All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

This is a great and timely question. My husband and I started out flipping houses in 2016 but quickly pivoted to BRRRR as we realized we want to keep those properties rather than sell. At the time it was fairly easy to find properties that needed enough rehab that you could really force up the ARV. Now the issue in my markets at least is that it's harder to find distressed properties and the ones you do fine are going for too much to make the BRRRR strategy work. You can certainly leave money in your BRRRR - it doesn't have to be the "perfect" BRRRR that so often is talked about where you pull all of your investment out and then some and therefore have infinite returns. My metrics around this have changed. Now my expectation is that I won't leave more than 12-15% of my investment in the property after the refi. I just look at it like a 12-15% down payment, which I can stomach. And it still has to meet my cash flow expectations.

For those of us who know Sacramento, there's actually quite a lot of information to go on in here. Midtown refers to a specific area and it's quite desirable. 1/1 MTRs would do well here IMO. What I'm not sure about is STR restrictions in this area but that's easy enough to find out. A lot of young professionals like this area so furnishings should be modern and "upper-middle end", if that makes sense. In other words, FB marketplace cast offs won't be the best fit unless you're lucky enough to come by some Pottery Barn or West Elm or brands like that. @Mike Gi be sure to check Airbnb longer stays and Furnished Finder to see what your competition's pricing and decor are like and make your properties pet friendly if you can as this is always a way to out compete the competition. Good luck! 

It varies a lot by market, guest type and even the neighborhood and type of home within a particular market. There's no single type of midterm rental property, nor is there a single type of midterm renter. That's a fairly large single family home. The types of renters that would most likely be looking for a 4/2 are usually families with an insurance claim who need temporary housing, families relocating to the area that need temporary housing until they find something to buy or build and construction companies with the need for housing for their workers. For the first 2, location and amenities are key. There are some rougher parts of Euclid which are not going to appeal to either of these types of renters. You might have some luck with construction companies if there's a lot of building going on in your area. Otherwise, rent-by-room is probably your best bet. It's not an uncommon strategy. I try to have my renters meet each other or at least have a phone conversation to make sure they're compatible, but even then, you just never know if they will be. Personally, I don't mix men and women tenants but I know some people do. To me, it's just inviting potential conflict that I don't want.

We just had a roundtable discussion on this very topic in THE MTR Connect today. It was inspiring to hear what others have planned for their business and personal lives. For me, my focus is going to be to go back to my roots and flip a couple of properties to generate cash flow. I had moved away from flipping for several years, but my life circumstances have changed and, fortunately, real estate provides endless opportunities to pivot when needed. I'm also working on upgrades for THE MTR Connect - better scheduling, automations, guest speakers, social media - all to help promote the collaborative and supportive space my colleague @Jamie Banks and I have created. And last but not least, I want to launch at least one more MTR in 2025. 

I don't know your specific market all that well but have you done some analysis on your ADR during the high season X your high season occupancy rate and determined whether taking lower priced slow season bookings vs letting your property stay vacant during the winter averages out in your favor? In other words, if you don't fill your unit in the slow season because you're afraid it will cut into your high season revenue, will the high season revenue more than cover the difference? In some very attractive markets like coastal cities I can see it being worth it not to rent the unit or rent it only under very limited circumstances in the low season because the high season is just too lucrative to allow anything to affect those bookings. But in a market like yours, is there substantial difference between high and slow season rates?

Just curious why you're looking at those two banks for credit cards? I think there are better options out there - particularly cards that offer cash back and other perks. Do a little research on using CC's for your business and paying 0% interest - there are quite a few people who teach about this. One that I know of is Meg Stafford at Dreamy Capital.

It's not unusual for people to move into a new property. It can sometimes happen even shortly after buying a unit - life forces change sometimes. However, I think your bigger issue is going to be putting 5% down on a small multi-family. I don't know any lenders doing this other than possibly the VA (can anyone confirm/deny this?) Speak to a lender you can trust about this. If the property has multiple meters they're most likely going to see it as an investment property and I think you're going to be hard pressed to find one doing 5% down. It's also going to be difficult to cash flow in most markets if you ARE able to put down 5% but if cash flow isn't your goal, then that's irrelevant.

Colorado Springs has some weird regulations about this depending on which county it's located in so be sure to check in with the planning department in the specific county you're looking at. I had this come up on a house I was submitting an offer on. I was intending to rent out the upstairs 3/2 as an LTR then convert the basement to a unit for myself half the year and rent it out as an MTR (midterm rental) when I wasn't there. El Dorado County prohibited this, though it seems there are "creative" ways to work within their framework. I could have rented out the entire unit as LTR, MTR or STR. Or I could have rented out either the top unit as one of the 3 OR the bottom unit, but not both the top and bottom unit. Didn't make a lot of sense to me, but sometimes regulations don't make much sense. The person I talked to in the Planning department was very helpful and agreed that the regulations are ridiculous, but for the time being, they're still in place. Call and find out exactly what uses your property is eligible for before you do your underwriting because it will make a huge difference.

The "best market" is less about the market per se and more about the deal you're able to find in my opinion. You could be in an expensive market, like LA, but you inherited a property or you got a killer wholesale deal or subject to and the numbers could be very attractive compared to buying off the MLS for full market price in the same market. There are markets that have built in "gotchas" like the rising cost of insurance in coastal FL, regulations in much of the west coast states and property taxes in Texas; however, the deal itself is the most critical factor.

I recommend you reach out to a company like Corporate Direct to get solid advice on this and not try to piecemeal it together from various sources. If you have an LLC in CA, you are going to need to file taxes there for your LLC, period. Income generated from within CA has to be reported in CA. I know this because that is exactly what I have to do. I have a CA LLC (and LLCs in other states as well) and they are all held by a WY holding company. However, I have to file taxes in each state the LLC is in and pay the annual LLC fee in each state. Using LLCs and holding companies is less about tax structure and more about asset protection in the case of law suits.