All Forum Posts by: Ben Kappel

Does anyone use Paypal?   Any downsides on that platform compared to Venmo?   I'm worried no one has said that one yet, which makes me think I'm wrong or missing something. 

Wow , yeah that is a small town on the edge of the earth.   I’ve drove thru there a few times, blink and you miss it. :) I know Beach has some Multifamily too for sale that were reasonably priced that would be a better bet, but investing in a super small spot might mean no or negative appreciation and little revenue.   I’d would say look at a bigger town that shows population growth.    

Western North Dakota once had the highest rents in the country due to the oil boom.   Currently there is another oil bust looming, but advertising to oil workers may help fill the void.  I live in Dickinson and I would say the rental market in western ND is still fairly strong depending on how far away you are from a larger town.  Can I ask what town this is in??  

Just one guys opinion here, but as far as markets go, I would just look at a couple you are familiar with already and start researching it. There have been many forums you can search and read about best cash flow markets, and I see people saying Detroit more than any other city, but there are also many others in the midwest. 

As far as financing, that is an easy one, just call a local lender. They are all very friendly and now days they can do much of the business on the phone or email. They can give you a great start on how much money you may need and what rates you could expect. 

One bit of advice or goal that I used myself this year is set a goal of how many books you want to read this year. I set a goal of 12 new books, and by setting this goal and buying the books ahead of time I find you read through them much faster than planned. 

Best of luck!

Hey everyone, just checking in, has anyone reached out to tenants on the recent developments?  It of course would be nicer to know sooner than later if there's going to be a problem with paying rent, but reaching out could also make it seem like your willing to negotiate the rent already.

I've been seeing quite a bit of chatter online recently on how all rent payments might be suspended soon( which is obviously not correct, but the average renter may get their news from random bad Facebook sources).  

Brandon Turner just posted a blog on the subject(3-22) with a lot of good information which is why I am asking. 

My top three I think would start in any order for a good base.  

1. The richest man in Babylon

2. How to win friends and influence people

3. The bigger pockets The book on rental property investing

Maybe also The House Hacking Strategy, if that's a route you wish to take. 

Years ago I shipped off to basic while I had an apartment and I didn't even tell my landlord. Just had a family member drop off the pre-wrote out rent checks and stop in into the place every few weeks. Just double check they have a plan to pay rent and any utilities they are responsible for.  Best part is that person will get BAH (extra military pay) for that rent for the place while they are at training.  It was the main reason I kept my apartment since I made more money with it than without.  This sounds like a good situation to have. 

Sounds like you have the right mindset already on getting a future plan in place. The answer may really depend on what your goals will be and how you want to achieve them. If you are planning on househacking which is how many start, you could get into a multi-family like a 4-plex for a low down-payment(3.5%). For me I like SFH because you are only dealing with one tenant and they tend to be a longer term tenant that takes care of the place better. Maybe this looks better if your planning on self managing the property like I do? If your not planning on househacking know that it might be less capital to invest in a single family( requires 20% down) than a multi-family(requires 25% down and tend to be more expensive).

I would try looking at a few different places on what you could potential afford in the future and see what offers the best returns(ROI) in your location. Never too early to start analyzing deals.

Oh and hey @Lee Gierszewski whats the chances of another meetup this spring, itd be awesome to meet up. I'm all ready and looking for my next deal but figuring out what to go after is a tricky one. I know ur more of a multi-fam, but what are your thoughts on some of these rentable condos for sale around town. I was thinking about starting to make some offers on some 2 or 3 beds around town to pick up a couple lower cost properties this year instead of one bigger one, like 60-80k range. As long as the HOA is reasonable and it has a good ROI. Any big cons you could think of going that route? The multifamily market doesn't look that great right now in town.

@Jennifer Greuel Hey!  Ive been meaning to ask you how that 4-plex was going. Did everything go good with the closing, and how is it all going now?