All Forum Posts by: Alecia Loveless

@Makani Donaldson I’ve been investing 5+ years and over my 31 units I average slightly more than $200/month.

I look to achieve the 1% rule when purchasing although in the current market it’s not a guarantee of cash flow.

@Maria McNally I’ve joined 3 coaching programs. The 1st was a complete waste and actually shut down during my 3rd week in. They removed all their content from the web and I got an email from my coach saying she no longer worked for the company.

The second one I still see out there. And it was represented as a program that could help you buy larger properties than you were buying currently. Unfortunately as the weeks went by my coach started pushing me to buy 50+ unit deals and to raise funds from investors. This was not what I was interested in doing and when I voiced that I was interested in 5-20 unit deals and had the funding for that in place I just got additional push back for buying the larger buildings. Eventually I just quit the program.

The third was a program on Self Storage which was highly informative and I enjoyed through AJ Osborne. If you’re interested in self storage I’d recommend looking him up.

@Ricardo Lemus Most investors try to get the longest term on their mortgage that is possible, usually 30 years for most. This is because the longer the mortgage term the cheaper the payment will be. Therefore you will have the most cash flow.

With 10 year mortgages if you are truly only $400 in the hole each month you’re probably doing pretty good.

However if you didn't calculate in at least some percentage of the rent for vacancy, repairs, and CapEx then eventually things will happen, such as a vacancy or a repair being needed and you will be out of pocket a much larger amount of money than just your $400.

@Ogonna Odo A small number of my contractors have started accepting credit cards. Mostly through Quickbooks.

I usually just send checks. I avoid cash as it is a safety risk to have large amounts on hand.

@Noah Laker Will you be running the house or leasing it to a company.

If you’re leading it to a company be sure to have in your lease explicit information about who is responsible for what in terms of maintenance.

I work in similar facilities and there is a lot of wear and tear on the property.

Having the tenant be responsible for something like the first $1000 of each maintenance issue, or $500 can be a big help.

My company has gone through 3 dishwashers in the last 12 months and it has been an added expense. If a landlord was responsible for each replacement it would add up quickly.

@Rachel Thomasson It’s very hard to find great prices in great locations. When you do there’s usually lots of competition.

I like to look for locations that are good, and that I’d feel safe and comfortable living in if I was a single woman with a couple of kids.

If your market is tight it can often take a while to find the right property. Have patience.

@Jackson Pudlo I have house hacked both ways, during my 20s and 30s in large SFHs and now as I’m approaching 50 I’m in a duplex where I rent one side and have a tenant in the other.

Both situations work nicely.

It will depend on your preferences and how well you think you will tolerate having a room mate as you approach a new life with your partner.

If it’s doable financially I’d recommend the duplex. I just think ultimately you’ll be happier in the long run. If you still want to rent out your other bedroom you can have a tenant in the opposite side AND a roommate which would give you two income streams. Then later as you grow older and no longer want to share your space you can just stop renting the other bedroom.

As far as self managing, it’s fairly easy. I have 30+ units and on a regular month usually only spend about 5 hours total on management things, most of which involves collecting rents and bookkeeping.

Just be sure to be prepared to get legal advice if you run into grey areas that you are not well versed in to avoid legal implications.

@Jose Martinez I use a local regional bank that has about 15 branches in northern New England. They view each loan individually and have been lending to me even though I only work my W-2 on a limited part time basis. The majority of my income comes from my rental portfolio.

I’ve got 31 units, and have been filing my taxes on all income from the rentals since I started investing 5 years ago.

The bank does still ask for my tax returns each year and with each deal and my adjusted gross income last year was comparative to your stated cash flow from your rentals.

I would think you should approach some local banks and see how they will handle your situation. You may find 1, 2, or more that will be flexible like mine is.

@Collin Hays My favorite that came in at 6am one morning when the nights low temperature was 58 degrees and the high temperature was to be around 75 was the following.

“I can’t believe you disconnected the heat. My toilet seat is cold”.

We routinely turn off boilers during the summer to prevent them from running to keep up to temp all the time during the warm months.

@Troy Parker Every time I have rented to a friend or acquaintance it has ended poorly. The common thought is to not rent to friends or family. It often ruins the relationship.