All Forum Posts by: Zeke Liston

I am purchasing my first investment property. Rather than use the realtor’s suggested lender, who said he could close in less than 30 days but took a week to get me an application, I chose to use one that I have a relationship with from purchasing and refinancing my own home. Interest rate and closing costs are about the same. I neglected to ask my mortgage broker about his time to close. He is telling me a minimum 45 days up to 60 days. Is that reasonable? My realtor says I will be in breach of contract if we don’t close by the end of the year. Should I have gone with the lender that can close quicker?

Hello everyone! My name is Mike Lemus.

I'm from Santa Barbara, California, born & raised, where the median home price is around a small $1 million dollars! So ya, looking purchase my first property but definitely no where close to where I live. I've been thinking about the Midwest - perhaps Ohio or Michigan - where I can purchase a SFH with the intention of rehabbing and flipping. I like the Midwest because the prices work well for me but I'm also not set on any area in particular, mainly because I don't know any of those states too well. Open to suggestions!

My job has a very irregular schedule which makes getting a loan a bit tricky, so I'm thinking it might be a better idea to just use cash for my first fix and flip. With that in mind, I feel most comfortable with a purchase price somewhere in the $50-75k range, allowing for another $15-25k in repairs. Of course, the idea is to try and sell for around twice of my purchase price so for homes the $50-75k range, I'd like to try and make a profit of $35-50k after repairs. I feel like this is an acceptable amount of profit for the work, time, and money put in, seeing as getting experience for the whole process is also quite valuable to me. Also, being my first flip, and doing it out of state, I don't want to put all of my cash savings into one single deal.

The nice thing about my job having such an irregular schedule though is that being there in person during a lot of the process shouldn't be much an issue. Again, I don't really know the Midwest all too well so if anyone has any suggestions let me know! Hopefully I can be of some help to someone else here in the future!

Hey Everyone!

I'm looking to buy my first investment property within the next 6 months and am trying to narrow down the scope of my search to 5-10 markets. I live in San Francisco and am looking to use a BRRRR strategy, but I simply don't have enough cash to afford anything in any of the major metropolitan areas in California, so I'm looking out-of-state. I've heard/seen great things about the Midwest, but am having a hard time narrowing down the exact locations that would fit best for BRRRR or buy-and-hold there. At the moment, these are the places I'm most interested in:

• Columbus

• Cincinnati

• Chicago

• Indianapolis

• Memphis

• Kansas City

I’d love to get some insight from either those who have actually invested in these areas and/or people who live there. What are the pros/cons of putting your money in any of these markets? Are the tax laws favorable for real estate investors? Which markets have the best zoning for multi-family? Really any information anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. I’m also trying to be as open-minded as possible in my real estate journey, so if anyone has any suggestions of places to invest alternative to these, I’m all ears!

Cheers and happy hunting!

Just by reading the title... Thats what I did. I moved back to Columbus in 2019. And SO GLAD that I did. I have learned new skills in home renovation and bought my first house hack where I live for free. Only you can make that decision, but I think Columbus market will experience steady growth in the next 10-15 years.

I acquired my 9 unit and 4 unit multi family units in 2018 and this month i am finally done seasoning them.  I rehabbed and renovated them raising rents from $500 per month to $700 to $800 per month per unit.  They are all 2 bedrooms one bath units some townhomes and apartments situated on several lots. I can even build on one of the empty lots across from of my 4 units to add more to that property.  What would be your play if you were me? Sell? 1031 exchange? Refinance cash out? All creative suggestions during these times are welcome. If you are interested in offering also let me know.  

There are several methods of screening applications at scale and avoiding the time-wasters. One of them is charging an application fee.

While this can serve to filter out some non-serious applicants, it can also prevent some well-qualified tenants from applying when there are free applications for similar units in the same market.

What your thoughts on the up front app fee? Worth it, or not a good idea?

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landlord property manager owner Indiana Ohio Michigan

I'm a 23 year old from Columbus, OH. Currently, I work fulltime and I'm a fulltime student. Throughout this year I've saved about $10,000 to put towards starting my investment journey in Real Estate. I know that's not a huge amount, but what's the best move to make? Is that even enough to start investing? I plan on getting my Real Estate License this coming year. Eventually, my goal is to flip homes and/or own multiple homes to rent. I know Columbus is a great market, I just don't know where to begin. Any and all advice is helpful!

I'm currently pre-approved for up to a 400k loan amount in Arizona. I've been looking at properties and the nicer ones do sell quickly and typically get overbid by others. Although these multifamily properties that I'm looking at are nice, the cash on cash return is pretty low. The real estate agent and investor that I'm working with is from this community and he recommends expanding my price range from 400k-600k. I know appreciation is important but I'm heavily weighted towards cash on cash returns and evidently it's just not that strong in Phoenix or in the surrounding area. My question is do I just forget Arizona because the prices are too high and look into other places like Columbus Ohio where the prices are more reasonable and have a higher chance of getting a better cash on cash return? How do people feel about this? All comments are appreciated.  

I will be investing from out of state (I'm from Argentina). I'm looking for an attorney and a CPA who could advise which direction to take with the LLC setup.

I will be investing:

1. Real estate - I will buy 1/2 rental properties in Columbus, Ohio in 2021. I'm planning to buy 2 more in the next 5 years.
2. Stocks investments - I will invest in financial instruments through a fiduciary.

What do I need?

1. LLC setup advice for limited liability.
2. LLC setup advice to optimize costs and taxes.
3. Protection in case of death. Configure the best strategy so that a person of my choosing (from Argentina too) inherits the LLC easily.

Doubts

1) Should I have a separate LLC for real estate business and another one for stocks? Or is it better to unify both investments in the same one considering that I am not going to operate very large amounts and reduce maintenance costs ?

2) Which are the costs of setting up an LLC, maintaining it and filing taxes each year? I don't want the yearly cost of the asset protection to turn good investments into bad investments..

3) How can I deduct expenses from taxes? What documentation should I save? For example: Travels, business supplies (computer, etc).

4) Ownership succession upon the death of the owner. Maybe include transfer on death language in the Bylaws? 

I'm looking for a little guidance. I've been searching high and low for my first investment. I'm looking for a multifamily but what I'm struggling with is targeting a market. I have done a tremendous amount of research, possibly too much, which has gotten to be overwhelming. I live in CA and due the housing prices here, I'm looking out of state for a lower entry point. I was focused on Cleveland, Ohio but the more research I've done has scared me off- population seems to lowering and not much job growth. I don't necessarily need something with a high COC return, I'm really looking for appreciation, something to buy and hold. Any tips and recommendations are much appreciated.