All Forum Posts by: Andrew Laing

Property has a large US treasury judgment that is going up for auction as a County Tax foreclosure. I’m in North Carolina. Does this judgment convey? If so, should I be concerned the Treasury comes after me for the judgment?

@Eric Weireter thank you!

@Bennet Sebastian thank you!

How do you handle tenants rent during their upfit? We have a new construction project that has shells for the tenants. Do you charge them full rent from day one? Give them a break during construction? Thanks for any insight.

Does the winning bid at a tax foreclosure auction pay BOTH the winning bid amount PLUS the tax lien amount or does the winning bid amount cover the tax lien? 

@Filipe Pereira

@Phil Dimopoulos

Filipe has a great beat on the market, his numbers seem right in line.

I will tell you the water costs have been eye opening. Our tenants really enjoy filling up a blow up pool in the Summer. It’s hard to control their use and my water bill on the 2 family ranged from $250-430/month this Summer.

Our biggest surprise in Holyoke with our larger complexes has been the trash bills. We have had a difficult time controlling all the dumping that occurs. We are going to be installing a security camera system in hopes of controlling this issue as well as the drug dealing that occurs on our properties and nearby.

You have to understand where you are investing, and account for appropriate costs. The issues above should not scare you, it is just something you should include in your numbers.

@Phil Dimopoulos Springfield can be a great place to invest depending on your goals. The cash flow is greater than you’ll find in Worcester or Boston. If there is an expectation for average or above average appreciation, Springfield is not your spot. I have 30 total units in Springfield/Holyoke and the cash flow is something I really enjoy. I had a property in Boston, but recently sold because appreciation outpaced the rents, so I sold and took cash elsewhere. I’m now living in NC and multi family properties are few and far between. It makes me appreciate Western Mass as a great place to invest, where there are a ton of multi family units.

Any suggestions on a free or low cost program/app to collect online rent payments from a 9 unit commercial building? I’d like an easy way for tenants to pay rent, submit repair requests, etc. Thanks for any insight.

@Hassan DeWitt how about getting into a 10-20 unit multi first to get into the game and understand the numbers, financing, and systems a bit better? We have 30 units in three different buildings and have learned a lot (like totally underestimating trash expenses at the beginning!). We’ve had them for 2.5 years and will eventually do a refi or a 1031 to get into more units or something larger.

Multi is a great space and has continued to cash flow during COVID (our units are in Western Mass).

@Dedric Polite These are old homes/buildings, so as far as due diligence goes, the lead and asbestos are something you have to examine.  Also, many of these tenants in a number of the deals I've looked at have not paid security deposits, so just be aware of this.  Many Section 8 tenants as well, just an FYI.  

Insurance premiums are on the high end because the replacement cost is much higher than the purchase price for these deals, so make sure to include this in your expenses when figuring out your offer. Section 8 tenants raise the rates as well.