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How to Handle a Landlord with Multiple Properties for Sale

Jason Hanson
2 min read
How to Handle a Landlord with Multiple Properties for Sale

I love landlords. I get the majority of my deals from landlords who are sick of dealing with tenant hassles. The biggest payoff comes when you get a call from a landlord who wants to sell you multiple properties, such as 3, 10, 20 and maybe even 50 houses at once.

So what do you when a landlord calls and has several houses to sell at once?

Well, last week this happened to me and a partner. We got a call from a landlord who had four properties he wanted to sell. The guy is older and he just doesn’t want to deal with them anymore. The first thing to do when you get a call like this is to evaluate each property at a time.

So, we talked with the seller and got the complete details on all four properties on four deal sheets. Now, once we had the complete information on these four properties, we had to evaluate them and run the comps and the rental comps. On three of the properties there is plenty of cash flow and the numbers look good. However, the fourth property has negative cash flow of about $100 a month.

What to do with this negative cash flow property?

When talking with the seller about this he basically said, “overall, on the four properties you get a lot of cash flow.” He’s right. But once again, I evaluate each property individually. Just because three properties cash flow, that doesn’t mean I should take on one property with negative cash flow. To me, that’s nonsense.

I don’t care if I’m buying one property, or a package of four. Every property I buy must meet the same rigorous standards and must have cash flow and a certain amount of equity. The investors who don’t do this and who aren’t “ruthless” when it comes to evaluating a property are the ones who complain that this business is difficult and it’s tough to make money.

Remember, you always make your money going in.

So with this particular landlord we are still in the negotiating phase and inspecting the properties. We plan to buy three of the properties subject-to and get several hundred dollars a month in cash flow.

That’s the beauty of this business. Just one phone call from a landlord with multiple properties could take you from zero deals ever done, to four deals done and a positive cash flow of $900. And I think all of us could use an extra $900 a month.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.