All Forum Posts by: Becca Summers

We lived in two of our homes and made them rentals after the fact. The one benefit of selling it now is you won't pay capital gains. 

You could go about it two ways you could force value on the first property you buy so you have some equity and do a home equity line of credit for the second down payment. or if you're willing to move again you could buy another property with 5% down. Just save everything you can. Being willing to move is a great way to build your portfolio slowly with less money down.

@Joseph Cacciapaglia What made you decide to only work with multi-family investors? Do you refer your single-family buyers and sellers to other realtors? I can see the pro in working with the same investors over and over.

@Dion McRae If you want to move into the home you can buy with a low down payment LIve there for a year and then buy the next home and make the first a rental. If you want to flip you can get hard money for the purchase but most hard money lenders will want you to pay for the renovations and you'll need more than that for the renovation. 

@Cole Holloway I'm always saving up for my next downpayment for my rentals. We do 15% into our 401k and that's it. For me the 401k is the back up of the backup plan. However, the 401k does make a good account to have for reserves when buying rentals. I'm sure there are better but we keep the downpayment in a money market account making a little bit. 

@Blake Valdez For me personally I like single-family homes for rentals as the rental pool is a bit larger and you can make more allowing pets which is another topic to debate if it's worth it. Also no HOA's and extra rules on rental regulations. It makes it quicker to analyze if the numbers work.

The pro to a townhome is you can typically get a newer townhome for the same price as an older home which helps with the maintenance side of owning rental properties. Plus no roof replacements as the HOA should have that budgeted when the time comes. Just make sure you buy into a community that is well managed and has good reserves.

I think the waiting window if the worst thing about BRRRR because sometimes you have to wait longer but no one really talks about the timeline. The quickest I've gotten one done was 4 months and it cost me a lot. I always buy them with the plan to refi at 6 months plus.

A lot of my investors are Doctors, Business owners, and engineers. My husband was an engineer before he came to work with me but I got him into investing first.

@David Hernandez Price drops like that are common in that price point. It's much harder to price homes so everyone is making an educated guess. The reason you are seeing them more is that instead of selling quickly the time on the market is getting longer. Looking at the sales in Salt Lake County for the last two month in the ($550-$750 range)  the Median sold was 

February $575,000

March $577,000

April $582,475

What I think is going on are people are worried about jobs so they aren't buying which has dropped the buyer demand to just those who need to buy and sell. However, it has also caused people who were selling to drop so supply and demand dropped together. The Million plus price point appears to be doing slightly.

Feb $1,225,000

March $1,151,237

April $1,194,418

I've listed four homes since COVID has hit and three had multiple offers two went above list by $15K and $20K and two went for the list price.

I think the thing that will change the starter is if there are a lot of foreclosures once the forbearance has been lifted. I would get yourself cash-heavy and be ready to jump on something that is a deal that cash flows from day one. That way if the value drops you still cash flow. Interest rates are at an amazingly low level so locking up anything long term as long as you have a stable job is ideal.

I agree realtors are the worst! With that said, if people would actually research and find a good realtor to work with vs hire the first one they think of it would change a lot. If every agent had to be interviewed and show value before being hired or showing up to open a door the buyers and sellers would have a better experience because it would force those who are bad to get out and those who stay to get better. I wish there was a way to be more transparent with the skills the realtor has before a consumer starts working with them.