All Forum Posts by: Aubrey Maldonado

@Cheryl S. have you read The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon and Heather Turner? It's a great book for educating yourself on rental property management. 

@Nick Bauer My husband and I went through the same debate earlier this year and decided to sell. I still have mixed feelings about it; but, overall, I feel confident in the decision because it freed up cash we could use. We bought the property before we knew how to evaluate all the costs associated with holding a property month-to-month. In our case, it made sense to sell because it wouldn't cashflow nor appreciate well enough to offset the costs. 

On the other hand, if you're cash flowing pretty well with a tenant already in the property, I'd be tempted to keep it. Especially because it's much harder to sell a tenant-occupied house. Juggling showings with your tenant's schedule can be bothersome on all sides. But I'm not saying it can't be done. Some tenants are more flexible than others.

@Alex Gaines As @Joe Prillaman said, meetups are the best place to connect with wholesalers and other investors in the area. Both the Wilmington & Surf City meetups have been great!

@Blaine Cox, I haven't raised capital myself, so I'll leave it up to someone else to answer question #2. 

1) Amanda Han has a good blog post about taxes related to flipping: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

3) You'll have to update the list yourself or hire someone to do it. Whether you use a spreadsheet or a CRM, somehow you're going to have to manage what has happened in the interaction. DealMachine is a lead manager I've used and it allows you to make notes on properties and set the status. 

@Will Fraser, thanks so much! 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $175,500
Cash invested: $8,500
Sale price: $198,000

My husband and I used our VA Loan to purchase our first primary residence with zero down payment. The home was outdated and needed some fixing up. We received seller concessions of all closing costs paid and an additional $3500 "use-as-you-choose."

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The benefits of using a VA loan for $0 down and the tax benefits of living in the property for two years before selling.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We found the deal on the MLS and negotiated the price and concessions based on the inspection report and cosmetic repairs needed.

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan

How did you add value to the deal?

We replaced the old flooring with LVP in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathrooms; put a fresh coat of paint on all the walls, upgraded light fixtures in the kitchen, dining, and living rooms; and replaced the kitchen appliances. Later we replaced the roof with insurance money from Hurricane Florence; upgraded the kitchen sink and faucet; and put in new landscaping.

What was the outcome?

We received multiple offers above listing price and had it under contract within 48 hours of listing.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We bought the property intending to keep it as a rental before we knew about calculating for Cap Ex, Vacancy, Maintenance and Property Management costs. Once we knew better and ran the numbers, we realized we would be better off selling (in a hot seller's market) and getting the cash than trying to hold on to the property.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Movement Mortgage

@Kaylee Walterbach, I wish I would have known how to evaluate my first house as a future rental--not just the difference in rent to mortgage payment--with capital expenditures, maintenance, vacancy, and property management costs in mind. My husband and I purchased our first primary residence before we knew about BiggerPockets and had no idea what we were missing out on.

@Jared Wild, I've had a great experience using Propstream and think it's totally worth it. Like Curt mentioned, you can create lead lists and narrow them down with specific criteria. Before I had access to the MLS, I used it to get comps and check property info. There's also an app that you can use to track driving routes and check property info on the go.

@Antone Stevenson, I'm using both Deal Machine and Propstream at the moment but considering dropping Deal Machine. I've found the info on Propstream to be more accurate and comprehensive than Deal Machine. The Deal Machine app is so much easier to use when driving for dollars though, so I guess it depends on what you think you will be using it for the majority of the time.

Congrats on the success and growth. That's awesome! 

A five-year lease with expensive rent would make me nervous too. From past experiences working for businesses with high overhead, it seemed like so much of a burden to keep up with expenses that it brought morale down significantly. I don't want to be a killjoy, because it appears you've had great success thus far. 

If subletting is an option, I've heard of businesses doing short-term rentals for office space they're not using -- like an office hack. I don't know much about it, but I think it would be worth checking. That way, while you're somewhat of a small team, you could offset expenses in the larger space.

Best wishes to you!