All Forum Posts by: Adam Sankowski

Hey if you're investing in buy and hold I think you'd be hard pressed to beat these folks: https://nreig.com/ Their REI guard product is great. They are responsive too with any questions although luckily I've never had a claim so I can't vouch for that. They are national too which is nice if you're going to dip your toe into other markets as well. I have both of my SFH's in Indy with them so they def. cover the market. Also they will specifically cover rehabs and other holding periods and then transition to regular insurance when its occupied so its perfect for the BRRRR method.

Hey I've seen some folks asking for suggestions for property management already but figured that I'd start another thread on this and see if there are any other suggestions out there?  Specifically I would love to get a company that has some rentals or specializes in Section 8.  Especially with all of the new laws around it with the passing of the ballot measure last Nov.  Any suggestions appreciated for where to look and I'm an out of state investor if that helps.  Thanks! 

Wait hold on a minute! @Jeffrey Haynes are you Mr. Lif as in the rapper? What?!?!? It’s not everyday one of your musical idiols shows up on a bigger pockets forum! If my investing goes down to Providence I’ll def be hitting you up for some help and beats ha! 

Hey, 

@Frank Patalano thanks for the offer!  I don't quite have my downpayment worked out yet so I'll wait till I'm a bit closer and then def. hit you up about coming down for a meetup! 

Hey @Frank Patalano and @Nelson Taylor really appreciate the wisdom! Very awesome of you both to take the time and Nelson for sharing... I’m looking at prov multis and I’ll def build those numbers into my worst case senerios! 

Hey @Nelson Taylor thanks so much for the story!  Sorry to ask you to re-visit it but as a newbie myself who has a few house and is expanding I'm trying to collect stories from others so that I can learn for the next downturn.  Thank you so much for sharing!  Do you feel like multi families in Providence are safer?  Did a lot of other providence investors run into the same issue or did some of the other property classes - for example B class (maybe federal hill multis) take less of a hit?  Any advice for newbies as we are moving forward and expanding?  Really appreciate it! 

Hey here’s my take on it from buying some cheaper stuff out of state and getting semi- burned.  Don’t believe the cash flow numbers if you’ve visited the properties and you couldn’t picture yourself there. 

Those numbers might look amazing but I promise they are not real. When you get random repair calls for the same sink faucet three times in a month or they sneak in a pit bull or sooooo many other situations they have happened to me. 

Just go a few steps up in quality... you’ll still cash flow on paper and even more in real life because you can’t put a price on quality, sane, and consistent tenants. Keep looking at slightly more expensive multis and you’ll find the right blend. And although it always needs to cash flow you can do a lot with a property that has a chance of appreciating down the line too. Trust me your gut is correct! If you wouldn’t want to live there yourself then keep looking because even though it looks good on paper the cheap properties with non stop tenant issues is what is going to make you want to sell within a year... which you then can’t do because the property hasn’t appreciated at all ha.

Worcester has a ton of great areas for a bit more money! Unless these were bottom level college rentals. College kids will live anywhere :) also the previous advice is very too true. It’s only a slum if you don’t take care of it. 

Hey thanks everyone for this excellent thread! @Jason D. I'm curious about your BRRRR and how your refi'ing out of it so quickly?

Delayed financing or an awesome loan person? 

@Nelson Taylor not to dig up old wounds but I’m curious how you lost your shirt in the crash so that we/ I can learn from it for the next one? Flipping? I assume it wasn’t with but and holds?  Thanks again and happy new year!

Hey I want to look into raising the rent on my property and I'm looking for some advice/ help on this.  So I've got a 4/1 that's rented out to Section 8 in KCMO.  I bought it from a turnkey if that matters and its 2 blocks east of Troost Ave. near Marlborough Heights and close to Rockhill Manor.  Seems like an ok area with a lot of rental inventory.  I'm realizing though with the yearly inspections and repairs a lot of my profit is suddenly gone and I need to try and maximize my returns. 

Anyways,  I've already read on the forum that the Section 8 powers to be are difficult to deal with and luckily I have a property manager to deal with that.  With all of my other properties in different locations I raise the rent a little bit every year so that it keeps up with market rent but maybe stays a bit lower.  I'm just finishing up my first year of owning the property and realizing though what a process it is to raise them... and that it has to get approved and be based on comps.  I stupidly figured that there was just a standard rate and not that it was such an art form to figure out what you can charge.  

Just wondering if anyone has any tips with raising the rent with Section 8?  Is it better just to keep the same rate for a few years and then do a bigger jump a bit down the line since or is it possible raise it a little bit every year?  Asking my PM too of course but wanted to  see what other help or opinions are out there first!!!!

@Stephen Roesler Here's a quick real life example. Go on Redfin or Zillow or whatever right now. There is a 2 family in Salem for sale for 560K right now. Looks like it had some issue with an easement that scared someone away so its back on the market. Its a 2 family but one unit is a 2 bed and another is a 5 bed. You live in the 2 bed and rent out the 5 bed (and try to split that unit up later and turn it into a 3 family like I'm doing in Somerville right now but that's another story). A 5 bed in Salem on Rentometer rents for 3,000 a month easy, and up to 3,800 is possible. This building looks like it needs little to no work and is rent ready and renovated. Your down payment with 3.5% down is 19,500 so 25K with closing costs? And your mortgage payment is around 3,800. So hopefully you rent that 5 bed for let's say 3,600? So now your living for $200 a month. YOU CAN'T DO THAT WITH A CONDO :) AND... once your PMI goes away then your cashing flowing it a bit and when you save up to get the next one and you move out this thing is then cash flowing like 2,000 a month!!!!!

And this is not some pie in the sky example, this house that I'm talking about is for sale right now!  Its the only multi for 560K in Salem.  This is just one example of how well this works and you only have to save up 25K.  You should be able to do that soon if you're really living lean and saving and living at home.  I don't care how "cheap" a condo is you can't get one for $200 a month ha Good Luck!