All Forum Posts by: Douglass Belt

@Jason Bott- thank you for the input and information!

@Johann Kleisch  - good ideas and that has been a good way for me to learn in the past with residential. Also, I completely agree with you on cash flow is priority and appreciation is just extra. Interesting about the Janesville area, I will look into that. My only concern, and only because I don't know the areas well, is the seemingly struggling economy in Janseville due to GM. not sure if that has picked up or not. What are your thoughts?

@Shawn West- Agree too, if I can get appreciation, great, but I am about the cash flow!

Ideally, I would like to get into owning a small retail strip center (3-5 Tentants) at first and build/scale from there. I just wonder how the retail market is in the area compared to office tenants. Thoughts?

Investing in the residential market (1-4 units) in Madison, WI is rather pricey and hard to break into without significant cash up front, which makes the ROI & cash flow poor up front. I am wondering on the commercial side of things if anyone has experience or thoughts if it is the same difficulty to break into? Are they priced high too? (Retail strip centers, large office buildings, etc.). No doubt an investor would need more $$ for down payment and reserves for this type of property, but I have no idea how to value properties for sale if they are overpriced in the area. Does anyone have experience in the area on Commercial Buildings in the Madsion area? Any feedback and/or suggestions is appreciated.

Welcome Paul!

I too live in Madison and have found the same thing that the numbers just don't work here right now. At least for me as a buy and hold. Congrats on a great start though. I also congratulate you on being able to quit your job and invest full time. 

I do think Milwaukee has a lot of areas that have good potential but the are drying up fast I think.  Still deals out there but notas many 2%-ers as there were even a year or 6 months ago. Still opportunities to cash flow well though, just know the area well. 

Welcome and reach out anytime!

Doug Belt 

I am assuming you are the PM? You may still want to budget that in, whatever that percentage is (10%)? Also, what about capex, monthly repair budget, lawn maintenance? 

awesome Dawn! I like your plan and I am sure it will cash flow well once completed. Is the shed worth keeping after some paint and repair or is it too far gone? Nice find!

@Alexander Felice

Thanks for the replay. I plan on putting in $5K and $5k will be put in from my partner. Based on what you mentioned, that sounds like a good CoC return...?

@Steve Combs

Having an agreement is definitely going to happen and a major concern. As you said, my friendship far supercedes any real estate deal! Do you know, other than a lawyer, where I may find some samples of agreements? that would help me get in idea of all the areas to incorporate into the agreement.

@Ramon Jenkins

   Thanks for your thoughts on per door cash flow. I agree as well with you in regards to have a mixture of partner deals as well as individually owned properties.

When partnering, have you seen any issues financing by one of the partners through a bank, then putting the property into an LLC? I understand the potential for the bank to "call the note" or request the owner to pull out of the LLC and back into their name for a "fee." Which leads me to a question of whether or not it is worth creating an LLC to begin with or having a Umbrella policy in place. What are your thoughts?

@Jenkins Ramon

thanks for the feedback. We are definately creating a agreement outlining roles, responsibilities,  and life change contingencies. That said, do you think for that kind of cash flow, it is worth the effort? My thought is, long term yes, and we all (I am assuming here) start small in the beginning only to grow with larger cash flow down the road. Thoughts?

my friend and I are thinking of partnering up on buying a turnkey sfh. After all expenses,  taxes, cap ex, pm, etc. the deals we are seeing would be cash flowing around 200-300/month. Split 50/50 would be about $100-150 each. do you think it is worth it? We are planning on long term buy and hold for 20+ years. Any advice, feedback or experience is appreciated. 

Welcome @Jeffrey Banaszak

As you can see, there are tons of great people who are willing to help and share their experience with you. Good luck and welcome aboard!

Doug