All Forum Posts by: Bob Langworthy

We've been using Venmo to accept rent payments. It has its pros and cons, but one of the pros has been the lack of fees. Beginning August 2, they will start charging 1.9% for accepting rent and 1.5% for sending an instant payment. What are you using to accept rent payments?

Sell it for either of the following reasons:

1) You didn't buy it as a rental which is why the returns aren't good.

2) You wouldn't buy it as a rental because the returns aren't good.

Build equity in a property that cash flows nicely. You'll be much happier.

Hope this helps,

@Zane Wetzel two options for you:

1) Attend real estate meetups and you may find someone interested in investing with you.

2) Friends and family. Lay out examples of what you have done, what returns you are getting, and what you could offer them. Banks don't pay anything and the stock market is more unpredictable than real estate.

Hope this helps,

@Reed Baker I found my office building in downtown Brunswick just driving buy and happened to see the sign. The residential properties in Lisbon Falls we found through the MLS. We check daily. I get a FlexMLS email from a broker that I work with. That doesn't show listings any earlier than Realtor.com, but it does provide more information. For multifamily properties, for example, it will have the current rents for each of the units, lease status, etc.

@Reed Baker, congratulations on surviving Bowdoin and being thoughtful about real estate investing. I'm a real estate investor and accountant in Brunswick and think it's a good market. Here's a couple thoughts:

1) The large single family homes near the college get bought up quickly (sometimes by the college). You're right in your assessment.

2)  I've been watching multifamilies in town for a couple of years and most of them seem priced pretty high. Can't even hit 1% of the purchase price on rents. For this reason, we're focused on Lisbon and Lisbon Falls, neither of which are great if you're targeting Bowdoin students. Even if you did find a good deal on a multifamily, you'd have to give up 10% of your rents to a property manager as you'll soon be living in NY.

3) Buying a quad as your first investment might be a good way to go. 30 year terms with a low down payment. You'll need to check with a loan officer, however, as to whether that can be done as a partnership. I doubt it.

4) Have you considered individually buying properties? You could each buy a 2-4 unit multi-family in NY, and rent out the other units. If you each buy and live in a quad, you would each have the other three units covering the mortgage and other expenses. You could use the cash flow towards improvements or a down payment on the next property.

Hope this helps,

@Anup Jung Karki, it sounds like the issue is the down payment and possibly the lender as well. There are a couple of things that he could do:

1) Seller financing. If the current owner doesn't have a lot of debt on it, they may be able to partially finance the purchase.

2) Hard money. He may be able to find a hard money lender that can help get the deal done.

3) Private money. Friends and family may want in on the deal and would be able to help with the down payment.

4) Networking here and at local events may result in a partner.

5) He'll need to talk with a couple different lenders in his area to see who may be able to make the loan.

Hope this helps,

@Henry Clark, thanks for the inspiring post! Looking forward to all that 2021 will bring.

Hair dresser leases usually function like a real estate lease in that it is a legally binding contract and you may need to evict to get someone out. Having said that, it's usually worth some kind of incentive to get stylists to stay. A week or two of free booth rent, an upgrade to the space, etc. Remember, there are lots of other booths around that they can rent and all of their stuff fits in a duffel bag. Pretty easy for them to relocate.

Hope this helps, 

@Greg Dickerson is correct. You need to find out what is needed in your area. Once you get that info, think in terms of a business that isn't easily done from home and that would be an essential service for the next lockdown.

Hope this helps,

@Charles Barengo, there's a lot of good information out there in the form of podcasts, books, videos, etc. A good place to start is with Peter Harris of Commercial Property Advisors on YouTube. He has videos on all of the basics along with interviews with a lot of his students. One you decide on a niche within CRE, there's probably multiple podcasts and books about that particular niche. And then you can search through Joe Fairless's podcast to find interviews with investors in that asset class.

Hope this helps,