All Forum Posts by: Caitlyn Ulinski

Reach out to Sam Dua (517) 346-7000. He's the best real estate attorney in the area! Almost all of the Lansing, MI, area investors use him!

Personally, I'd say go for it if the numbers make sense and if you have a steady flow of income. I used up almost all of my capital to buy my first property but I was in a position to save $2k a month from my job so by the time I actually closed I had a bit more money and then within a few months after that I had plenty again. Worst case scenario, you end up needing a few thousand dollars before you build that back up again and then you have to go borrow from a relative or take on a some credit card debt. But I think that is unlikely to happen right away before you can build up your reserves if you check out the property (maybe bring along someone experienced too) and don't see anything concerning that will need immediate repair. Either way, figure out which investment is best for you and make sure you have a couple back-up plans for worse case scenarios! Like the other investors said, make an offer that is right for you not for the seller! Good luck!

Yes, all of the rentals are under an LLC. We got the documents from someone we knew in the Pontiac area who owns apartment complexes and had his paperwork created by an attorney, and then we just adjusted the documents to fit our business. We haven't started using management software yet, though I'm sure we will as we expand. Most of our tenants pay in cash, which is starting to be a pain in the butt now that we have quite a few so we have stopped allowing that for new tenants. They send us money orders to our PO Box usually or pay with CashApp.

What management company do you work with? We have had really good tenants so far. We screen as best as we can and keep the standards high. We've learned that the tenants that are overly persistent about wanting a house or being able to afford it are usually some of the ones to watch out for. Overall though, we have had success so far. We treat our tenants well by working with them if they are struggling to pay or something (for example, we collect cash from one couple weekly because if they have money sitting around, they spend it and then can't afford the full rent) and we are usually pretty quick to respond to maintenance calls, upgrades, etc. so they usually appreciate that and treat us well in return. Which again, is going fine now but won't be feasible to make these kind of adjustments as we grow. So we will be looking for a management company for help before too long I'm sure!

Thank you! We are impressed by your story too and will be interested to see how your business continues to grow! :)

Hey Michael!

Thanks! I'm sure we could both learn a lot from each others' experiences! That is very cool that you had a relative willing to invest with you. I need to locate one of those...

Most of our rentals have been $40k-50k houses or $80k duplexes in the lower income areas (but we try to avoid the super sketchy areas with high crime rates) and they are turn-key at those prices. For this reason, we didn't start rehabbing until now. South Lansing is our favorite area, the houses are newer, many without basements (1900s Michigan basements are the worst!), and they rent out well from our experience so far.

We are managing and rehabbing ourselves currently, on top of full-time jobs. It keeps us VERY busy, but it works for now. In the next couple of years, we will probably look for management help.

So unfortunately, we aren't much help with leads on good handymen - like you, we do everything we can by ourselves and then contract out HVAC, plumbing, etc. and since we are working on our first two flips now, we haven't had much experience with contractors yet. We are interested in doing more flipping (or BRRRing) in the future, though we still plan to buy turn-keys in South Lansing as well.

Hi Michael!

Thanks for sharing your story! We started investing in the Lansing area in June last year and have 11 properties, a couple that are in rehab currently. We have been using conventional mortgages so we will be looking for new funding methods soon. We were able to acquire many units fast by refinancing our house, which was bought as a foreclosure and is now worth over $100k more than what was paid for it. We're curious as to how you found your private money lender. Was it someone you know? How did you secure a deal with this lender?

Thanks!

Caitlyn & Adam

Thanks everyone! Super good points, I appreciate all the feedback.

We have been using yearly leases for our properties (we mostly have single family and a couple duplexes). These are in low income areas. We have had good tenants so far, but I like to prepare as best as I can for the bad ones that are bound to rent from us at some point. I have been intrigued by doing month to month leases instead of yearly so that we can get rid of a tenant if they are not paying, not taking care of the house, etc. But is it actually any easier to evict a tenant after a month to month lease?

The scenario I'm thinking of is that we get a tenant that doesn't pay. On a year lease, we end up having to serve them an eviction notice and the process may take a few months to get them out. On a month to month lease, we end the agreement after the month is up, and then if they don't leave, we still have to go through the eviction process. So how is a month to month lease any better? If the tenant isn't going to leave from the eviction with the yearly lease, there's probably a good chance they won't leave after their month to month lease is terminated, right? Or do you find that they generally do leave peacefully after ending a month to month lease? Also, is the eviction process faster for holdover tenants than it is for tenants under a lease agreement?

@Bryan Johnson

Hey Bryan, can you share a little bit about the deal on Auction.com? We have a number of houses that we bought conventionally and now we want to try BRRRRing with an auction home. We are a little nervous to buy a home we can't see though. How did you do your due diligence before purchasing & were there people in the home that you had to evict after you bought it? If so, please share the details of that! Thanks!

We heard a lot of numbers when we started investing like $200 for a "good" deal, $400 for a "great" deal or "home run." That's how we originally started looking at investments but as we got into it more, we made a goal of how much cash flow we wanted long term and then made a spreadsheet to calculate how many months it would take to get there, changing different factors like down payment amounts, cash flow, etc. to see the effects on the timeline. As of now, our magic number is $280 for acceptable cash flow and to keep us on track with our long term goals.