All Forum Posts by: Andrew Carlson

@James Hamling

I bought my first apartment a little over 2 years ago…other than buying a new house for my family, i haven’t done anything since then. I feel like the guy who did “A” deal and now sits on the sidelines. Just can’t seem to get anything going. What kind of deals are you doing in the metro area?

@Christian Perez

The biggest challenge is navigating health insurance in between jobs. That never got easier. It was always a sea of paperwork and/or very expensive

@Christian Perez

Hey man. I’m a veteran travel nurse and rookie real estate guy with 13 units. Hit me up if you have questions!

@Isham Zabala

I put a sign in the front yard. Works better for me to find small town yocals that just need a quiet place to call home…putting it online just opens up the door to so many people from “the big city” that bring big city problems with them.

@Isaac Bartels

Pay off that student debt…it’s dead weight. I would also consider buying yourself a personal home with some first time home owner low money down program…then get some roommates and house hack. Your killing multiple birds with one stone…

Building equity in a house

Learning about landlording

Living mortgage free to aggressively pay student debt.

@Mike Smith

@Brandon Vukelich

@Eric Van Deman

@Chris Webb

Thank you all for the input!

I should add, the plumbing and electrical were updated to copper about 15 years ago. The city sewer was updated in front of the building about 5 years ago, so that is set also. The weird part is, it has its own well water…go figure?

Also, there is a college town of 26,000 people basically connected to this tiny town…rents are probably $100-200 higher over there.

Anyways, what kinds of terms could I offer that are in my favor when it comes to contract for deed?

Thank you guys for your replies.

@John Underwood

You’re a boss.

How does buying tax liens work?

I found an off market 4 plex built in 1920 or so. The guy wants $100,000 for it. He is willing to do seller financing. Two of the units are rented at $550/month. Those should be bumped to $600. The other two units are vacant and need about $5,000 each worth of work to get up and running, and should get $600/month. It probably needs a new roof in order to be financeable if I want to sell it after fixing it up. I got one quote of $20k for the roof. The exterior needs roughly $5,000 in general repair/landscaping. Supposedly he talked to a realtor that said it would be worth $200k once all 4 units are rented and it has a new roof (seems like a reasonable guestimate).

The kicker for me is that the town has a population of 150 people….that’s tiny. It has shrunk by about 40 people since the 2010 census.

I have looked on Zillow and single family houses seem to sell in the $130k-$180k range.

Not sure if I found a diamond in the rough, or a trash heap that should be avoided at all costs. What I’m wondering is, should the fact that this town is getting smaller steer me away from this deal? Or should I just stop worrying and go for it?

@Delina Ortiz

The biggest thing with my small apartment building is keeping the drama between tenants to a minimum. Do this by treating everyone the same and Enforcing the rules the same between everyone.

Put up signs that make the rules look super official (no smoking, tenant parking only etc.)

Put up security cameras if you can

@Jack Miller

Hey Jack,

I know you said you regret selling properties along the way, but what if you have to sell a little property to buy a bigger property? That makes sense doesn’t it? For example, I could sell a single family and net about $170k. With that money I could try to find a creatively financed 10% down deal on a $1.7m apartment building. I too don’t like the idea of selling, but if I want to ratchet up to a bigger deal, I totally would. My 2 cents.