All Forum Posts by: Brian Oswald

Welcome to BP! Glad to hear that you have options!  The complex will probably be more predictable from a maintenance perspective.  Assuming they were all built at the same time, same layouts, upgrades and capex will probably be cheaper.  Maintenance downsides would be common area that you will have to maintain.  Do they have lighting, parking lots, landscaping?  

I'd be curious to understand what criteria each of these owners used to place tenants and how the rent roll looks for each portfolio.  

I'm fairly new to REI, just my $.02

Does anybody know of an affordable snow removal service that services the NW side of GR? The only service I found that is not at capacity charges $100/ snowfall for two small properties. Thanks in advance! 

Welcome Omar!

BP is a great place to learn, both through the blogs and the podcast.  If you're new to this, I highly recommend listening to as many podcasts as you can to learn about all the different methods people use to invest.  Having a background and connections in banking should be a big help as you start investing.  Also, having connections to KW commercial agents should help as well. Sounds like you're already on the right track!

No, from what I could tell it was just a flat for the number of units that I had inspected.  

Welcome to BP Cameron!  This is a great place to learn both through the podcast and the blog. I am also a big Dave Ramsey fan and sort of went through an identity crisis when I started learning about rei since it's very hard to do with cash.  Finding your leverage comfort point is an important thing to get figured out.

I'm a realtor in GR, PM me if you are interested in investing in Grand Rapids.

The inspections are fairly straight forward.  They are mostly checking for safety issues and making sure the home is livable.  If you don't pass they will give you a list of things to fix, and a time frame to get them done.  Some issues that I have run into were:

Lights with no globe

Lighting in shared areas ( lighting must be able to turn on from all entrances)

Trip hazards in driveway

All door must open, shut and latch properly.

 Below is the city's basic requirements.

FYI Some things in the list don't need to be on the house, but need to be in working order if they are.  Example:  Gutters

http://grcity.us/community-development/Code-Compli... 

I am just getting ready to rent my first duplex.  Since I live about 45 minutes away from the property I have been looking for someone to help me with maintenance, particularly with emergencies.  I don't want to hand a set of keys over without having a screening process.  What sort of screening do other investors have in place?  Should he even have a set of keys? Any insight is appreciated!

Hello @Israel R. Welcome to the blog! You will find a wealth of information in the blogs and on the podcast. The podcast is also a great way to get pumped about REI and help you get motivated to make some moves. I am a fairly new investor as well and located in Grand Rapids, MI. It's a great place to invest, the market is hot here now and tough to find a rental, but pays well when you do.

That sounds like a good start, I'm working through the Millionaire Real Estate Investor now.  Its a great book.  I agree with Jeremy read the forums, listen to podcasts and save money.

I am currently trying to close on my first multifamily, my biggest problem so far has been financing. When I found a house that I wanted to tie up asap, I didn't even have a lender picked out. Also, I am quickly learning that I need to have a really good idea of what type of properties I want to look at including: neighborhoods, purchase price, condition of prop, projected ROI. Not having a clear picture of my type of property has resulted in me wasting my own time. That being said you should also spend a lot of time learning about the area you want to invest in.

Hey Kevin, welcome to BP!

Its great that you are trying to learn more about REI. What have you done so far? What books have you read, etc?