All Forum Posts by: Charles Carillo

@Ayanna McClintic

Is there an area that you would like to end up in or that you have ties to like where you grew up or where your family is? I would focus on an area like this and then you can put together your team there. Hopefully the area is landlord friendly with a growing population and economy.

@Connie Chan

When I am financing or refinancing a property I will contact all of the local banks and credit unions in the area of the property. The loan terms and options that are offered by these institutions will sometimes vary greatly from one to the other.

@Rodrigo Barahona

I would highly suggest speaking to an attorney to draft the contract.

@Kenny M.

I own properties in CT and my property manager will send past tenants that owe money to collections. The chance of you receiving any money is very minimal. As you have found, most attorneys are aware of this low chance of collection and at this point it might be considered throwing good money after bad. Personally, I would tighten up your background checks, which will not solve all problems or find all problem tenants, but it will minimize the chances of this happening again.

@Grayson Gist

Try speaking to other local banks and credit unions. The lending practices, guidelines, terms, rates and options can differ greatly between institutions. You might find a lender with more competitive terms.

@Tatus D Britt

Here are some of my favorites:

Multifamily Millions by Dave Lindahl

The ABCs of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy

The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings by Steve Berges

Commercial Real Estate Investing by Dolf De Roos

Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received by Donald Trump

Tax Free Wealth by Tom Wheelwright

Commercial Real Estate 101: How Small Investors Can Get Started and Make It Big by David Lindahl

Raising Private Capital: Building Your Real Estate Empire Using Other People’s Money by Matt Faircloth

The Definitive Guide to Apartment Marketing by Josh Grillo

Investing in Apartment Building by Matthew Martinez

Crushing It in Apartments and Commercial Real Estate by Brian H Murray

The 7 Secrets to Successful Apartment Leasing by Eric Cumley

2 Years to a Million in Real Estate by Matthew Martinez

Burn Zones: Playing Life’s Bad Hands by Jorge Newbery

Commercial Mortgages 101: Everything You Need to Know to Create a Winning Loan Request by Michael Reinhard

It’s a Whole New Business!: The how-to book of syndicated investment real estate by Gene Trowbridge

@Tariq B.

It really depends on the contract your agent is using. Normally a 5 unit property will go under contract with a normal residential contract; even though it is commercial. I purchased a 5 unit mixed-use building 10 years ago and it was done on a residential contract. Traditionally, on commercial properties you will submit a letter of intent (LOI) with your terms spelt out and the seller with agree or come back with changes. You can find an LOI online but I would review it with an attorney before using it.

@Vanessa Carvajal

There are pros and cons to both mortgage types. First is the down payment that is required. You can get a FHA down payment at 3.5% with a credit score of 580+. Conventional mortgages without PMI normally require 20% down. You can get a conventional mortgage with less than 20% down but the credit score that is required is normally 660+. My first property was a 3 family with a FHA loan. Make sure with any purchase you have adequate cash reserves.

@Idan Narotzki

Since they already purchased a house I am not sure how the eviction will affect them. Normally, most tenants are not purchasing a house when they are being evicted. I imagine all states are a little different but usually the eviction stays on the renter's history for several years and can easily be checked during a normal renter background check. In my experience, sometime during an eviction process, tenants will make a "deal" with your attorney and agree to pay you back (and pay all fees) while staying in the apartment. This is actually just happened in one of my units. Other times the tenant will just wait out the time and then leave.

@Ryan Hudec

You can handle the lease renewal in a couple different ways from my experience. I would figure out what you would like to raise the rent to for the renewal (3%-5% normally). You can present this to the tenant by US mail with a simple letter stating that their lease is up on X and upon a 12 month lease renewal the new monthly rent will be Y. Once they contact you back, you can schedule a time to sign the new lease. If they do not want to sign a 12 month lease, you can write a shorter lease with normally a higher rent than the 12 month one or you can write a new lease for just month to month (higher rent than the 12 month lease) or do nothing and leave it as is with a month to month at the current rent. As you said, it is easier to rent this during the summer so take this into consideration when writing a new lease that is not 12 months long and explain to the tenant why it is this much higher. Also, offering free carpet cleaning or something similar is a great perk for tenants that renew for 12 months.