All Forum Posts by: Brian Goodling

Man, $700/mo cash flow? Thats insane, and you're honestly considering getting rid of that for roughly 60k cash? Especially when you've already done the repairs and such. Dont get me wrong, 60k is a decent chunk, but it wont get you another property for all cash most likely. For a small MF are you talking a duplex? If so, the duplex can only be 240k since you'll need 25% down. Finding a duplex to rent for roughly $1250 each side might be tough unless you're in a really good area, but even if you are in a good area I would bet the property is more expensive than 240k. 

Again, a lot of this is napkin math, but I couldnt see giving up a gold mine like that. 

Why not refinance the property, still retain the cash flow, albeit less than $700/mo, and use the cash from the refi and purchase your MF? That seems to be the play here honestly. But I wouldnt sell. 

@Rosa Lepore

Newer investor that has been digging deep and analyzing the Tampa, St. Pete, Lakeland, Winter Haven, and Brooksville market for the past few months. A lot of your assumptions are correct. Tampa is overpriced, and you have to be careful with what neighborhood you are looking in. However, there's MULTIPLE flip or BRRRR opportunities. St. Pete is pretty stable being a beach town with a good mix of higher and lower end properties. Rents in Tampa/St.Pete are fairly high which is nice. As a side note, im closing on a property in St. Pete in about a week and will cash flow after all expenses $350/mo. This is a SFH. So yes, there are deals to be found, even on the MLS.

Lakeland/Winter Haven are really good areas if you're planning to buy and hold for a while. Like others have said there are two main areas of growth around Tampa. You have the I-4 corridor towards Orlando or you have north up I-75. The Land O'Lakes area is absolutely BOOMING right now hence why I started looking into Brooksville for a long term play. LL & WH are pretty rural and cheap comparatively. Definitely a lot of room there for flips or LTR but those deals definitely go fast. Theres A LOT of cash in the Tampa area being spent on houses and A LOT of flippers already here. 

My agent is also a BP member and I would be happy to recommend him to you as he has gone above and beyond for me while working through my current deal. I also have a PM that is great as well. 

Just like any market, the more you know, the better. Tampa seems to be in a little bit of a bubble right now, but if you look towards the paths of growth you can definitely find what you're after. 

Just a couple of notes on the expenses:

- Make your roommate pay half of the $575 and half of the electric for yourself. Or if you want to be a nice guy ask your roommate to pay $300 and you pay the rest of the rent + electric. 

- Dont pay water out of packet. Either make tenants pay if separate meter or else just bill back the water to each divided equally.

- Dont pay someone for lawn unless you really feel the $50 is worth it. You said you're graduating soon and will be living here so why not just take 1-2 hours once or twice a month and mow the property on the weekend? Easy way to save some money, get some sun, and a light workout. 

- Snow is hit or miss. You could pay for this or again, you could do it yourself. Either way you retain the same liability for slips/falls. Granted this means waking up early and shoveling/salting but could be a way to save some money over the winter season. I wouldn't calculate this into every month because if I had to put money on it I'd bet it doesnt snow in SD from June-Sept.

- Im assuming this is billed directly to the property owner (you) from your local municipality or county. You can either eat this cost or add a line item to the lease that tenants will X amount per month for garbage pickup to recoup some costs.

If you remove some of these costs you'll find yourself having money for CapEx plus a little more income per month. Are you planning to PM yourself or hire someone to do it? Obviously you can becuase you live there, but understand that that can cause more stress too especially if the tenants know you're the owner AND you're living there.

Personally I couldnt see owning a 4-plex and only getting $170/mo on a 235k property especially with the fact that you would have to repay the down payment. What is the down payment? 3%? 5%? 25%? That could also factor in on how good of a deal this is. If it's only 3% or 5% then its no big deal assuming you hold this for long enough for appreciation to cover the initial down payment plus some.  If it's 25% then I definitely would be out seeing how I have 0 equity in the property and only make $170/mo. Just my 2 cents, but I think if you minimize your expenses and bill them back you'd be upwards of $250/mo or so which is much better than $170/mo.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in St. Petersburg.

Purchase price: $150,000
Cash invested: $35,000

SFH near downtown St. Petersburg and close to the Tampa Bay Rays stadium. Bought it turn key and completely renovated. House was tenant occupied at purchase and rented for $1400/mo. Has an existing 1 car detatched garage that I am planning on renovating and turning into a STR or a 1/1 ADU to rent out for $500/mo.

All in all if things go according to plan I will have roughly $65k into the property with a refinance with approximate appraisal value of 170-180k and cash flowing $800+/mo.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Throughout my search I was interested in finding a property that had a larger detatched garage or an ADU already permitted on the property. I knew that if I could get the SFH to work cash flow wise that I could turn the garage or ADU into an AirBnB or 1/1 rental to increase cash flow. The type of property stood out because you could essentially get 2 units for just over the price of 1 based on the condition of the secondary structure.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found through the MLS. Brought to my attention from my agent (which happens to be a fellow BP member). Took a look at the property and put in an offer just over asking with some cash back. Found out the seller accepted a different offer that was 100% cash so asked my agent to rewrite an offer for 10k over asking with some cash back knowing that even at an increased price it would still cash flow $300/mo. The next day got an accepted offer and off to the races we went.

How did you finance this deal?

conventional investment loan with all cash coming from myself. 20% down at 4.5% over 30 years.

How did you add value to the deal?

Planning to renovate the detatched garage into an AirBnB or 1/1 unit for roughly 30k. Should cash flow about $400-500/mo. Increased cash flow by putting a low amount of money into the property to more than double the initial cash flow.

What was the outcome?

Deal is still in progress. Looking to reno the garage in about 10 months.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Seems like there's a million cash buyers out there. This was the 3rd deal that I've almost lost to a cash buyer but the property for this one had too good of numbers to pass by. I learned that even if the seller rejects your initial offer that you may have a chance to resubmit given the numbers still work out. I knew what my cap was that I could pay for the property to make sense so I wasnt scared to increase my offer once I knew I was against a cash buyer.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I worked with an agent named Bryce Wade who is also a BP member.

@Dianne Daraitis, welcome! I am also a newer investor in the greater Tampa area. Obviously real estate is a risk, but that doesnt mean it can't be a calculated risk. Figure out what your goals are, strategy you'd be comfortable with, and what sort of parameters you want to set for yourself when looking at properties. I'm in the same boat as you in terms of getting educated, but it seems like the more educated I get the more ready I am to hop in and just give it a go. Education is always the best place to start! Cheers to your new beginning, you're definitely in the right place. 

@Nicole A. Thank you! I am currently living with my wife so any house-hacking, FHA, or conventional financing is off the table. I think that I've found a few half decent places but the biggest question for me is the financing. Would you have any general suggestions for having roughly a 10% down payment? The properties I'm looking at are already on the lower-ish end and I wouldnt have enough cash for a foreclosure + rehab. I thought about the foreclosure + 203k program but that doesnt work due to owner occupancy with the 203k. Owner financing would be great, but finding owner financing and a decent deal seems to be few and far between. I wasnt sure how to even find private money in general or in Tampa if I wanted to.

I know that quite a bit, but any thoughts?

Good afternoon everyone! 

Man, I have to say, it feels great to finally work up the nerve to post something on here. I've been a biggerpockets podcast listener for quite some time, I've read many of the books suggested on here, and I've been lurking through the forums as of late. But here we are! As the title says, I am newer to the real estate investment game and I currently live in Tampa, FL. I dont have any deals under my belt at this time, but am seriously pushing towards my first within the next 3 months. I think my initial strategy will be long-tern single family rentals. I've been wanting to get into real estate since I've been in high school and now that I've been working a full time job for 2 years now I feel as if I finally have the means to jump in (after getting some real estate education of course, thanks biggerpockets by the way). I'm always down to discuss different strategies, compare notes on a property with others, and really starting to get the ball rolling. Lets do it, lets help each other live out the dream! 

If anyone who lives in/near Tampa would like to possibly grab lunch some day or just talk about the real estate world I would be 100% down for it. Cheers to starting on the path to financial freedom, and best of luck out there!