All Forum Posts by: Amy Kendall

@Kyle Cornia  I think that is a great strategy and perfect for getting started.  I still rent out my basement and I absolutely love having it cover my mortgage.  I don't think you can go wrong with that strategy as your first investment, and you will start getting ahead quickly by saving that monthly mortgage expense.

@Robert Belz I have done this a few ways without having to go through the process of submetering:  First, you could talk  with the city and if you have been paying the bill long enough, some cities will put you on equal pay each month.  Then, you could simply divide the bill between all tenants each month and it would always be the same amount.  You could also do this yourself and just take the average over the last year and divide that up between the tenants.  I would avoid taking the monthly bill and dividing it evenly between the tenants each month, because they very quickly begin to harbor negative feelings towards their neighbors if the bill were to increase by say $10 in a given month.  But, in my experience if you take the average over the last year and divide that evenly so they know exactly what it will be each month, then you can avoid that negativity.

@Melanie Parkham  I work with a lot of investors, and I would say that it is not normally something that they have done on every property.  Of course, they always have an inspection done and if it comes up as a potential issue on the inspection then they would pursue it more.  However, I always recommend having one done if the property is over 50 years old.

@Max Bradshaw You will probably want to get a professional's help with this one. I am not familiar with how NC operates, but do you know if your LLC located in Utah is a series LLC? If you are going to hold several properties under that LLC, it would probably be worth converting it to a series LLC and giving you a little added protection. From my limited understanding, I think you would have to create an LLC in NC and then have your LLC in Utah own that LLC. I had a lawyer set mine up for what I felt like was a reasonable price.

@Matt Quinney  That is totally understandable.  Obviously it is going to be different for everyone, but I can tell you a little about how our process looked when we first got started.  Our initial goal was to replace my husband's income with passive income, and we thought maybe we could do that in 5 years.  So, then we went through the process of planning that out.  We were lucky that we already had our first home that we were using as a rental and had some equity in it that we were able to tap into.  But basically the plan was to buy 2 homes/year that would increase our cash flow by about $400/month.  We wrote down how much money we had, guessed on about what those homes would cost, and then we planned out how much we would save/month to get us to the next down payment/house.  It was really tight in the beginning, but we saved all of our cash flow as we went along and that really helped us throughout.  Looking back, we only very roughly followed the plan but it helped that we were on the same page. Having planned it out so much, I think it helped us both realize that if we stuck to it then it was actually possible and we took that mindset and really went after it.  Now, it's been five years and my husband left his job in December after being part time last year and we exceeded our cash flow projections.  

@Matt Quinney Welcome to the forums!  I agree with the above comments that you should start by setting your goals.  My husband and I started with a very detailed five year plan years ago that really helped give us direction in the beginning.  We also learned a lot over the years.  It's also important to take that first step and get your first property and get over that initial fear.  Good luck! 

@Masyn Grant Barney Our basement worked out great this last year! It was interesting because I noticed that a lot of the people ended up staying around 4-6 weeks because they were in between moving and having a furnished place was just what they needed. We haven't had a hard time finding new tenants after each turnover, and we have slowly been able to get more rent each month. We probably average about $1750/month, but this month we were able to get $2300, so it does vary but overall it is a lot more than if it was an unfurnished long-term rental. For example, I manage a similar 2 bed/1 bath basement close to me that chose not to furnish it and do a long term tenant, and it rents for $1250/month. I think there is a need for that type of housing in our market. So, I ended up advertising more for that purpose and we do make quite a bit more per month being flexible with when people move in and out and having it furnished. Of course, we do cover all the utilities with that, but it still works out to be a lot more profitable. In fact, I have one of my long term SFH that I am turning over and I am going to furnish it and see if I can sort of take the same model and increase my cash flow that way. I would 100% recommend it!

Welcome to the forums!  That is awesome that you guys have already got started.  Getting into your second property might be easier than you think.  I would recommend talking with a lender and see what they recommend.  I remember when we first thought about buying our second property, and my husband was convinced it would be a difficult process and that we wouldn't qualify.  After talking with a lender and learning their criteria and what they took into account, he realized it was actually pretty straightforward and not as difficult to qualify as he had thought it would be.  Good luck!

@Nathan Clawson That's fantastic for you guys to get started!  I think your plan sounds great and will set you up on a great path.  I think it's important to always keep your six month emergency fund and just keep learning as you go.  If you haven't done it yet, I would also take some time with your wife and set out your five year plan.  Be ambitious and try and plan out a really good strategy for those years that will help you guys stay focused.  My husband and I did that when we really started accumulating more properties and it really helped us to have the same vision throughout.  

@Cameron Mello Welcome to BP!  I live in Lehi and have properties throughout Utah county.  I'm more than happy to connect anytime.  Best of luck!