All Forum Posts by: Brian Miller

You won't have enough closing costs to cover that kind of credit, and the seller can't fund your down payment. You can have the seller pay your inspections and a home warranty out of that credit which will help some. If you have an offer contingent on inspections, that is the time to negotiate a credit for inspections. Most sellers are less likely to concede much for repairs if there has already been a large concession up front. If you're using a realtor, they should hopefully be able to explain further. If not, you may want to find someone else to represent you. 

A local credit unit would be your best bet. Some offer construction costs to be paid with interest only payments for a period of time, which you can then convert into a long term loan if you build up forced appreciation. They lend on those with the agreement that you'd use them for the long term buy and hold. 

@Trevor Howard depending on the location of a four family in South City you could be in the $220k to $550k range on average. There are four families selling for more, but this is the median range of A-D neighborhoods in the south side. I have assisted a lot of clients, and many here on BP, buy successful BRRRR's. Most of them have been SFH or duplexes. The biggest reasons are construction costs, finding a good crew, and the time it takes to complete a large rehab. A four family gut could take close to a year to complete with permits. If you are using hard money, your holding costs will be high, and to get good contractors who show up, you need to pay them well. I run my rental comps conservatively, and recommend finishes based on other rental listings/area. We generally run our vacancy numbers at 5%, and are having no issues filling units right now using this method. Side note, I went to MO State and wish I would have bought property down there when property was so cheap because Springfield has blown up! We got lost while driving around campus because so much had changed..

That's good to know about First Community Credit Union. I have investor clients that ask and I was looking to do this on some that I own. The only other option I've looked into is getting a business line of credit and using the rental as collateral, but I have not shopped around to know what the terms are. 

@Marci DeArriba Furnished Finder is pretty popular, but there is also travelnursehousing.com. You could also go more generic with advertising for the corporate housing as well. There are a bunch of websites for that, and it opens you up to more tenants looking for the basically same thing. We found a few FB groups for TN's too and found tenants that way. Best of luck! 

Hey @Jin Zhang, 

I did a search of STL properties on Furnished Finder and agree that there are plenty available. When looking at the available properties closer, I did notice a few trends. Several properties were in areas that I don't even recommend buying for LTR because of crime. TN's are class A-B tenants, who do not want to live in "D" neighborhoods. In the nicer areas, the available properties were priced really high IMO. Other available properties were 3-4 beds. In my experience, TN's travel in ones and two's, so having 3-4 bedrooms isn't necessary. So to stick out, I'd recommend buying in the buy box I previously described. Keep your pricing competitive, and have the property staged well. Hope this helps and let me know if you want to discuss further! 

@Osamede Edokpolo, I generally look at the areas amenities, schools, crime, and the general upkeep or curb appeal of the neighborhoods. Proximity to parks, popular hot spots, and businesses/employers is important as well. Especially if you're looking to do Air BnB.  If you're looking to house travel nurses, then owning a property close to a hospital is crucial. 

@Beatriz Casarez it depends on a few factors that were already mentioned regarding your goals. Also, what is your price point and ideal class of neighborhood? $150-$175k could get you a 3/1 SFH in a C+ to B neighborhood in St. Louis, but the same price range will get you a duplex in a C- or below area. Personally, I like having more units to cover maintenance expenses and vacancies when they come up. A vacant house can crush your cash flow for the year if it sits vacant for two months, which is about average when a tenant moves out. As with a duplex, hopefully the occupied side is covering a majority of the mortgage. My advice is to find a good team that can help you with the acquisition and management of the property.

@Dennis Morris I have managed my own Travel Nurse SFH and have helped clients purchase multi families specifically for the purpose of renting to Travel Nurses. My clients who recently closed on the duplex are getting very good returns, and better than LTR. Knowing the right area of our market to buy in is crucial because we can be a block by block area. Typically we are looking in sold "A and B" neighborhoods within 10-15 minutes from our hospital corridor, or have easy highway access. Your COC goals are doable. Just remember that there will be upfront expenses with furnishing the property as well. Not just your down payment. I recommend smaller 1-2 bed units which are cheaper to furnish, and fit the TN lifestyle. They don't generally need larger apartments unless they are traveling with their family.

@Tomcy Varghese congrats to starting your RE investment path! BP is a great resource to meet like minded people and has some incredible calculators to run numbers on deals to make sure you're making a good investment. I am an agent and investor myself in the St. Louis area who has helped a lot of people on BP buy their 1st of several properties. Our brokerage has PM and a construction team under one roof which many out of staters have found benificial as well. Shoot me a DM if you have any interest in discussing more or just want some info on where to and not to invest in STL.