All Forum Posts by: Amy Kendall

@Steven Davis welcome to Utah!  There are a lot of great members and meetings as @Jaiden Olsen posted above.  Are you looking to buy multi-units locally or out-of-state?  

@David Fairall, I agree with @Brian Sparr.  Very good advise.  Do you have very much construction experience?  I think you can find a good electrician to change the outlets to GFIs without too much cost.  Windows can be pricey for someone to install.  My husband and I changed all the windows at a property we owned last year.  The actual cost of the windows was a lot cheaper than I had expected and we were able to remove and install them ourselves, which saved us a lot of money.  

I would only replace the sprinkler heads that aren't working, and I would really consider putting a timer on if at all possible.  My experience with my homes is that the yard gets seriously neglected by your tenants if you are not around.  Anything you can do to make it less work, will benefit you in the end.

I would consider painting the house the same color.  Paint doesn't cost too much and can make a big difference in the overall appearance and feel of the house.  Plus, it is nice to be consistent as you acquire more properties and not have ten different colors you have to keep on hand.

The kitchen and garage door are a little harder to decide because they will cost you the most.  I have really old cabinets in one of my rentals, but we painted them inside and out and updated the hardware and they turned out pretty nice.  I would consider that before completing a costly kitchen remodel.  That same rental also had a old wood garage door.  We finally ended up replacing it with a new door and motor last year.  The new garage door is pretty awesome and quiet.  I would probably wait to do it until later when you have more cash flow/month.

I would trim trees and just clean the gutters more often instead of investing money into that issue.  I bet they just hadn't been cleaned out in a long time and cleaning them out once or twice a year will probably solve that problem.  

Not sure how helpful that is to you, but I wish you the best of luck!  If you are someone that likes projects like my husband and I, then you will probably end up doing all of these items just to have something to do!  Good luck!

@Peter Rodriguez. Rentler is a great place to try and find a potential rent amount for a property. There are a lot of tools that will help you analyze a property. For a quick analysis, just download a simple mortgage calculator that you can plug in a purchase price, downpayment, interest rate, taxes, insurance, and any potential HOA fees. I use the quicken loan app on my phone for that. Really play around with how changing any of those numbers affects your overall return. Then, if the property seems to be making sense, you can move on to the more sophisticated analysis tools. An investor friendly real estate agent will be able to run a more in depth analysis for you.

@Peter Rodriguez. I definitely agree with not wanting to work a day job for the rest of your life!  I also agree with @Sean Nava with mother-in-laws or multi-family properties being a great way to get started in our current market.  If you can get your mortgage covered or mostly covered on your first purchase while living in the property, then you will have a good start to allow you to save more money per month and propel you to your next purchase.  Best of luck getting started!  I would suggest analyzing as many deals as you can to try and learn the market.  Then, when you see a good deal, you will know what it looks like.  Best of luck!

Thanks @Jaiden Olsen!  I was hoping you would post that!  @David Fairall you are on the exactly the right track with your goal setting!  Your overall goal will probably change over time as ours did.  We first were thinking of retirement, but then changed our goal after meeting and talking with more investors.  Then, we really got serious and set out a five-year goal to make 5k/month in passive income and made an outline of how to get there.  Now, our goal has changed again.  At the beginning of the year, we go out somewhere nice and set the goals for the year and review the previous year's goal.  Then, we revisit them a few times during the year.  We have found it to be a huge help throughout.  It really pushes us to accomplish more than we think is possible.  

@David Fairall Welcome to the forums and congrats on your first rental property!  There is a great local community of investors around with meetups in Salt Lake City.  I forgot all the dates and times of the meetups, but I am sure someone will be able to post them for you.  In the meantime, keep setting goals and have a vision of where you are trying to get to.  My husband and I set yearly goals each year, which helps us both stay on track and stay motivated.

@Daniel Whitmore  I think you have a good strategy worked out.  Especially if you are going to stick with the Utah market.  I would say that most investors starting out in our market buy a house that they will live in initially with the plan of renting out in the future.   I think buying a multifamily and/or a house with a basement apartment or an ADE is one of the best options.  If you can get your portion of the mortgage covered as much as possible or completely, then I would consider that to be a home run.  It will allow you to save all that money and put yourself in a good position to take advantage of deals in the future and continue to achieve your goal of buying a property a year.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Saratoga Springs.

Purchase price: $203,000
Cash invested: $33,000

This was a new build townhome we purchased with the intent on renting it out. I remember being so nervous that we were paying too much for the property at the time. We bought this in the very first phase of construction, and the next year they had already increased the selling cost by about 40k. We financed it through the builder with a 15% down payment. Looking back, I just wish we had been brave enough to pull all our money out of a refinance to buy several more.

@Monica Davies  I think this is a good strategy for you to get into a rental property and be able to save money on your mortgage.  I have a client who is building a new home with a separate entrance in the basement just to be able to rent it out and help cover the mortgage.  The numbers are pretty apealling.  There are definitely some downsides to renting out both spaces in the future, however.  I actually dug out an entrance in my own home and finished my basement to use it as a short term rental recently.  My initial thought was that I wouldn't have the same tenant living underneath me all the time, but that I could increase my monthly cash flow with a reasonable amount of money invested.  I just think if it is your first rental property and it gets you into the game, then it is really worth giving it a shot!  Best of luck and I am happy to help or give tell you about my experience so far anytime.

Welcome!  That sounds like a good plan!  Our original goal was also 5k/month in passive income.  We wrote out our five-year plan with savings, purchases, and cash flow.  It changed very quickly, but it gave us a great vision of where we were headed.  It's fun to look back and see where you deviated from the plan and how you were able to achieve things quicker than you had first imagined.  Best of luck!