All Forum Posts by: Andrew Freed

@Conte Cuttino - I personally wouldn't toss $35K into any area that is illegal. What if the city finds out? Are they going to make you rip it out? I would look into the process of making that legal space. You might be able to have it considered as a mother in law suite. Nonetheless, having it as legal square footage will help your ARV and sales value dramatically vs. having an illegal unit.

@Carolyn Hamilton-Bernicky - Congrats on your first property! It's a huge step and honestly your best investment because it got you started.

What do the numbers look like? What did you purchase it for? What sort of rents can you get out of it? What is the cashflow you expect once you move out? Are you living close to free? I'm sure this one purchase had a huge impact on your monthly overhead and will allow you to save that much more for your next deal. 

Honestly, I recommend househacking as many properties as you can back to back. I've done it 3 times over 3 years and got 10 units for as little as 100K out of pocket on my end. 

@Haley Elisabeth - Good question! @Chris Seveney brought up a bunch of good points. At the end of the day, it comes down to leverage. With leverage, you can amplify your returns. You can also do more projects at once with the same pot of money, e.g. bringing 10% or 20% of the purchase price and getting 100% of the construction covered by a lender. Yes, with this comes more risk, but also more reward and ability to scale faster. Each person has their own risk tolerance, however what I will say is most people don't have straight cash to buy a couple hundred thousand dollar property hence are forced into utilizing hard money. 

@Steeve Kurian Hard money can be lucratitve if you place it under the right opportunities. At the end of the day, everyones ultimate goal is to become the bank and simply lend out a pile of money and collect a return rather than having to do the grunt work of making these assets perform. That's the end goal in real estate lol. 

@Nathan Kurz - I don't know any RV investors in Austin, but one of my partners owns over 500 pads in the Northeast, primarily New England. Ben Simons (Archer Acquisitions), happy to make a connection if you think that would be helpful. He is super knowledgable and has over 10 parks owned or under contract currently. I believe he is working on completing a roll up of the RV parks in the hopes of selling it to P/E down the road. 

What is your experience in this asset class? 

@Marc Shin - Probably a national bank like bank of america where they have branches everywhere is easiest if you are trying to keep it simple. 

Personally, I like to seek debt from small local credit union and banks, aka portfolio lenders. They tend to have the cheapest debt but it usually requires you to have a bank account at the bank. I normally end up going with a small bank that provides favorable terms for holding my cash.

@Demiss G. Shippley - I think this is incredibly smart, this is exactly what I did to expand my real estate portfolio. I lived in Boston, which was far too expensive. I identified a growing market with a lot of multifamily (Worcester MA) and moved out to that market to start house hacking and buying multis. I started a real estate focused meetup in Worcester, became an investor focused agent.... essentially went all in to the market with everything I had. This resulted in people bringing me deals in the market, helping numerous other buyers invest in the area, and grow an extensive rolodex of team members. Honestly, smartest decision I made. I now own over 100+ units in this market. 

I think you are going down the right path, just keep in mind to be prepared to go all in to this and you won't regret it. At the very least, I would start by identifying an investor focused agent in your area, get pre approved and start looking into putting in offers on a house hack. 

@Jeff Schemmel - Solid points! Asking tenants about their experience, any issues with their units, and the building is imperitive for buying properties. I purchase multifamily all the time and when I walk properties, I always inquire with the tenants to gain an understanding of the property. They live here 24/7 hene they honestly would know best. Definitely something investors should add to the tool belt to enhance their level of due diligence. Fantastic post. 

@Johnny Nash Sr - Congrats on your first wholesale deal. Spill the beans.... what did you get it under contract for, what did you sell it for, what was your profit? How did you source the deal? Tell us about the details, I'm sure many newbies would love to learn how to scored your first deal! 

@Saurabh Mithal - Welcome to BP. I highly recommend that you start attending local real estate meetups to meet and connect with other investors in your area. What do they say, your networth is your network? I highly recommend start connecting with others in your area, gain value relationships, and learn more about investing first hand. That is where I met some of my most fruitful partners, contractors, mentors, and lenders... at these very meetups. Best of luck on your investing journey!