All Forum Posts by: Chad Jarrah

Well done @Frankie Renaldi! It's great to see when numbers work out that well. I've done a deal or two with your wife in the past. She was very knowledgeable and easy to work with. Wish you guys the best.

Hello builders of BiggerPockets! This is a very vague and generalized question. Currently looking for a ballpark answer. Is there a rough way of determining the number of apartment units that can fit in a building while accounting for space loss due to walls, hallways and staircases?

There are a ton of variables like considering parking, allowable zoning requirements, etc, but just looking for an idea using this example:

20,000sqft building, each apartment being 900sqft.

Thanks!

@Herve Francois there is a monthly meetup group in Allentown run by @Justin Brown. He can let you know when the next one is.

@Account Closed, thanks for the tip! I have to do a personal financial statement every year for my commercial lender so I have a good gauge on what equity I have. I'm a realtor as well so I've crunched conservative numbers as far as resale value and losses due to transfer tax and commission splits. Where I am falling short is finding the next opportunity and seeing if it is worth it to level up to a much larger multi unit or mixed use building. Everything I've read, watched and received advice on says that that is the way to go. Just haven't fully jumped to really committing to doing it -- partly things are comfortable and running well, partly hesitance because I don't want to jeopardize what I have built thus far with a bigger venture I'm not as sure or knowledgeable about. That's something I'm going to have to struggle or move forward with.

@Ryan Webster, thank you as well. I am comfortable with good debt, have great equity and only bite off what I can chew. Where I am more unsure is fighting with myself about paying the mortgages off fast. I always feel like I want to pay more towards principal.

Do you both pay the minimum on your mortgages to stretch out the term and maximize cash flow? If you pay more towards principal, do you focus it on your mortgage with the worst interest rate or better to put it towards the principal of your primary residence as that is not an income generator?

Thank you both again!

Hello Bigger Pockets community, hope everyone had a good holiday. Had some questions on my mind for a while but wasn't sure who to ask so  figured I'd pose this to the community. I've been investing in real estate for about 14 years now, initially part time, and full time for the past 5 years. I have rentals with good equity and do flips as well. I can give more details as far as numbers if needed.

I'm looking to sharpen up the way I run my business. I own some rentals outright, but have mortgages on all the rest and I use LOC's on that equity to fund flip purchases and rehabs. Is it better to pay the minimum mortgage amount to maximize cash flow and drag out the mortgage to take advantage of "free money"? Better to pay some extra principal only towards the highest interest rate mortgage of the rentals? Or only towards the mortgage of my primary residence since I gain nothing from that as far as cash flow (this is my lowest interest rate of them all). I grew up learning to be debt averse and it's been a struggle undoing that learning in favor of embracing good debt.

Also, I know I should be more business minded as far as my investments are concerned, but tough to disassociate myself sometimes since I've had some for so long and tenants are all good and set. Would it be wiser to sell everything off and buy something bigger and in one location that would bring more cash flow and greater return? I hesitate because why fix what's not broken? And who knows how long it will take me to find this larger multi unit with three right numbers. Also, a whole different animal than what I'm used to but know I have to live more out of my comfort zone. On the other side, it seems to make more sense to do that as far as present and future gains.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Hey @Robert Santar...I would still invest here on a limited basis. I wouldn't expect anything to happen as far as major gentrification in that area. Of course anything could happen, but I would not let that weigh on whether or not I decide to invest there as that's just speculation at this point. The way I looked at it was that the properties were cheap enough and the cash flow good enough that if I purchased a home, rehabbed it and rented it, I would be able to pay myself back in 4-6 years. Anything after that would be a bonus even if the property didn't appreciate well.

As far as renting, I was always able to get a decent tenant relatively quickly. Probably within a month. But of course you have your deadbeat tenants that somehow get in despite any efforts to avoid them with background/income checks. It's something you have to accept happening a small percentage of the time as a landlord.

Good luck to you! I hope that helped.

I've done some investing there. Some parts of Pottsville and Tamaqua and surrounding areas are better than others like anywhere else. But overall, you can cash flow there well there. It's not unheard of to buy a property for 20-25k, but 10k into it and rent for $800-900/month. Taxes are low there as well. I went into my investing in those areas with the mindset that appreciation will be low over the years (if at all). If I sell one of my properties down the road for the same amount I bought it for but it's paid off by the tenant and I made good cash flow every month during the time I owned it, I'm happy. If it gains value over the years, that's all gravy. This part is speculation, but with what is happening in the Lehigh Valley area with all the influx of investors and improvements happening in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton (where I mainly invest), many investors are unable to purchase -- might push them out to other areas like Schuylkill County. Could help with appreciation and increasing rents. I hope this helps -- good luck to all.

Hey everyone...have a question for anybody who's done this before. I flip and rent homes a lot and often come across items left behind I can't use but hate to throw away. In particular, vintage construction materials; doors, trim, light and plumbing fixtures.

Anybody know of any online sites to sell these materials, tailored specifically for this type of item? I know I can try and sell on eBay or Craigslist, but just wasn't sure if there was a better site to deal with niche buyers for these items.

 Thanks in advance for any tips.

Local, smaller banks are much easier to deal with. If you have good equity and are employed, you should be able to find a lender willing to help out. You might have to try a few times to find the right bank/lender though. Good luck!

If you buy a property out that way you should make more in cash flow. It's not unheard of to buy a property there for 15K, put 10 into it and then rent for $900 per month.