All Forum Posts by: Ben S.

My company, Arktide, has partnered with Emerald Harbor Marina in Panama City, FL to offer unique stay vacation rentals. The marina has allotted space for 24 units, and we are manufacturing in Panama City. Additionally we are reaching out to other marinas and waterfront property owners set up similar partnerships for live aboard and vacation rental communities. 

Key Features of our Coquina houseboat:

- Modular Design: The Coquina is built using a variety of 12'x12' modules, allowing for easy customization and expansion as your needs change. The base model is 24'x24', or 12'x36' for marina slips.

- Off-Grid Capabilities: Equipped with solar panels, rainwater collection system, and an incinerating toilet, the Coquina allows you to live independently and sustainably. 

- Location: The Coquina can go anywhere a boat can - docks, marinas, bays, lakes, ponds, or rivers, and can easily be moved with an electric motor or with most boats.

- Investment: Highly profitable as a unique stay vacation rental that stands out from the crowd. High strength concrete hulls provide a low maintenance investment even in saltwater environments, as well as high stability for a comfortable customer experience on the water.

- Environmentally Friendly: Our use of materials allows our units to stay in water for decades while encouraging ecosystems to grow on the hulls to benefit surrounding environment.

Investment Details:https://my.visme.co/view/8r6z0r0q-arktide-coquina
Options and Reservations: https://www.arktide.org/reservations

I'm likely going to be moving back to the Fredericksburg area soon. My license is currently inactive and expired. I would like to activate it again, but plan to only use it for my investing and would refer anything else I get to the broker (or another agent if they prefer). I would prefer a local broker, low fees, easy to work with. I've looked at some of the online brokers that are low fee and will go with that if necessary, but prefer someone local and small. Thanks.

Been way too long since I updated this for those who followed. I have four units ready now, and someone and a fifth soon. It's been much slower going than I had hoped, but the property needed tons of cleanup and exterior work, and it all drained finances pretty quick. Fortunately I have made enough progress now that I can finally get some financing on the place, which will really speed up the process. Attaching some images of the finished homes. 

588 Carpenters Rest Rd, Caret, VA 22436

1380sqft manufactured home on 15 acres in rural community on well and septic. New water heater (2017), laminate flooring (2016), light fixtures (2016), kitchen (2016), appliances (2016), and much more. 10x18 Shed. 3 bed, 2 bath, office/den, kitchen, dining, living, laundry. Subdivision approved by county. $1100/ month, currently rented.

https://home.cozy.co/apply/#!/225511

590 Carpenters Rest Rd, Caret, VA 22436

1200sqft manufactured home on 15 acres in rural community on well and septic. New water heater (2017), HVAC (2017), laminate flooring (2017), light fixtures (2017), kitchen (2017), appliances (2017), and much more. 8x8 Shed. 3 bed, 2 bath, kitchen, dining, living, laundry. Title currently with DMV, needs converted to real estate. Subdivision approved by county. $1100/ month, currently rented.

https://home.cozy.co/apply/#!/236902

Two properties for sale, discounts for cash purchase of both.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/517/topics/59...

2400sqft manufactured home on 1.5 acres in neighborhood on well and septic. New HVAC (2017), water heater (2016), bamboo flooring (2015), light fixtures (2017), Unit B kitchen (2015), Unit A appliances (2017), and much more. 12x14 Shed. Stone road scheduled to be paved and maintained by county. Needs some basic work (baseboard, some flooring, some paint, more stone in driveway, etc).

Unit A: 3 bed, 2 bath, office/den, kitchen, dining, living, laundry. $1400/month, owner occupied.

Unit B: 1 bed, 1 bath, office/den, eat in kitchen, living. $900/month, currently rented.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/...

Selling nearby two home property as well, steep discount for cash buyer of both:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/517/topics/59...

Fantastic deal whether you buy and hold or flip. I am selling these properties to fund a larger investment and don't have time to fully maximize my profits. Can sell each property separately, prefer to sell together, looking for cash deals with quick closings. 

RENT

$54,000 annual gross income

$2,200 annual taxes

$2,400 annual insurance

8% vacancy

$3,100 repairs

$3,000 capital expenditures 

$16,560 total expenses

$39,000 annual net income

$300,000 purchase price

13% cap rate


FLIP $300,000 purchase price $6,000 buyer closing costs $10,000 rehab costs $420,000 sale price $4,000 seller closing costs $100,000 total profit

13271 Julien St, Woodford, VA 22580

2400sqft manufactured home on 1.5 acres in neighborhood on well and septic. New HVAC (2017), water heater (2016), bamboo flooring (2015), light fixtures (2017), Unit B kitchen (2015), Unit A appliances (2017), and much more. 12x14 Shed. Stone road scheduled to be paved and maintained by county. Needs some work (baseboard, some flooring, some paint, more stone in driveway, etc).

Unit A: 3 bed, 2 bath, office/den, kitchen, dining, living, laundry. $1400/month, owner occupied.

Unit B: 1 bed, 1 bath, office/den, eat in kitchen, living. $900/month, currently rented.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/...

588 Carpenters Rest Rd, Caret, VA 22436

1380sqft manufactured home on 15 acres in rural community on well and septic. New water heater (2017), laminate flooring (2016), light fixtures (2016), kitchen (2016), appliances (2016), and much more. 10x18 Shed. 3 bed, 2 bath, office/den, kitchen, dining, living, laundry. Subdivision approved by county. $1100/ month, currently rented.

https://home.cozy.co/apply/#!/225511

590 Carpenters Rest Rd, Caret, VA 22436

1200sqft manufactured home on 15 acres in rural community on well and septic. New water heater (2017), HVAC (2017), laminate flooring (2017), light fixtures (2017), kitchen (2017), appliances (2017), and much more. 8x8 Shed. 3 bed, 2 bath, kitchen, dining, living, laundry. Title currently with DMV, needs converted to real estate. Subdivision approved by county. $1100/ month, currently rented. 

https://home.cozy.co/apply/#!/236902

Glad lots of folks have found this interesting. I have lines of credit at both a local credit union on a regional bank. Just ask some banks around you, they almost all have unsecured personal loans and lines of credit. 

If you want to get started in real estate, having your career and credit in order is top priority and allows you access to these sorts of things - if you aren't ready to buy your first house, spend some time increasing your income and credit score so you are better positioned to buy that first house.

As to the legalities, I spoke with them about it as well. I did not use the funds to purchase real estate investments, I used them for home improvements for some of my homes. Without more detail on their part and having spoken with them about it making repairs on my rentals, I don't feel I have broken any rules. If you are concerned about it just talk to them. 

A few other points: there are no pre-payment fees, i got the money within a few days, and I do pay monthly for principle and interest, and it's a 7 year loan (not a balloon) so payments are fairly high. Like anything, this is a tool that can be used for good or bad. If you aren't careful with your income and expenses and time and such it can be a problem (and obviously if you use the money for anything that isn't making you more than 9-12% annually it's a problem). 

And as someone mentioned, they do 10% down on a personal home (owner occupied) with no PMI (I am considering using them for in a few months when I buy a new home). Overall, my feel with SoFi is that they don't have a ton of seemingly unnecessary paperwork and delays and have a modern streamlined approach to lending money.

I started with a higher split broker and then switched after a year to a broker that had no split and just took a fee of a few hundred bucks per deal. I think we are more at the height of the market right now and so there are tons of agents making things a bit crowded in places. 

The main thing I saw from new agents though was that those who had lots of friends and make lots of calls and have coffee and such with those friends and friends of friends get the most business. I realized that I'm not that much of a people person and I would rather stick primarily to investing. 

Of course you can also be good at marketing and bring in business, but that usually requires more money up front and you really need to know what you are doing to spend it wisely. 

I hadn't thought this was that exciting, but recently told a hard money lender about it, and he was shocked at the deal I got, so figured I would share it. SoFi (Social Finance) gave me a $100,000 unsecured personal loan at 11.74% with no other costs. My credit was good and I had a good paying job at the time, so that's certainly necessary. It's a 7 year loan, so monthly payment is a bit high. Compared to getting hard money for rehab cash though this is a pretty good deal (hard money I've been quoted for has been 3-4 points and 12-15%, and then you have draw schedules and inspections and stuff that can hold things up). I used it along with a couple unsecured personal lines of credit totaling $50,000 to rehab several projects in recent years (I think they ran about 12% interest as well). Most banks will offer unsecured personal loans and lines of credit I think, worth checking into.

Check out a mortgage with SoFi (social finance). They have a number of options for student loans, personal loans, and mortgages, and seem to cater to your kind of situation. I've gotten unsecured personal loans from them and found them very easy to work with.