  I'd like to think that I have a better understanding of what to look for or certain red flags to look for in the future.  Chalk this up as a real estate seminar.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Middletown.

Purchase price: $21,500
Cash invested: $90,000

This was a BRRRR investment that went sideways, and although my partner and I lost some money in that we did not get back all of our money, I would not classify this as a failure at all. I learned many lessons. Some of the hardships were we had a contractor who took approx. 28k in payments and did about 10k in work before he skipped town. Another contractor sued me for payment for work he never completed. The one silver lining was that the appraisal came in 21k over what I had anticipated.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We owned the house directly next to it so I had my eye on this property for a while. I'm a fan of the area (many big businesses and Amtrak and HIA are both practically walking distance away). Another investor picked it up off Sheriff Sale and we purchased it from them. They claimed they were tied up with another rehab and couldn't dedicate the time to this house. Regardless we were interested in this property.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

The investor listed in on Trulia so I gave her a call. We went back and forth a few times. Originally "I'm not going to settle for less than 30k" became 25k. We ended up settling on 21,500

How did you finance this deal?

I used a HELOC from my partner to fund the purchase and rehab, and we refinanced with a local credit union into a commercial 25 yr amortized loan 5/1 ARM at 4.25%. They did 75% LTV. Our non-escrowed mortgage payment is 494 (budget another $300 for taxes/insurance) and the place is rented for 1124. Not the best cash flow, but thankfully the rest of my portfolio I have with this partner is performing well to offset the limited cash flow.

How did you add value to the deal?

Tore out all the plaster and put up new insulation with drywall. Added a closed to a bedroom and rehabbed the bathroom and kitchen. Took out a few walls downstairs to open it up and and added a half bath downstairs and a laundry room in what used to be a junky addition.

What was the outcome?

My business partner and I are all in for an amount that is similar to if we put 20% down. The cash flow could be better, but it's still cash flowing in a pretty hot market. We plan to hold onto this property for a while and reap the benefits of debt paydown and cash flow will eventually increase as rents do.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

There were many, but to start I learned a lot about contract law. Going forward I will always use a contractors contract no matter how bad it is because if things go sideways it hold more merit with Attorney General. You can always type a Scope of Work that you both sign off that details the work specifically, but previous to this I was of the viewpoint of typing up the contract for contractors because most of their contracts were junk. Not anymore.