All Forum Posts by: Brenden Mitchum

Hey @Mike Rawert, welcome to the BP community!

I know from speaking with my broker that there are loan products that exist for long-term hold on a property under an LLC. These are called "landlord loans" and the rate is higher than conventional. That being said conventional rates are going up soon anyways so it'll be fairly similar. I would say your best bet to find this product is to team up with a loan broker licensed in your area. If you're in FL or GA, I'd be happy to share mine.

Another option is to keep the purchases in your personal name so that you can refi with conventional financing. After refi, you can transfer title to your LLC. The only risk here is the due on sale clause which isn't likely, especially at a time when banks have plenty of non-performing loans to worry about.

Hope this helps a bit. Please, feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Frank Agyeman-Duah

Are you sure they're a private, non-institutional lender? Sounds close enough to institutional debt that they could just be giving you an FHA loan.. Will you be living in the property? If not, then it isn't institutional and definitely sounds too good to be true. Unfortunately, "a member of a Facebook group" is not a legitimate referral source either. Hopefully someone on here has worked with them but you might want to pass on this one if you can't get any further evidence for their legitimacy..

Keep digging and let us know what you come up with!

Feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat.

Hey @Joshua Evans, we're always looking to connect with wholesalers in the Atlanta market. Just dropped you a DM!

Hey @Joey Brantley, welcome to the BP community!

I second @Shawn McCormick's advice. This is called "house hacking" and is a great strategy to get started investing with relatively little cash. Using a VA loan makes this an even more powerful investment since you can get into the property with such a small amount invested that your returns will be at or close to infinity.

There are three common types of house hacks and which is right for you depends on what stage of life you're in and your market. The classic small multifamily (2-4 units) house hack is perfect for someone with a family and is the simplest to manage. You live in one unit and rent out the others. However, in many markets small MF is hard to find at a decent price so keep this in mind during your search if this is what you're looking for. 

Another popular house hack strategy is more geared towards single individuals purchasing a home near a university or in a major city. This is the by-the-room strategy. You live in one room of a single family home and rent out the rest. It's tougher to manage, especially upon moving out. However, SFH are much easier to find and might be your only option in some markets.

The last option is less talked about but essentially combines the previous two strategies by giving you your own space while also having more freedom to choose where you live. This is the SFH mother-in-law/ADU house hack. You purchase a SFH that has an extra living space that is separate from the main house, you live in one part and the tenant lives in the other. This will feel a lot like a duplex house hack but comes with some of the complications of the by-the-room strategy. In a market with low supply of MF and high supply of SF, this is a powerful strategy for folks who want their own privacy but also want to offset their expenses with rental income.

Hopefully that quick overview on house hack strategies helps! You can also combine any of these with the short term rental strategy (airbnb) to further maximize returns in the right market. 

I realize you did not ask about house hacking but getting your plan/strategy straight before starting your market search is key. 

Please, feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Tony Warren, welcome to the BP community and Atlanta REI!

Don't be afraid to reach out to myself or anyone else here on BP if you have questions or just want to do a little online networking. Don't forget to attend some in-person events too if you're comfortable to do so. Personally, I prefer networking through BiggerPockets and Facebook because I can provide more help to others while also being more intentional about who I network with. But in-person events definitely have their place too, especially when you're starting out. 

Keep educating and let us know if you have any questions along the way!

Hey @Trevor B Coates, welcome to the BP community!

Yes, yes & yes..do it all, man! Columbus probably isn't as on fire as Atlanta is right now but I'm sure there is still plenty of competition. You'll want to build as wide of a deal funnel as you possibly can if you hope to snag a deal in the near future. The more methods of finding deals, the faster you'll find one (granted you're not half-a**ing all of them). 

In terms of making a good first impression to an agent and convincing them to work with you, this just comes down to being serious and ready to rock. Make sure your financing is straight and you could purchase something within a month if they brought you a good deal. Be honest and open with them. But remember, you're interviewing them just as much as they are you. Make sure this is someone that has experience working with investors and understands what you're looking for. 

Hope that helps a bit! Please, feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Artie Butcher, welcome to the BP community!

Congrats on the successful flip!

Here's a recent post that I think would help you as you start your search!

Hey @Thomas O'Donnell, welcome to the BP community!

@Tim Delaney is absolutely right. In fact, his numbers could even be a bit conservative for CA rent. So, you could really be saving some serious cash by house hacking in your current market. Remember a penny saved is 1.2 pennies earned! 

That being said, if it's simply a capital issue and you do not want to tie up so much cash, looking to another market is probably wise. Plus, you aren't likely to be building an empire in Santa Clara in the near future so might as well get started in another market sooner, rather than later. 

That being said, Texas, Florida, Georgia & Arizona are not markets. They are states that have housing markets (many) within them. If you like these states for their laws or geographic location, I definitely recommend taking a deeper dive into some of their markets. A great place to start your research is here on BP. Just search for different markets (cities/metros) and see what comes up. If you want to get real scientific about your research, start researching different metrics and comparing markets to each other. This is important but I would advise to not get too caught up in this process or you'll never actually choose a market. Plus, whatever appears to be the "best" market to you, also appeared that way to thousands of other investors already competing with each other in that market.

What's important here is that you choose a market ASAP and focus on building your team there. Investors are currently crushing it in every market in the U.S. but many also aren't and it's not because they chose the wrong market..

Hope this helps a bit - please, feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Blake Bittner, welcome to the BP community!

There are many steps here and a ton of capital needed. That being said, there really is no point in diving into the entire process (which I do not even know the details of), unless you can get past Step 1. This first step is where most dreams of new park development die. 

Step 1 is to find out if your municipality will allow it. Most won't. Best place to start is with the Planning/Zoning Department. The first person you talk to may not know the answer but just keep calling and asking to speak to someone who does until you get that someone. You'll probably know when it's the right person and you've been given a hard "NO." 

If you do get past this step, reach back out to the forum for more help. But really, you will want to team up with someone who has handled MHP development. 

Hope this helps a bit! Please, feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!

Hey @Komi Dade, welcome to the BP community!

You definitely want something in writing but it doesn't have to be a legitimate contract. It depends how well you know & trust the contractor. With our GC (who I very much trust), I simply take his estimate, add start/completion dates and draws to it and have all parties sign. You can specify what work should be done and when for each draw, but make sure you consult with the contractor first.

For smaller jobs, you shouldn't need a draw schedule but you might agree in writing to half up front and half upon job completion.

Hope this helps a bit! Please, feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!