All Forum Posts by: Alex Huang

To reiterate everyone's point here, you have to have solid numbers and know your maximum purchase price (and account for all the fees associated with it). Also, don't forget about the seasoning rule. Most banks require you to have a property for a minimum of 6 months before being able to refinance. This has an obvious impact on your holding costs (HELOC interest), so make sure you don't overlook anything.

I'll speak a little to the rehab side -

1. It's easy as investors to become enamored by the numbers and ROI. Put in as little in as you can for the highest ROI, right? However, there are exceptions as you plan for future repairs. A good example would be for flooring. It's enticing to buy the cheapest vinyl flooring possible (I found it as low as $.79/sqft for 2mm thick), but that stuff will wear down and you're looking at a hefty replacement expense when it inevitably needs replaced. Some costs are worth the extra 25-50% upfront, even if they hurt your numbers a little and don't have an immediate return.

2. Avoid indecisiveness! I have a tendency to overthink things. It's why I've always sucked at multiple choice exams. I find myself always trying to find the BEST decision on every little thing with my property. Truthfully, my mental energy would be better spent pursuing other deals and opportunities rather than worrying if the painter I hired is over-charging me by a few hundred dollars. The RE journey will have speedbumps along the way and mistakes will be made. Embrace them, learn from them, and continue forward.

Can't comment on the leasing specifics but I would highly recommend reading the threads on this forum about "hardening your rentals." College students can be really hard on rental properties.

You are in, what I assume, is a super competitive market.

Your best bet is to try to find some new ways to approach potential sellers. Every one else is using the same strategies (MLS, yellow letters, etc), so you should try to think outside the box to try and connect with potential sellers. Try to connect with some RE agents and get your name out there as well. Without doing that, you'll probably be working at a disadvantage from the competition and will find deals through sheer coincidence or circumstance.

Love stories like these. Congrats.

What strategies are you planning to use to find your next flips or to reach your year-end goal of 12? Are you going to be relying on MLS, wholesalers, or something else?

Mind sharing the numbers?

Pros of MFH vs SFH:

 - One property tax vs one per door, one roof instead of one per door, etc

- Vacancy isn't binary (aka, you might have 5 units and 3 are rented out and 2 are vacant, instead of either all occupied vs all vacant)

Scan through the BiggerPockets podcast archive. Read the descriptions of the shows. Focus on the ones that are centered around rental investors. Most of the interviews include some degree of their "how I started" journey and a lot of sage advice that will help you learn from others mistakes.

You may want to look into the tax benefits of buying new appliances too. You might be able to depreciate a good portion of their cost upfront.

A few things I do in my daily routine:

1. Browse the new MLS listings in my markets - I think it's beneficial to keep a pulse of what is out there, prices, and quality of finishes. It gives me a good idea when I'm ready to do rehabs with regards to market expectations and market supply.

2. Simulated Analysis - I'll take atleast one of the above properties and do a quick analysis on it as both a flip and a rental property. Even though I might not be interested in the property, I think it is healthy to go through the exercise of figuring out its property taxes, estimating what the property could rent for, estimate what the property could ARV for, and then to see what the cash-on-cash return would be if I wanted to pursue it. This keeps me sharp on numbers.

3. Visit BP - Atleast once a day, I will head to the BP forums and read some of the newest / most active posts. It's amazing to see the different angles people can approach RE Investing, and there is no better way to grow individually than to read / learn about others' experiences.