All Forum Posts by: Anthony Markey

Hi @Judy Walsh as Anthony mentioned, awesome job on taking action! Being that I am a former graduate of The University of Rhode Island and have lived in Narragansett for the academic school year, I had a couple of questions. 

- Are you self managing the property or do you have a property manager?

- What is your screening process like or what is the screening process of your property manager?

- How did you go about advertising the property?  

- During your analysis, did you adjust your numbers to include the potential for higher damages based on the renter profile for your market?

- Will you be inspecting the property and if so, how often?

Looking forward to hearing more on how you're managing your investment. Thanks.   

Hello all,

I'm looking for feedback on an idea I had about converting a multifamily property to studio apartments. The property consists of a finished basement, first floor, and second floor. The first and second floor has 2 beds, 1 bath. The property is located in Providence, RI. It's walking distance from a university, literally at the end of the street and driving distance, about 7 minutes into downtown. 

My idea is to convert this home into multiple studio apartments, ideally for college students or young professionals. Likely would maximize current shared space such as living room and kitchen into an additional unit(s). So far from what I've seen, rents in Providence closer to the city are all $1000+. I came across the idea as I was researching the market and noticed a property that was a home converted into multiple 1 bedroom/studio apartments. The property that I came across was a makeshift loft studio apartment with rent over $1k, although it is in a great location.    

I would be looking to do this legally and am currently looking for feedback and investigating the possibility of the conversion. My thought is that plumbing would be the most expensive as each unit would need its own bathroom. However, with the current setup, one bedroom on each floor is already located next to a bathroom. Utility submetering would likely be too expensive if even possible so I'd likely charge a flat rate for utilities.  

Does anyone have experience in this sort of conversion? What are some pros and cons? Next steps to see if the possibility is feasible? Thanks.   

@Ryan Deasy check out RentalSheets.com from David Robertson, a BB member. 

@Ryan Deasy I was also thinking about being a long distance landlord. As I was doing research on the possibility, I came across companies that seemed to make the process easier. One, in particular, is Cozy. It allows you to collect rent online, screen tenants, etc. Aside from having your properties shown and having a relationship with a good handyman,  automating other processes like collecting rent would make your job easier to self-manage your properties from a distance. Hope this helps.

Hello everyone, 

My name is Anthony and I am new to the Wichita market. I'm interested in meeting with local investors to get a better understanding of the market. My primary focus is to run analyses on properties with investors who have experience in the area to make sure my numbers make sense for the Wichita market. If anyone would be interested in discussing the market and running through analyses, please reach out by replying with a comment or sending me a message. Thanks.  

@Paul Allen thanks for the response. I appreciate your insight. 

@Chris Clark The property in Wichita would strictly be an investment property. I'm from the North East and you can get a lot more for your money here. I'm only here temporarily, less than 1 year, but I think it would be a good opportunity to get my feet wet on a property <$100k. Back home, that type of property would involve a lot of rehab and that is not something I am very familiar with. I'm looking for a rental property to generate cash flow. I see that you're a CPA, that's awesome. I plan on pursuing my certification in 2018. If you have some time after the holidays, it would be a great opportunity to meet up since we're both local.    

Hello everyone,

I am in the process of saving for a down payment on my first investment property and am looking for some advice. Some background on my personal finances 

• I contribute the maximum amount that my employer matches on my 401k
• I am making contributions to a taxable investment account with a 40/60 allocation as a safety net. The contribution period will be 1 year, then I will have enough saved up to cover 3 months of expenses. 
• I have a little over $800 in my Roth IRA but have stopped contributing because I want to save for a down payment
• My Roth IRA is roughly 2.5 years old so it doesn't meet the 5-year exception of using funds for first time home buyers
• The rest of my money is in a 90/10 taxable account which is a long-term investment account. However, if I want to purchase an investment property in the next 1-2 years, the risk level is very high. I can move that money to a taxable account with a 35/65 allocation and use those funds for the down payment

Should I not be contributing the max to my Roth IRA if my purpose is to use the funds to purchase an investment property?I'd be able to contribute the max and have a little less than $5000 to contribute to a taxable account.

I am not sure if I am making the wrong decision by not contributing the max to my Roth IRA and contributing all my funds to the 35/65 taxable account v.s contributing the max and then contributing the leftover to the 35/65 taxable account. The only difference with this plan is that it'll take longer to purchase my first investment property.

More information:

1. I'm 22 years old, almost 23 
2. Very little student debt
3. Looking to purchase a property in  Wichita, KS  

How are you marketing the property? Being on the east side there are many opportunities to reach students who may be interested in moving off campus. You also have exposure to many universities, Brown, JWU, RISD and more. How are students finding their housing? It would be beneficial for you to talk with a student or students so you can understand the process from there perspective. Find out if the schools have an off campus housing office and they should be able to give you some advice and add you to any campus listings they have. At the moment, you missed the window for the first semester student rentals. You might want to consider an Air BnB strategy. Here is one that might work for you. Have a posting for the unit as well as individual postings for each room. This will increase the likelihood of having your place occupied. I'd offer the entire unit at a small discount compared to each room priced individually so that it's likely someone will occupy the whole space and you don't have to worry about your concerns with the shared living space. Example: entire unit for $200/n and if it's two bedrooms, each of those priced at $110. Another strategy, find the comps in the area and start lower to build up the reviews and then adjust to market prices. I'd also add some comfortable furniture and try to make the space look homy, those are always my favorite. Being an Air BnB user, typically what I'm looking for is an experience which I don't have which translates to staying in Air BnB's that are nicer than my apartment. Every customer will have there own values. Some may just want the cheapest cost. Hopefully you find this information useful and feel free to connect with me on BP.