All Forum Posts by: Andrew Freed

@Joshua Thang - I have never requested a rent increase and had section 8 come back and reduce the rate. From my experience, the reps at section 8 truly want to find suitable housing for their voucher holders hence I would be very suprised if they lowered the rent beyond the current rate. As a landlord, that may prompt me to not renew the tenants lease hence they would have to seek alternative housing. 

Based on my experiences of requesting rent increases on dozens of section 8 recipients, the housing organization has always granted a rent increase.... perhaps not at the level I would like but never below the current rate. 

@Patrick Braswell - You got this brotha! I myself was in a similar boat, questioning my skill and if I could be a successful real estate investor. That was 3 years ago during COVID when I had 0 units and as of today, I am up to 196 units. What helped me build confidence were the following:

-Listening to as many podcasts including BP as possible

-Utilizing the miracle morning routine daily

-Read as many real estate investing books that I could get my hands on

-Attending as many local real estate meetups as possible

-Finding a mentor that was doing what I wanted to do at a larger scale and providing him immense value so he would take me under his wing

-Starting my own local real estate meetup

-Walk as many properties as possible and make offers. Finding good deals is a numbers game, if you submit 50 offers, you will eventually find a good deal.

The above habits helped me achieve a level of investing I truly did not think is possible. It's all about the daily habits and loving the process more than the end result. Best of luck on building your real estate empire! 

@Karin Levi - Good question! My friend @Andrew Bosco specializes in medium term rentals (it should be similar furnishings to STR) and has a pretty sweet checklist that he utilizes for furnishing the property. If you message him, I'm sure he is happy to share his resources. He helped me furnish my MTR and they turned out great!

@Chris Seveney - Interesting find, thanks for sharing. Do you think this may have implications in the "sub to" community? Or would this exclude "Sub to" since it is a different mechanism. Just curious because people in that community could exceed the yearly limit pretty easily. 

@Mary Jay - People with an eviction are an automatic no in my book. Regarding not good credit, I usually request a co-signer and copies of their bank statements showing that they have sufficient reserves in case anything arises. If I see they have 4-6 months of rent in the bank and can obtain a co-signer, I will look past bad credit at times. 

@Kris Villasenor - All good points, 95% of wholesalers just aim to get it under contact and not consider the exit strategy. This is very common. To that point, I find way more deals from agent pocket listings vs. wholesalers. You can find a diamond in the rough for sure, however a lot of times, it takes educating the wholesaler on what you are looking for first before they secure the deal. I would also recommend you expand your strategy to reaching out to local high producing agents and inquire about pocket listings as well (listings that are being sold off market and not on the MLS). Best of luck on the search!

@Jaekwan Lee - Happy to help. Not particularly. I was saying utilize a 5% down conventional first if possible and find a househack that is at least a 3 to 4 unit property since duplexes don't cash flow once you leave. If duplexes are your only option, I would recommend house hacking that and investing out of state to find more multifamily. Or you can invest in San Antonio and househack there. I know there are more multifamily in that market than Austin TX. 

@Elvis Tam - No offense but this does not make sense to me. You will find the best loan products from small local credit union and/or banks that specialize in those markets (aka portfolio lenders). Debt is the highest line item when it comes to owning real estate hence I would rather go through the work of identifying local lending partners, getting the best debt hence best returns on my properties. As opposed to going with a national provider who takes a larger spread and does not offer as competitive terms. I've seen local players offer 75% LTV for properties vs. national lenders offer 60% LTV and much lower interest rates. That is a large variance in how much funds you have to bring hence I'd rather do the boots on the ground work and get the best debt possible.

Some strategies I utilize when it comes to finding good debt in a new market is posting on the local facebook investor groups, asking them who they use. Also, attending local meetups and/or identifying the largest landlords in the area and finding out who they utilize for debt. 

@Jaekwan Lee - You're asking the right questions. This decision alone can determine if you scale to 30 units in 3 years vs. 6 units in 3 years. The key to scaling a real estate portfolio is understanding how to utilize leverage to the best of your ability. For instance, the infamous househack. That is one of the best ways to utilize leverage. You can get into a 3-4 family properties (3 to 4 family is preferred since it is tough to find a duplex now that cash flows once you move onto your next househack) with as little as 3.5% down (FHA loan, you can only have one of these outstanding at any given time) vs. 5% conventional loan (you can have up to 10 of these on your credit report before you essentially run out of space) and create an investment property with little money out of your pocket.

I highly recommend that you utilize a low down payment loan (preferrably 5% down since it has less closing costs, you can get out of mortgage insurance once you hit 20%, and you save your FHA for another purchase) and move into a 3-4 unit property. The key is to ensure it will cash flow once you leave a year later with all the units rented. And continue to do this for 2-3 years with that original 20%. Combine this househacking with joint venturing on some commercial property around the same market (5-20 units) with a few other investors that compliment your skillset and viola, you will obtain 30-50 units in 3-5 years.

This is making some broad assumptions... you and your family keep your expenses as low as possible while saving and investing as much as possible. 

Additionally, you understand that anything you invest in with debt has to have a significantly higher return than the cost of that debt.

Lastly, you love the process. This is a grind for sure, but you will thank your future self 5 years down the road when you actually have control of your time (which essentially is the reason people seek financial independence). 

That is my soapbox for the day.... best of luck on your journey! 

@Ethan Piani - I definitely think househacking or JVing on a commercial multifamily is the play. Happy to offer advice if you have any questions. Best of luck on building your portfolio.