All Forum Posts by: Alethea Sealy

We bought the houses cash so nothing is owed on them except taxes. But there are things such as minor repairs (update a pipe on a radiator etc).

As for why more than 6 units a year = simply to have passive income so we can take care of our kids, my parents and leave grandkids with something. Additionally, invest in other real estate projects.

Hi. So I am the managing partner of day to day operations for the investments with my partner (my fiance). I have no REI training so I do not know how to address my partner's frustration. We have bought for cash, houses to renovate and rent for a year and a half. We average 1 renter every one to two months. He is frustrated because at this rate we will never get more than 12 renters per year.

Has anyone gone through this? How does one make the leap from a few houses to 40+ unit apartment buildings. We need 40 or more renters per year. 

Accepting the tenant story "we need to move quick". Every renter with this story has been problematic ( late rent, no rent, constant complaints)

Letting someone move into a place "as-is" agreeing to do fixup work. They are basically squatters.

Working with a contractor who looses keys, equipment and can't finish after moving the deadline several times

Hi all, I am a new investor. My projects are in the one of the trickiest markets Detroit. While here I would like to meet other investors. How do you meet other investors here in Detroit or other markets.

Hi all, its a pleasure to be here. My name is Alethea and I invest with my fiance. So he's French and I'm American we have very different views but agreed to invest in Detroit. We started in January this year with a few modest purchases (no bank financing) of multi-family dwellings.  Though they are in mixed income neighborhoods we do feel they are sound investments. But its been a challenge. My lack of real estate knowledge ( growing everyday), a scam contractor, lots of repairs that take longer than a few days to fix, late paying renters etc. We really haven't made a profit and we keep imputing cash into this project. Is this normal. I have cried at how long it takes to fix the houses with a little budget. My partner has fretted on the lack of results. We want to keep investing there even as we live outside the country but this is really a test. Is this normal? What has been your experience?

Hi community. I have a disagreement with my partner. We have $35K in one of the bank accounts. But there is a property we just stumbled upon in Detroit for $25K. We want to offer $20K; so with rehab costs starting at $15K we will have zero in the bank. 

I am trying to tell my partner that I prefer to find financing whether it is for a portion or the total amount. He says the property may disappear and we will miss out on a deal. I don't want us to use all our cashflow. His argument is that the property will generate $4000 in cashflow. But my argument is that the rehab costs can go up and we will be stuck trying to find capital anyhow. 

In fact this is the problem right now, we started a project (a duplex) working on the projection that the renter income from the first finished unit will pay toward the completion of the second unit. We used all the money in the bank. Well, the rehab costs went up because the contractor did not listen and he has used the money working on two units simultaneously. Now I am scrambling trying to find the rest of the funding for this project. 

Thoughts or experience community on how to go about this the right way?

Hi. I'm really excited to be here as a new investor. After purchasing 4 properties I am running into what most do: I have used most of my capital. Now my partner and I need investment capital. We buy depressed properties, rehab and rent to low income families. 

Renter profile: my first renter is very happy. Delray said "My husband and I plus three kids under the age of two had been searching for something to leave the extra family room of my in-laws. But finding something deceit in Detroit on a one income budget was a challenge. She said thanks to the affordable price of my rental her children have plenty of room to play and rest. And she can take care of the kids with out worry while her husband works the night shift".  Also another renter is quite satisfied with the affordable rent, he is a handyman. Craig exclaimed, "This is great between gigs to be close to downtown work sites. I just broke up with my girlfriend and didn't have time to look and work". He is very grateful for the low rent and space for his tools for his growing trade. 

So far so good. But we now would like to pick up the pace finishing a project and acquiring a couple apartment buildings instead of the multi family units. We would like to keep providing working folks with a place to raise a family or concentrate on rebuilding a career. 

Do you have a similar project? Did you run into a pressing need for immediate funding and a future purchases? I know a reasonable investment with a good return is between (8 - 15%) in a reasonable duration. But how did you do it without going the mortgage route, because the properties we buy are under 50K. Are there specific funds for family oriented properties? Advice needed.