All Forum Posts by: Anthony Pinto

@Nancy Bachety Thanks for the advice. We were toying with what to include in the welcome page and you gave us some extra great ideas!

@Paul Sandhu Thanks for the tips. We did most of those including completely redoing the bathroom. But we will have to reevaluate our cookware I think. Luckily we live in the same building so if anything breaks or needs to be urgently fixed, I can immediately respond. Especially while we shake out all the kinks of the place.

It's official folks! After a little over a month, we finally posted our first AirBnb listing in Portsmouth, VA using one of the units in our quadplex. We are open for business starting tomorrow. My wife and I are experimenting with using the AirBnb on all the units but are waiting to see how this first unit pans out. The Hampton Roads area is a pretty big tourist area in the summertime, particularly VA Beach so I expect a big bump around then.

Any advice or tips for running the Airbnb would be greatly appreciated! Thanks BP family

@Sheila Campbell I first found the deal then presented it to my potential partners. I explained how they would be making their money back, ROI, exit strategies; basically an operating memorandum for a small property. It hurt a little to give up a chunk of the cashflow but I've gained the experience of forming and maintaining a partnership while also getting to draw from the past experiences of my partners as well.

On another note, since you are military (I am as well), you should look into the group Active Duty Passive Income (ADPI). Those guys are all military investors (officers and enlisted) who have built their real estate portfolios while actively servicing. They have been invaluable sources of knowledge and experience for me. 

Also, just because you used your VA loan doesn't mean you can't use it again. You have up to a set limit (which is based on the state and federal rules) and if you don't use the full amount, you have the remaining balance available. For example, I bought my house in VA Beach for $235k. My VA loan limit is $460k so I still have about $225k available to buy another primary residence if I desired. And if I wanted to regain my full VA loan amount, I can refinance out of the VA loan to a conventional loan and start all over again.

@Sheila Campbell

Welcome to the game and good luck! I didn't have a lot of money getting started but you may be interested how I worked around this. I used a JV partnership with local investors in my area (2 others to be exact) to buy a triplex that is going to be cashflowing like crazy. This is similar to syndication in that I had other investors bring money to the table but the difference is that my partners are active. We created an LLC expressly for our partnership and property and laid out how each investor was going to receive their cut ( 60% equity, 25% cashflow, etc). My two partners brought the closing costs and down payment and I brought relatively little money to the table compared to my partners.

Hope that helps!  

Hey Tim. I'm mostly considering the crime level. The NSU campus itself is pretty safe but immediately outside the campus is a moderate to heavy crime zone. Theft, vandalism and assault just from what I can see from the past week on Trulia. The surrounding neighborhoods themselves are not places I'd want to walk at night and I would question the type of tenant you would find who would want to live in the area, besides any college students. 

If you are considering the duplex because it is near a college campus, I would recommend near ODU. You can appeal to ODU students, faculty and military personnel (Naval Station Norfolk is only a few miles down the road. In my opinion, the area is much more desirable for quality of properties, tenant types, vacancy rates and rental rates. The only thing I would caution is to make sure you check the flood map for your potential property- by NSU or by ODU.

I hope that answered your question!

Anthony

Thank you everyone for your advice. I've decided to go with Landlord locks for the front door and the tenanted apartments and have a lockbox out front for the AirBnB guests to get through the front door. The apartment door will have a digital lock on it so we can change the passcodes at will. The Landlord keys are specialty made so no duplicates can be made and the cartridge swapout is pretty cheap (~$13 to replace).

My wife and I recently closed on a quad and are planning on swapping out the old locks. There is a main front door which requires a key for entry, then tenants have locks on their individual doors. Are keyless, digital locks, with which you can change the passcode with each new tenant, worth the investment? One of the units will be an Air BnB. Is a keyless lock worth it more for that unit while keeping conventional locks on the other units? Have renters indicated any preference?

Thanks in advance!

@Muneef Alfadli Welcome to the Norfolk area! I am looking for my first rental property in Norfolk as well. Tomorrow, actually, I am looking at a few MFHs in the area. 

Areas in Norfolk to avoid: Olde Huntersville, Hunter's Square (east of Church St in general), around NSU, Park Place can be shifty.

Areas to avoid in Portsmouth: areas south/SW of the Shipyard and generally south of 264.

In terms of Flood zones, this factor is huge in my decision making process on this area. My wife's brand new car was totalled after Hurricane Matthew swept in a couple years ago and flooded Ghent, Norfolk and Portsmouth. 

Flood zones in Norfolk: http://norfolkair.norfolk.gov/norfolkair/Search.as... and search for your address

Flood zones in Portsmouth: https://www.portsmouthva.gov/328/Flood-Maps

Hope that helps! Good luck!

I am definitely going!