All Forum Posts by: Zack Whiting

I found a property that is selling for  a third of what is worth. The stipulation is the guy who owned died and the family is selling it. The owner was letting his life long friend live in the property with no lease and only paying 450 a month but tenant is/was responsible for all maintenance/ repairs. The sellers want him to be able to stay until he dies (in his mid 70s) and that is why they are selling so cheap. If I did this deal I would pay cash and have to cover insurance and taxes which would be roughly 200 a month. Property is selling for 30,000 current value is around the 100,000 dollar range. It's in a class b/c neighborhood with potential for good appreciation. It also has two extra lots so I could pontentially build on in the future. What do you guys think? Also it is against my morals and beliefs to say I would let him live there  and evict him after taking ownership of property. With exceptions to him not holding up his end of the deal

@Joseph Bui This advice is awesome didn't really consider some of those things! Thanks Joesph!

@Bruce Woodruff break even at current rent

I have a duplex under contract with two long term tenants with 18 months on lease. It's a side by side brick ranch in a good area and it punches out to be a great deal if rented at average market rent.  The problem is the units are currently being rented for 200 to 300 dollars less then average market rent. The current lease does state that landlord can raise rents. Should I gradually raise rents? Raise them right away? Wait until lease is up? Current rents will pretty much put me at break even point after figuring in expenses. This is my first time buying a property with tenants in place and wondering what some of your guy's experiences are with this

I have been looking into getting properties through sheriff sale auctions. Looking for advice from people that have used this strategy to acquire properties. 

So I am new here and to real estate investing. I have made a few mistakes that I could use some help/ advice to solve. 

1.) I have two rentals that I currently rent to a friend and the other one to my brother. With no lease or anything legit in place. I have been treating the rentals as a hobby.

2.) I did not include vacancy, repairs, management, and other cost, When determining what I was going to rent them out for.

How would you guys go about fixing these problems?

Hello Bigger Pockets Community! I am Zach, I work in construction in Toledo, Ohio. I joined bigger pockets to grow and scale my rental portfolio. Also to network and learn from like minded people. I currently own 3 houses (2 rentals) (1 primary).