All Forum Posts by: Andy Bahr

Hi everyone. So like the majority of investors right now, it has hard for me to find cash flowing rentals due to appreciation + high interest rates. Therefore, my wife and I have decided to simply build our own properties to rent or sell. I've found a lot that fits our needs, but now I need to "walk the land". The question for the BP community is: what should I look for when I visit the site?

Also, I would gladly compensate more experienced developers to visit the site with me for input. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Hi Charles, congrats on jumping into the ground up phase of real estate investing!
Here are a few pointers when looking at land:
-FEMA Maps: Is the property in a flood zone?
-Does the seller/agent of the
-Has the land been built on before?
-City water, City Sewer? Tap? If not, that starts the septic tank conversations.
-Access to streets? Hopefully not land locked!
-Cleared of trees?
-What's the topography like, does it need leveling?
-Any easements?
-How many owners of the land?
-What is the density? Meaning, how many structures can you build on this land per county regulations?
I have a client who is also looking for land in the Charlotte area. Thus, if you have anything that you come across that isn't a fit, we'd love to take a look as well.
Cheers!

1 Vote

Charlotte, North Carolina

Quote from @Carol Burns:

I am looking at a sfr. Purchase price $240,000, rehab of $40,000, probably worth 320000 after rehab. Looking to rent out for $2100/month. Does a dcsr loan cover the rehab? 280,000 after rehab, 20 percent down, so would be financing 224,000. And what are the rates now for dcsr loans? How do I go about finding a lender? TIA

Hi Carlos!
I used to be a loan officer, however, I will for sure refer you to the experts as I have since transitioned to being a realtor! As a real estate investor in Charlotte, I have worked with Allen Marshall at David Greens's One Brokerage.
Allen's Phone is 707-481-8180. When I worked with them they were doing DSCR loans so hopefully they can help! I know regulations change almost by the quarter so what is true now is probably different last year.
Good Luck!

1 Vote

Charlotte, North Carolina

Quote from @Account Closed:

Hello! I've learned so much on BP, mostly from lurking over the last few years as I prepare to shift full time to RE. I'm curious to tap the brain trust here on any angles I may not have considered. Would love to hear your thoughts or strategies if you were in my shoes.

I am 40, a creative director burnt out on the advertising industry, and ready to do construction/RE/rentals full time. I think the world needs more homes, and I want to be more involved in providing people a place to live. I believe builders and landlords do the country a service.

My question: What's my best angle to dive into RE, given my skills and assets? I have the sense that I have a lot of good building blocks to work with, and I have some strategies I'm considering (like build and hold), but I would love the thoughts of the community.

My goal:

Net worth of $10M, or $30k net monthly income. I think this is a modest goal, in this day and age.

What I have to work with:

- An LLC (currently just run STR taxes through this)

- A Type S Corp (I run my ad business through this, but will shift it over to construction)

- A General Contractors license in the state of Oregon, tied to Type S Corp (have had and maintained since July of 2022)

- A construction skillset. Have built a couple dozen homes since my early 20's, on the side as specs and for us personally. I have tools for everything from concrete forms to finish carpentry.

- Two homes: a primary residence and second home that we STR most of the year when we're not there. Both in Oregon. One worth $600k, one worth $400k. Combined debt on them is $394k.

- A $300k HELOC on the second home, at prime + 3% with a 20 year draw period. Balance $0. Just closed on this, and it's the final piece in my plan for a career shift.

How would you reach my goal, if you were me, starting with these tools and experience? I guess I'm hoping for ideas other than "use the HELOC to finance construction of a spec house, rinse and repeat."

Sorry this post is so long, no need to reply unless it's interesting or a fun thought experiment for you. TIA, and thanks so much to this community for the generous sharing of knowledge. One of my favorite places on the internet for keeping it real.

Hi Tyler!
Great question and we are roughly the same age!
Since you have your GC license, I would get the trades together and start building houses. You might have to start small, however, I know a builder here in Charlotte, and he said a builder should make about $40-$50k per house, and I think that might be around a 20% margin so figure that in as well and compare it to your market.
If the ad business is running on auto pilot I'd keep that going for additional cash flow.
You can also look at buying distressed properties and revamping them to BRRR or Flip, again, since you have a great construction background.
Rentals and STRs can produce $30k net a month, however, it might take a number of them. However if you want to optimize the STRs, I'm a broker, and our team lead Rory Cummins and his partner created an "Air BnB Wealth Academy," that covers everything from acquisition to staging and photos.
Good luck!

1 Vote

Eugene, Oregon

I also recommend Pints and Properties! It's hosted monthly.

And if you want something more frequent, you can also checkout Tommy's weekly meetup on Thursday nights at 6:30, at Hawthorne's pizza!

1 Vote

Charlotte, North Carolina

Quote from @Kelly Langlas:

Hello BP!

I am new to (actively) using BP, and I am looking for someone in the Charlotte area who could use some assistance in their real estate investing to in return help mentor a newbie (me), as I hope to start learning more in a hands-on way!

I work full-time as a CPA audit manager at a Big 4 public accounting firm, and in my free time I would love to help and learn from an experienced investor with strategies similar to what I’m interested in (appreciation, single family (potential multi family), mid-term rental (potential short-term)).

Open to any advice as well on how to make my first leap into actual investing!

Hi Kelly! Welcome to Charlotte Real Estate investing!
The great thing about real estate is that there are so many avenues that you can do. And even better news, they all work! However, some work better than others, depending on the location of the property, the city, the rules, etc. Charlotte has already ruled that STRs are okay. However, many people are looking at MTRs now in Charlotte, because Charlotte has a lot of workforce population vs tourists. Now that said, I did have an STR for a time, and people used it to go to Carowinds and it was very family oriented. However the bulk of my real estate investing has been in the MTR space, and actually Mid to Long term, Rent By The Room. Rent By The Room offers higher cash flow than a single tenant for the entire property, however it does come with more work. Now to date I have used a property manager, however, there may come a time when I don't use a property manager to better keep an eye on my properties. I have done all of this with single family homes, except for 1 duplex. To get started, what I did, was buy a house, and start renting the rooms out. Live in it for a year, and then move and repeat. It's essentially house hacking on steroids (since you are renting it out by the room and not just a section of the house like a basement), and there's minimal risk. I love rent by the room because if you have an eviction you still are ok. Where as if you have an eviction with a single family home, if you have an eviction you lose money, and fast. As a broker and investor in Charlotte, I can tell you, you've picked a great city to do real estate in!

2 Votes

Charlotte, North Carolina

Quote from @Kim Parker:

Hi BiggerPockets community,
We have a MTR that we rent the main floor and lower level separately to traveling healthcare professionals. It has gone very well so far.

We are set to welcome our next guest in two days. We have a holding deposit/agreement in place and the lease is already signed and prorated rent paid.

She let me know yesterday that the hospital may push her start date back a week — sounds like it’s due to laggy intake processes (not her fault).

If she cancels, I would keep the holding deposit. If she was already here and needed to leave early, I have that clearly outlined in the lease.

If she wants me to hold it for her an additional week, would you have her pay rent as usual? Would you change lease dates? Some compromise in the middle?

Also, do you have this outlined in your MTR lease? I do have a failure to take occupancy piece in the lease, but the wording in it really is more geared towards a 12 month lease.

Thanks for your advice!

Hi Kim, great question! I have done mid term rentals for years, and mostly by the room (similar to you renting out different parts of your house). I have had guests change their physical move in dates at times, and I keep everything the same, for the most part.
I have reserved the room for them, and how they use it is up to them. If possible, I would accommodate them and extend their lease for an extra week if that is what they needed. However, if it is short notice, I try to keep the lease start date the same.
Now if this is a full 6 month MTR then yes, I would change the lease dates a week to secure the booking. However if it's a 1-3 month MTR, I would thank them for informing me that they are moving in a few days late, and we can extend the agreement a few days on the back end if needed.
I hope this helps. As a broker, and fellow investor in Charlotte, MTR seems to work well.

2 Votes

Quote from @Sushma Annaiah:

Hi ,

I started looking to buy first investment property . What are things we need to consider to make sure property is the right one ?also suggest some good rental market areas in and around charlotte or concord

Hi Sushma,

The first step I suggest is to define your goals: Do you want more cash flow or more appreciation?
And are you willing to self manage or you want to use a property manager? And what's the long term vision: Is this 1 house or you plan on building out a portfolio? Answering these questions will allow you to narrow down on the area in Charlotte that is best for you. One thing to note: If there is no HOA, renting out the house by the room, may provide higher cash flow. Although the rent by the room model does come with more upfront work, and more tenants to manage.

1 Vote

Charlotte, North Carolina

Quote from @Marcus Tim:

I recently purchased a SFH in Charlotte NC with a zipcode of 28269. The asking price was 299K but I ended up getting the property for 276K (What it was appraised for). I will be doing some renovations in order for this property to be move in ready (repainting and replacing all flooring). All major repairs, such as the HVAC and roof were handled before the seller put the property on the market. My plan for the property is to house hack for 2 years max and turn it into a MTR. The property is 15 minutes away from uptown charlotte and 20 minutes away from the university. The neighborhood is nice, quiet, lawns taken care of, no junk cars sitting in driveways or the street, with a small HOA payment monthly. My main concern is the cost of turning the property into a MTR especially with this being my first property. I can always turn this into a LTR but with the current rates I would be losing money every month. For the MTR option I calculated a rent price of $2,900 (on the lower side) and got a ROI of 12% but a negative CoC return. FYI, I am banking on the equity to come in by year 2 in order for me to refinance and jump start my next investment property.

I am open to new ideas and would love insight on how this sounds or some other things I may not be thinking about.

Hi Marcus,
Congrats on starting your real estate journey! As David Greene always says, house hacking is one of the best ways to get started! And going MTR is nice as it avoids the STR regulations. I would, like Stephanie referenced, check the CCRs and make sure the HOA is ok with renters. And yes, many times, doing a cashout refi, even if rates are higher, will accelerate your scaling faster. Lastly, renting by the room is a nice mix of increased cash flow and long term appreciation. If you are looking to scale and want a property manager that is doing rent by the room, "LifeDoor Rentals" is one to consider.

0 Votes

Charlotte, North Carolina

Quote from @Adrian Jones:

Good day Bigger Pockets Fam,

Has anyone here ever done a For Sale By Owner transaction, and if so, I wanted to hear about your experience and how easy/complicated it was to close that deal without using an agent. Appreciate any lessons learned you may have.

I'm a real estate investor in Wash DC and in Charlotte, NC. I am selling my 4BR/2Bath SFH investment property in Charlotte. Zillow says it may go for $289k +/-My current tenants are using it for business and pay $2,250 a month. I say all that to say, I think it may be an easy sell to an investor. I would obviously like to save on commission, if possible, by going the FSBO route. But also, don't want to screw up the transaction as I've never done a FSBO before. So just looking for some insight.

Thanks,

Adrian Jones

Hi Adrian,

I think it's up to each person, to decide what is best for them. You won't receive nearly the amount of buyers if you do a FSBO, and of course you have the chance of something going wrong with the paperwork.

Now if you are not in a rush to sell the property, and are willing to put in the time to learn how to do a FSBO, it can be done. However, to the other agents points above in this thread, you might be sacrificing not only time, but also likely lose out on a great deal of profit (over what you would pay a listing agent in commission).

As a local realtor here in Charlotte, I've seen people do both. I'd say most hire a realtor from the get go, price it right, and sell quickly. However occasionally a client starts as a FSBO, and then switches after getting tired and frustrated of receiving low ball offers, or a low amount of offers.

In my personal opinion, I'm a fan of delegation. If I can save time, I always will. Especially if it's in an area of work that I am not familiar with, or it would take me a great deal of time to learn, I hire it out. I also look at it from a frequency perspective. If I am going to be selling many houses, then I'd probably get my license. However, if it's a 1 shot deal, then I'd hire the agent and attract the most amount of buyers, and get top dollar for the house. I'm also an active single family home investor here in Charlotte.

1 Vote

Charlotte, North Carolina

Quote from @Erica Calella:

Hi everyone, I am an investor looking to connect with other investors in the Charlotte, NC market. Any meetups, social media groups, etc to recommend? I am based out of NYC, but am currently active in the WNC market and I travel down quite frequently so would be interested in attending in-person events as well. Thanks!

Hi Erica! Welcome to Charlotte!
There's a great meetup called "Pints and Properties" hosted by Adam Compagnone. It is a monthly meetup and the next one is Tuesday at 6pm at Devil's Logic Brewing (1426 E 4th St). As a real estate agent and investor, I've been and found some good value in it. There's a nice mix of investors, wholesalers, lenders, agents, and the speakers are usually pretty good. Enjoy!

2 Votes

Charlotte, North Carolina

All Forum Posts by: Andy Bahr

Andy Bahr has started 1 posts and replied 20 times.

Post: Next Steps for Newbie Developer

Post: dcsr loan for sfr

Post: How to get to $30k/month if you were me?

Post: Real estate invetors

Post: Rookie trying to jump in

Post: Upcoming tenant start date pushed back

Post: Looking to buy first investment property

Post: First Property Investment

Post: FSBO vs Using an Agent

Post: Meetups in Charlotte