All Forum Posts by: Aaron Helmholdt

While exploring rooms for my wife to rent as a spa and salon worker, we found an opportunity to rent a large 2500 square foot retail space that already houses a spa/salon business that is moving. As such, it is already perfectly set up with rooms made for her kind of business. It has given us the idea to go ahead and rent the entire space and then sublease the other available rooms to other salon people looking for rooms to rent to create a secondary side business with some cash flow. However the costs to get going (signage, light renovations,) and the much higher rent is a bigger risk then I want to make. We have 2 family members that want to go in on it to mitigate the risk and help out.

What is the best way to set something like this up? Would creating an LLC with the 3 of us make the most sense to sign the lease with and also to run the business of collecting rents from the subleases? Does anyone have similar experiences or insights?

Thank you!

Bill, thank you for that detailed response, I really appreciate it.  My biggest question was why someone with the ability to purchase would split it 50/50 in the first place - something you brought up as well. That's why I am wondering what kind of partner deals people have put together where they are more of the legs and experience as opposed to the money side. Thank you for your experience and input. 

Last night I listened to Brandon Turner in his multi family webinar. Awesome job Brandon!  As a multi family investor, I am interested in securing a partner for my next 2-4 unit property but have some questions as to how these deals typically work. Brandon mentioned a structure where someone manages the property and someone puts up the money for the property and it is split 50/50.  If any of you have that in place, could you expand upon that? Brandon, maybe you could chime in? 

Is it generally expected that the money person comes up with 20% down plus closing costs and repairs? Down the road, do big expenses also get paid by the money partner or should cash flow cover everything once the property is bought. Does money only get paid out to partners on the sale of the property? What are some common practices between 50/50 partners where one side is the money and one side is hands on. 

Thanks! 

I own a duplex and live on one side. We have a trampoline that my wife wants to put up for our kids but I am worried about the risks of the tenant's kids getting hurt on it. Is there a way to add something to the lease that they can agree that they use it at their own risk and can't hold me liable for any injuries?

Great info! It's nice to see everyone's different strategies. @Bryan L. In your opinion do you think it is realistic for someone who does not have access to the MLS to be successful using a realtor to relay that information?

@Dev Horn Thanks for sharing that top level security secret!

@Dev Horn Thank you for sharing your experiences. I have never heard of that last website you posted I will have to check it out. Could you point out where to find more information on how to target people in direct mail campaigns? I have read people sending mail to out of state owners but how do you go about doing that?

@Account Closed What a great out of the box strategy. I definitely would not be ready to take on multiple properties at a time yet but it is a wonderful strategy to keep in mind.

This post is for all the rehabbers and flippers out there. I have a long term buy and hold strategy but have recently been interested in learning more about flipping and doing maybe 1 or 2 flips a year. I want to know where you are finding your deals. I know there are many ways - auctions, direct mail, driving for dollars, MLS, etc. I want to know what YOUR method is and what do YOU find most successful. A breakdown of how many houses you bought for flipping using each method would be awesome! Thank you in advance.

A $120,000 SFH might fetch $1200 per month in rent in my area where a $120,000 Duplex might fetch $750 each side. Also, owning MFH diminishes the variance in vacancies.

The biggest advantage for me is that they tend to cash flow better than single family homes.