All Forum Posts by: Brad Jacobson

 Rock on!  You're going to crush it.  Congrats on the inheritance.  

DM me if you want to chat further about more detailed ideas.  

Your plan is great!  Here are a few additional tips:

1. When you move into the townhouse, make sure you get roommates to keep that nice rental income coming in.  Then instead of being $1,100/month ahead, you could be $2,000+ ahead from your prior situation.  That makes for an epic $24,000+ in savings per year!

2. Because rates are so high right now, consider doing a HELOC through a local credit union before you do a cashout refinance. A HELOC would be nice in your situation because you don't know what amounts you'll need and when but with a HELOC, once you've identified the next investment, you can simply borrow the right amount at the right time.

Good luck!

Hi @Ashley Braegelmann,

It should be pretty straightforward since you have to honor the existing leases.  Relationships with the tenants will be based around the terms laid out in the leases and should likely have little impact on the routines of the tenants.

My best suggestion would be to position yourself as the "property manager" and not the owner if you're self-managing.  Then you can always state that conversations will need to be had with the owner if you need more time to determine repairs, late payments, issues, etc.  

If you'd like more land lording tips, Brandon's book "The Book on Managing Rental Properties" was excellent and I referred to it frequently my first few years while self-managing properties.

Good luck!

I've definitely seen a softening in the STR returns this year. 2020-2021 was massively profitable but our local STR market is softening a little.

If your goal is a long term hold, I would guess small MF is a safer bet.  Rent has continued to climb and I struggle to imagine a scenario where there would be a significant drop in small MF rent rates.

Good luck!

Finding excellent contractors is definitely one of the biggest struggles of the market today.  I'd recommend attending all of the local real estate meetups around your area and asking for referrals there.  Those are the people that should have the right contacts.  If you're lucky, a good contractor might even be sponsoring one of the meetups.

Good luck!

Exactly!  House-hacking works everywhere because it's simply an effective way to slash a huge chunk of your monthly expenses.  House hack for a year or two, save that $20,000+ you would have spent on housing without the house-hack, grow some equity in that property, and set yourself up for your next big move.

More important than choosing a market is finding a good deal in a market you're familiar with.  I would recommend placing less emphasis on specific cities and rather invest in markets you know.  

If you're looking at properties every day and becoming more and more familiar with specific areas, you'll soon find deals wherever you are and should be able to make a house-hack work wherever you are!  

House-hacking requires some personal sacrifice so make sure you're buying something you want to live in that is in an area you like so you will have the willingness to hack with that property long term.  

Focus less on the market and more on finding a deal where you want to live!

Talking to the city about a zoning conversion is a normal part of due diligence when working with small multifamily.  I'd very much recommend going to the city, talking openly and honestly about the situation, explaining the due diligence timeline you have, and fully understanding your possibilities.

In order to protect yourself, plan on the purchase forever being a triplex and make the numbers work as a triplex.  Then if you get the zoning changed to a fourplex, it can be a nice equity play for you.

Good luck!

The biggest hurdle you'll have once you've found a deal is making sure you're executing the assignable legal contract correctly.  This varies state by state and can be tricky at times.

If you're new to wholesaling and haven't been buying and selling real estate for years, you're going to want to partner up with an experienced wholesaler on your first few deals.  

There are likely several big wholesalers in your market already and they're always willing to partner as long as there's money in it for them!  Partner with them on your first few and make sure it's clear that you want the knowledge from the partnering deal!

Good luck

Hey David,

Finding the right real estate specialized CPA is a massive game changer.  If you have a local real estate meetup, I'd recommend you ask there.  You'll find that there will likely only be a handful of CPAs that all the local investors use because they're the best.

Good luck!