All Forum Posts by: Andrew Flora

Depending on what you mean by co-invest, this is something I already do in Indiana.  I’m “the guy” for this type of deal structure.  I’m interested in hearing more about what you are looking for.

Raise rents on remaining units.  If you want to incentivize the long term tenants consider $475 instead of $495, but if they have been there 10+ years they aren’t leaving regardless of rent, especially if you’re still at market rates, I mean they can’t save money by leaving right?

Add application fees if you haven’t already, this can offset a small part of you PM leasing fees. $20 is fair.

Schedule weekly calls with your PM, go over in detail all the maintenance expenses.  When something comes up that seems outrageously overpriced like the salt question it and let him know that you expect him to find better pricing for that service or you will have to step in.  Remember, he/she works for you and you must macro manage his actions to make sure he/she stays sharp.  Sometimes they get lazy scheduling maintenance because it’s not their money paying for the service so they likely don’t bother trying to make a few calls to get the right price.

Negotiate your PM contract.  Try to get that expense down 1% or 2%.  Simply tell him or her the truth, if you don’t get expenses down you will have to terminate them and self manage or sell.

Utilize utility bill back.  Utility expenses can break a multi-family deal.  If you must include utilities consider taking control of the thermostat away from the tenants and measure their water usage.  You might have a few dripping faucets and a toilet running occasionally costing you a few hundred extra per month.  If you must pay electricity weigh the option of investing in solar panels, you might be able to find a grant for this.

Set cap ex budgets at the beginning of the year and if possible stick to the schedule and budget to make sure you aren’t blowing all the cash flow on unnecessary upgrades. 

If nothing else hopefully you can break even for now and in the grand scheme of things the tenants will pay it off for you and in 15-20 years you will have significant equity and a good cash flowing asset that will help you retire.

get a personal loan and refinance after 6 month seasoning period.  This only works if it’s a great deal and appraises much higher than your purchase price, or you have a plan to add significant value.

I’m not the type of person to trust a property manager, especially long distance when you might go months without seeing your units.   No one will take care of a property as good as the owner would.  For that reason, I would partner with seasoned investors that self manage and invest in their home market.  If they are putting their own money in a deal you know they are honest and sincere about the quality of the property.  Just my unpopular opinion on long distance investing.  P.M me and I can discuss my strategy with you.

I bought my first investment properties very young and they gained tons of equity through appreciation over the next couple of years.  Many years later I stumble across bigger pockets and saw people talking about refinancing to acquire more properties.  My young inexperienced brain never thought to do that, I wish I would have done it many years sooner.

I also thought it would be cool to buy a brand new truck in 2013, in hindsight I would have just kept driving the perfectly fine car I had that was paid off and bought another property instead of the truck.

My advice to young inspiring investors is: delay gratification

Live cheap and stay tight wait until you’re 40-50 to enjoy the fruits of your investments

I have primarily ran into issues when looking for lenders, partners, and buyers.

1.  Lenders message me when I’m looking for a specific product and they annoy me with 50 products they do have but they don’t have the product I specifically asked for.  They tell me they have flexibility and request all my documents just to continue beating around the bush.  Many even make promises they can’t keep.  They are typically young brokers that are looking for leads but can’t deliver.

2.  Partners always show interest in an opportunity.  After wasting hours of my time I often find that they are not capable of doing what they say they can.  They lie about their financial abilities, they lie about their experience, and they talk about how they want to partner.  When it comes time to put their money(or skills) where their mouth is and do a deal they disappear.  This has happened several times.  I believe a lot of people make stuff up hoping an investor will take them under their wing and take them along for a ride on a deal when they have nothing to add value themselves.

3.  I have a lot of out-of-state buyers or investment groups that are interested in buying from me.  When I present them a deal that is exactly like what they said they are looking for they often fail to be able to provide proof of funds.  

I’m sure there are thousands of great people here and I’m sure I will find some valuable connections at some point, but so far I’m frustrated and I’ve wasted a lot of time with people that are all talk.  I might be looking in the wrong places within the site.  Any advice on how to target more valuable connections?

I haven’t had any luck finding connections but I have found tons of valuable advice and information here on BP so I’m still happy to be here.  I just want to make sure I’m utilizing my membership and time on the site to full potential.

Ethan, I’m in the beer business covering most of the southern half of Indiana.  I have several connections but they are very valuable to me so I’m not quick to just pass out contact information.  What are your intentions?

@Matthew John in the short term I would start paying the bill. If it's legal in your state use the Rubs system to bill the tenants for the gas they use based on the ratio of square footage and number of occupants. You might have to wait until your lease is up to write a new lease allowing you to do this.

Another option would be to raise the rent and include the gas. If you do this set the thermostat yourself and put a lock box over it so the tenants can't turn it up too high or down too low.

I also like the idea of closing off the duct work to the upstairs apartment and adding electric baseboard heat, this might cost you a few hundred bucks.

I recently upgraded to pro hoping it would help me get better use of the resources here.

I've noticed theres hundreds of members that like to talk about what they have, what they are looking for, what service they offer, etc. But what I'm realizing is very few are sincere.

How many hundreds of members will I have to sort through to find sincere investors that are here to do business?

Any strategies or advice to find valuable connections would be appreciated. I wish their was an additional membership tier for members that have been screened to sort out the talkers, and scammers.

I'm a multi-family investor in the midwest, I'm looking for capital partners. Let me know if I can help.

I've been investing in buy and hold rentals for 7 years and currently have 16 doors.

Looking for capital partners to take it to the next level.