All Forum Posts by: Bob Wilson

 Well said Johnathan!

@Account Closed Wow, what a story. Sorry to hear this. 

Did you attempt building and developing your personal management company for Vegas, vs outsourcing? Seems like you had enough properties to justify the "hire", specifically someone looking to break into the industry, not a "expert". Less expensive up-front.

We had similar issues with "cleaners". I got so sick of dealing with incompetent people, I looked in my network, found a woman who was cleaning restaurants (not the same, but will do), and asked her to quit her job, and work for us. She was underpaid for the initial 6 months, but bought into our company future, and the vision. Around 6 months, we started to ramp her pay, all apart of the financial strategy we built together. She may be the most important piece to our team now, and will be apart of our long-term success! If you look at our web-site, her name is Sherell, under "our team".

I agree with your overall assessment, these "management companies" are a joke when it comes to handling issues, we will never hire one, much rather hire someone and train them in-house.

We market it at $4,500/month, yet all the homes generate 6,500k+.
We tried the experiment to your point, it takes us 6-8 serious leads to convert 1 for the apartment.

For the homes, 1 serious lead, converts - period. There is a line out the door for these homes we have.

I believe it's because of comforts, space, yards, privacy etc. The apartment stays full, just much more work to convert the leads. Guess we are spoiled now with the homes :)

That's why I started wondering about the MF universe. What are the returns like there? What size building is needed for that type of return? I will run the numbers, just wondering if anyone had experience and had a quick snapshot.

@Paul De Luca Corporate housing isn't traditional real estate. If you look at our website, each of those 15 homes, has about 35k in furniture/set-up cost. And every one of them stay occupied, no vacancy. $6,500-$7,500/monthly rents. 

We spent 2 years generating contracts with companies, who call us every week looking for housing. Our SEO firm is amazing too, we get calls from all over the world, of folks needing 5-12 months of furnished housing. Average stay is about 6-8 months.

Anyway, point is, it's not traditional (to your point), its a laser focus on professional clientele. Which also eliminates the non-sense you see with traditional tenants (don't get me started). 

Our expenses are about $3k/month all in, and since the rents are averaging 7k, that's where the high returns come from monthly.

So how many MF would be needed to get that type of return monthly? What's the cost of MF in Chgo, or suburbs?

I know there are many factors, but I'm just curious because of all the hype around MF.

 So I'll have to say, I'm super new to this world, only 4 years in. Bear with me.

I've never looked at MF, due to the clients/tenants I contract with (long story), but in theory, more doors = more potential cash flow, sure. 

However, In my world, 1 SFU generates pure profit of $3,000/month (after expenses). 

So I'm now doing the comparison, tell me what the numbers look like on some of these MF units you guys have done or seen.

Because if you say, it's cheaper to grab SFU, and I'm looking at my returns, I'm thinking why not just grab more SFU. But I'm looking into it. Are folks generating 3k profit/month on a 4 or 6 plex? How large of a building does it take to generate that type of return?

So when I hear "best deals", what's your personal criteria Jonathan.

Let's talk returns. When you invest, whets your minimum standard when it comes to returns. The formula.

MF seems to be the hot topic. 

Let's switch it up today! 

If you are in Chicago or suburbs, and investing in SFU (not MF), why?

Is it financial, or something else..

@Andrew Dudun super important, right. 

I switched from one accountant 1 year ago, and LOVE who we've partnered with since. 

Desmond & Ahern in Chicago, Pat is the man!

What are you looking for specifically?

I'm in corporate housing, so my clients/tenants are a bit different then "traditional", with that said, our leases include items tenants are responsible for, and snow removal is one of them. 

We do furnished units, so we leave shovel and salt on site. 

I do it because it's nearly impossible to have someone handle snow for 20 homes, when snow falls randomly and a tenant will always say we don't move fast enough. Secondly, liability. If we own the responsibility, they can blame us for slipping issues. 

Now I get they can blame us NO MATTER WHAT, but it's much easier to point the finger right back when it was their agreement to handle snow/ice themselves. I prefer that conversation in court at least. 

One time we had a older gentlemen who had 2 younger sons, but act like they couldn't figure this sow removal out. So we sent someone, after multiple conversations, and charged $200 to their account, which is also in lease. 

Anyway, the benefit of having tenants paying 6-7k monthly and are professionals linked to companies, are these type of matters are soooo much easier to work through then traditional clientele, as long as lease paperwork is tight.