All Forum Posts by: Becca Summers

@Chad Davis I'd love you join this group sound like a good group. 

@Frank Vafaei Yes I know the area well. I'm a Realtor and investor in the area. On the market cycle, we have slowed down a little. Homes went from selling in 48 hours to 15 days. It's been nice as a Realtor to breath a little. With rates going up we are running into affordability issues for buyers. However, because there wasn't a lot of building done in 07-14 we are behind on the amount of needed inventory so buyers are just moving further out from the main business areas and commenting which is putting pressure on transposition to keep things moving well. 

A lot of the companies moving here are higher income jobs which should help offset the issues.

Returns on rentals are never the 1% rule. Most of the time it's a .70-.8 return. The cash flow is nice and rental vacancy is just enough time to screen new renters and clean. 

@Tairsa Mathews welcome to the group. Where are you looking to buy your next property?

@Kully Millage

1- No most investors are buying the cheaper homes than the average price point. The average price point is normal homeowners. You should look at KSL. com in their rental section. That will give you an idea of what rental rates are.

2- It's more affordable to buy on the west side of I15 but you also have lower rental rates over there.  If you stay east of state street the rental rates get better but the purchase price goes up too.

3- Most areas are safe. I'm not a fan of some areas but I'd rather not put that on a public forum as I am a Realtor. 

4- There are a lot of wholesalers in Utah. How well they do I do not know. It's one of those things everyone thinks is easy money when it really is a lot of work. I get homes from 3 or 4 and rarely do I find a good deal in the bunch but I'm sure the really good deals are sold before they hit the email list.

The most interesting thing about SLC right not is we have more people looking for houses to live in that there are homes available. This is the first time in 40 years that has happened. This is pushing up values and rent rates at a crazy rate. Average appreciation is 3-4% a year so being 8-10% is crazy and will have to stop eventually but as long as income and jobs keep up things keep getting pushed. 

@Account Closed Utah is landlord friendly. Some cities require you to keep the home registered as a rental but that's about it. The rules are pretty easy you can evict and it's 15 days notice on move out with the month to month contracts. No change in taxes on rental vs not. One property I own the taxes went down the year after I bought it compared to the previous owner. 

@Connor Cushman If you'd like you can shadow me at my office to see what it's really like. It's not what most people expect. Like most have said the schooling just teaches you how to stay out of jail. The rest is taught by the brokerage. There are lower split brokerages that you can pay less $500 a transaction but they teach you nothing and just check the paper work at the end. You still have MLS Dues that are $900 (Might be more I don't remember) a year and $33 dollars a month. Then there is errors and omissions insurance and that depends on your brokerage. It depends on your goals and where you want to go. Keller Williams does not teach new agents to take 7% listings as @Jackson Pontsler said commission is negotiable and you get what you pay for. I do know of one KW agent who does 7% listings but that's not in Utah. 

I've learned more on investing from BP and other investors than I've ever learned from being a Realtor. The only advantage is access to the MLS to run comps.

@Joe Spillner I agree with @Josh E. I would never buy on assuming rental rates will increase. If you have enough in reserves and it cash flows from day one I'd jump in. There are plenty of other strategies. One I'm seeing right now is a shorter term flip where someone buys, renovates and rents for a short amount of time maybe a year or two and uses that appreciation to buy the next one. Better cash flow with the larger down payment. 

I'm only finding deals off the market when I'm talking with seller thinking about listing their homes sometimes I'll make an offer before they hit the market. Also, we have lots of wholesalers if you can get on their list and find a hard money lender to lend to you. As a Realtor, you can run the number to see how close they are. 

I'm a fan of being close. You know your market and know what the economy looks like as you work in it day in and day out. What if an out of state market started to shift and you miss it?

I've had a few clients sell their single family and 1031 into commercial buildings this year. I have one doing it right now. Selling two single families to buy the building his company is currently renting. I know a business broker I could set you up with if you wanted to buy businesses instead of trading them.

@Jeff Mills yes our market is hot. I wouldn't build a strategy around moving every two years. Yes, our market has gone up 52% in the last five years but I wouldn't bank fully on appreciation. That is where people lose their shorts. Now if you can make sure it would cash flow from the first day with the down payment you put into the home then yes. That is how we did our first two rentals. 

Accessory apartments are great if you live in the home if you live in the right city. Spanish Fork is great for them Lehi at the moment doesn't allow it or Saratoga Springs. The problem I would see if you moved every two years like your friend you couldn't rent the new home as two units. It would have to be one. You might be able to attract a multigenerational family but that's a small renter pool.

@Tyler I'll message you.