All Forum Posts by: Brian Miller

@Sam Dorgalli you bet, and best of luck! I will also second what @Ryan Thomson said about getting an investment property under your belt. It makes you more competent and confident when you talk with investor clients who are thinking of using you. You can hold off until you're in year 1-2 and figure out what you want your portfolio to look like. Don't rush into it on top of the agent/investor learning curve.  

@Sam Dorgalli, I made this jump about 6 years ago myself after realizing that being an agent was a ton of client work. The grind of the schedule working nights, weekends, and dealing with all of the emotions that home sellers and buyers bring is taxing. As an investor agent, I work M-F, 9a-5p most weeks. Do I work late some nights and some weekends, sure? But I know agents that run around all week and weekend. Investors think with math, not emotions. If we don't get a deal, we move onto the next. Find a successful RE agent in your market. Join their team or brokerage and agree to a split commission on clients they bring you. That way they get paid to teach you, and it's worth their time to stop and answer your questions. You'll get a jolt of clients from the agent, and confidence in the numbers you're running since you have the other agent as your back end support. Getting in the reps is important. It took me a year or more to get comfortable during transactions as an agent and from the RE investor perspective. It's a lot to learn all at once, but stick with it because its worth it. 

@Joshua Thang, those numbers confirm what I would advise any clients looking to buy there. You can buy several sub $80k properties there and rent them out for $800+. On paper the numbers look incredible, but there are several factors that will eat away at your monthly cash flow. Non payment, evictions, deferred maintenance by the previous owner, or shotty work by the previous owner are some of the more common things I see in this and similar areas. 

In STL City the landlord is typically responsible for water, sewer, trash, and lawn maintenance for a multi family. Our water system is very old so it is not individually metered, and you are billed based on the number of kitchen and baths that are in a property. I have heard of some landlords billing back for sewer on multi families but it is rare. It's good to be aware of the rental rates and what utilities are being charged for similar buildings in your area to stay competitive. SFH's we have the tenants pay for everything except MSD Sewer which stays in the landlords name. This is a lien able item as @Bob Hines stated before, and stays with the property. All of the other utilities stay with the person on the account. 

@Hector Valadez, I service a large amount of out of state buyers from California who buy in our St. Louis market. Our prices are pretty affordable and we have strong rents. Like any market, you need to have good boots on the ground to let you know what areas to invest in, and which ones to avoid. If you'd like more info on our market, feel free to reach out and send me a DM. Best of luck! 

Hey @Austin Jones welcome to BP! Getting started in RE can be a challenge but there are plenty of people and resources that can assist you in your journey. I'm an agent who specializes more on the investing said, and own/manage my own rentals. There is a monthly BP meetup in Dogtown that is a great for networking. Let me know if you want more info and I can DM you. 

@Valery Ulysse, are you in the St. Louis area? 

@Armin Rostami You have some great advice here already so I'll just add a book for you to read which is "Rich Dad Poor Dad". I agree with @Nathan Gesner that Dave Ramsey is great, sound advice, but Robert Kyosaki takes things a step further with building an asset column and taking out "good debt". I.e. using loans to purchase real estate that you can then write off on taxes. Focus on paying down any non tax deferred debt you have and then on your student loans. San Fran will be tough to start off in, so maybe use those two years to build up some cash and pay down debt. Then move to a more affordable and more landlord friendly city. Good luck to you! 

@Kaitlyn Beard it may depend on the condition of the rest of the property. Appraisers have a rating system that they use to determine the condition of the property. It goes from best condition, C1, to worst condition, C6. The lender has the final say, so you may want to check with them on what condition they will lend on. I've seen lenders accept C5 condition for conventional as long as the property is insurable, and is not riddled with safety or structural issues.  A lack of flooring does should not be an issue. Below is what they typically look for, and if it does not pass, you can have it re-appraised after the deficiencies have been corrected. I have had buyers do work on an as is sale to satisfy the loan if the seller is not willing to. 

Deficiencies Cannot Affect the Following:

• Safety
• Soundness
• Structural integrity of the property

Properties that are based on an “as is” condition and do not have these deficiencies are eligible for financing. When a property is “subject to,” usually there are deficiencies that make the property ineligible for financing. “Subject to” requires completion of the items, a re-inspection, and the appraiser to clear the deficiencies on the appraisal.

Hey @John Cato, I have gone the HELOC route for a down payment to purchase two duplexes at the same time. This was 4 years ago when we had competitive rates and low inflation. I'm not sure that I would do the same thing today because the FED is busy increasing rates, and will probably do that again before the end of the year. FED rates directly impact HELOC rates. We have local credit unions In St. Louis that are offering a locked rate for 12 months, then it is variable after that.

Since we are in uncharted territory with rates and the market, you may choose to use part of your own cash(if available) sitting in an account along with some of the HELOC cash. That way your monthly payments for the HELOC are smaller. That gives you an automatic rainy day fund for the property, and you can pay down the loan faster. Another route is to BRRRR with the HELOC funds, and then cash most or all of your funds out. Just my two pennies worth, but hope this helps!