All Forum Posts by: Bryan Scibilia

Hey all,

Hope everyone is well.

I'm looking to connect with others in my area, I see events and action all over CT, but not in Litchfield County. Need some REI love out this way! I have a portfolio of homes in Glastonbury and Litchfield County and am currently focusing on growing the litchfield portion due to the demand and shortage out this way.

Best,

Bryan

Thanks for the post. I hope to attend, schedule permitting.

Best,

Bryan

Congrats on your progress so far @Tyler Stewart

I second @Jonathan Greene. I'd also like to suggest that you find a property first and maybe even try to get it under contract. I want to encourage you to keep it up but like JG said, no one will give you money becuase you say "we would like to use a hard money lender". Best suggestion is to find a property, run the numbers and make a report to present with real numbers with a tangible return beyond "you would get your money back". If you find someone to give you money without that I'd be sceptical at best. Can you continue your education and save up enough for a low down payment FHA loan? That way you can get into a property with the banks money, build experience and hopefully a few successes under your belt before you start asking for investors.

 Best of luck out there!

@Filipe Pereira @Michael Noto thanks for your experienced insight. I’m still planning on staying as far away as I can. Some really attractive properties pop up in Torrington and I’ve always ignored them but the curiosity was still there.

@Filipe Pereira id appreciate an introduction to anyone that is involved in Litchfield county. Seems to be where the growth of my portfolio will be over the next 3 years and I’ll need a PM in within that time frame.

Thanks!

Bryan

@Filipe Pereira I’d agree with most of your findings on these towns, especially having property in Glastonbury and Windsor. Do you PM in litchfield county? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on those towns. @Al Yousef you got great advice here on those three towns. Agree on all fronts. Personally, I’d stay out of all of those markets. Would you other CT guys in here agree that Torrington would be preferred over Waterbury, Hartford, and NB?

@CJ B. yes your tenant will be financially responsible for pests but you can't guarantee they will act on those responsibilities; unfortunately, a lesson recently learned. Between @Karen F. and @Filipe Pereira you got the best advice possible...Don't rent to them and wait for a non bed-bug infested tenant. Additional vacancy will more likely be less than you'd be spending on pest remediation if you were to experience a real problem. Good luck!

@Joey Copper do you think a 4th bucket exists where

-I have my RE agent to fill vacancies because I trust him

-I manage the contact with all my tenants through a portal (no late night maintenance calls). My customer service expectations can not be matched by a PM, sorry.

-I decide who pays for the maintenance.

-I don’t do the work myself, I could, I’m qualified and I really enjoy it. But i don’t because I know my time is spent better elsewhere.

-I do however call for quotes or use one of the many contractors I’ve developed relationships with and choose who does the work.

Would you agree there is some value in this type of PM strategy in that it balances time well valued/spent with balancing individual skillsets in our unique scenario.

I think what you’ve painted is really black and white in that is has worked for you, but there is a world of grays and colors for other people to use that are trying to create the same picture.

Best of luck out there.

The Market is crashing?..

It's all relative to you and where you are and your micro-market.

If your investments are doing well than don't sell. If you need cash on hand to ride a dip in the market than sell.

Good luck!

Zoom out, look at the big picture

Hi @Ismael Candelario I'd suggest you search the forums to read a bunch of smart peoples answers as this is a well covered topic. My best advice I can give to you is be careful or at least weary. There is so much personal preference and bias out there as to what is an A vs a B vs. A-/B+ vs old A/new A etc, etc. Also keep in mind an A where I invest may be a B where you do.

The main contributing factors to determine grades are: location, features/amenities, condition, and age of property.  

For me:

A=Dream house

B=Where I would like to raise my family

C=Where I could raise my family if I had to

D=I'd rather build my own tiny house in the woods and home school my kids.

On a serious note...Check out

https://www.niche.com/

I always spend some good time on there when I'm analyzing a deal. It grades (A-D) based on schools, quality of work, quality of life, etc. Gives a great snapshot of an area but as always, this is a supporting tool and not a substitution for your own analysis in your area and proper due diligence. Hope this helps, good luck out there!

@Shannon Jarrett congrats! One down. Do you have the other side rented out yet? What sort of cash flow are you expecting? I'm happy to help if you have any specific questions (i just finished renovating a duplex myself).

 As far as software, I've used a few, @Dave Spooner suggestion of Avail is a good one. Tenantcloud was OK but check out Cozy.co. I started early with it and still use it today (I think it caps at 75 properties, which I hope we all have that problem one day). It's free to collect rent through and the maintenance portal is really nice. All free. You can pay I think $3-$5 dollars and have the rent deposit in your account in about a day or two, if you don't pay the fee (I dont) I think it takes about 7-10 days to clear. They also have a paid service that run rental suggestions and give a pretty good run down on comps, it's like $20 a report per property. It is by no means a substitute for running your own numbers and due diligence but I run the report any time i'm serious about a property and personally think is $20 well spent. Hope this helps. Good luck out there!