All Forum Posts by: Zachary Metler

@Drew Spencer every single property I've ever purchased was from the MLS. Your goals and math will tell you if something is a good deal for you personally.

@Drew Spencer using your HELOC for what will be viewed as a cash offer to a seller is a great tool and one I've used many times. One point of clarification on the responses above, you do not need to actually draw the funds and put them in your bank account to show proof of funds. Your bank should be able to provide a letter that says you have the funds available just based on looking at the availability under the HELOC you have with them. You don't want to draw on the line, put in in your account, make an offer, have the offer not get accepted (for whatever reason) and then pay back the line every time. The POF letter from your bank also does not need to say the total you have available. For example, let's say you get a $200k HELOC and it is all available and you want to make a $70k cash offer on a home. Ask your bank to word the letter to say that you have at least $70k in availability or something to that effect. That way the seller doesn't see that you have a ton of room to come up in your price. I would consider using the HELOC as a way to make cash offers and close quickly as a way to get to deals faster and make your offer more attractive. This will also save you banks fees which can add up once you do this a few times. What sort of investment property are you looking to buy?

@Jesse S. Your mortgage payment shows up in the cash flow statement not your p&l. Since your mortgage payment is a balance sheet item it doesn’t not show as an expense in your income statement. Is this the only issue you found with the functionality?

@Jason Carter I started using it and working great.

Great post Jamiel! Tell us more. Was duplex already rented? If so, at what rents? If not, what do expect rents to be? Was this in Detroit city proper? I recently heard these sorts of price points had dried up and what used to be $20k-$30k now costs $60k-$70k. 

Hey Reed. I live and work in AA but don't personally buy & hold here. My 2 cents is that making the math work (meaning positive monthly cash flow) on a buy and hold rental (I assume we are talking about a SFH) will be tough. Happy to discuss further if you'd like. Good luck!

Hey BP. Searching for a more sophisticated software that provides real time data and helps manage a real estate portfolio. I've heard of Stessa on a few podcasts and a friend of mine recommended it. Looks like it was acquired by JLL and seems pretty legit. Also individual investors can use the software for free. Has anyone used this or know anyone that has? Please share!

@Steven Wiltse Ypsi gets a bad rap. Great place to invest in buy and hold rentals. You need to be very educated about the individual neighborhoods though. Going from one side of a street to another can make all the difference. Also neighborhoods with nice margins for rentals are getting harder to find as Ypsi overall has seen significant price increases over the past few years. I focus on homes in the township as city taxes are much higher.