All Forum Posts by: Chris Merchant

It seems like 5-10% is the "norm" from what I have read and heard.

@Michael Behr Thank you for your service, and welcome to Bigger Pockets.  It seems you already have a house to live in, as long as you're happy with that arrangement than you could look for another property to buy as solely an investment property.  Or you could try and find a small multifamily home (2-4 units) and house hack it by you occupying 1 of the units while renting the others out to cover the monthly costs and hopefully cash flow something positive, that route allows you to (if your finances allow) possibly hold the house you currently have and also rent that out.  

If you like the home you currently have then finding another rental property is just that, finding the right one by deciding what your end goal is.  I personally like small multifamily because it cuts down on the effect vacancy has, a single family home that is vacant is 100% vacant, generating 0% income where as a multifamily home of say 2 units with 1 unit being vacant is still generating 50% income potential.  But that is just my personal opinion.

I guess you missed the part where I said, "IMO 6 of 1 half dozen of the other" and yes refi and HELOC's are forms of financing but the entire BRRRR strategy is based off of paying cash for a property rehabbing it, then refinancing it to pull the equity back out. It is a great book written by David Greene and published by Bigger Pockets, you should order a copy and read it, you can even finance it and put it on your credit card! Here is the link: https://store.biggerpockets.co...

I feel the only time an all cash purchase is beneficial is if you plan on pulling the equity out in the form of a refi or HELOC. Which some will say that by just purchasing the property with a loan is no different. The one upside if you have equity all pulled in the form of a HELOC or cash out refi and are responsible with that "cash" you've pulled out is you have quick buying in the future where you don't need to worry about the hassle of obtaining financing. Cash talks and many times from my experiences puts you in the driver's seat at the negotiating table, all cash quick close deals are easier to obtain. I've gotten several good deals based solely on the cash and quick close offer.

But to really answer the question it will all depend on the strategy you plan to use, IMO 6 of 1 half dozen of the other, however if you have NO desire to pull equity out "quickly" then leverage your money and use loans to get the properties and if you have 100k in cash instead of buying 1 100k home buy 4 100k homes.  It really is dependent on your end goal/exit strategy.

Welcome to the community

I would be interested on how many self storage non payment issues there are as compared to apartments.  It seems to me if someone can't pay bills and has to decide between storage unit or house, they will get the stuff out of the unit that is most valuable to them and move that somewhere and pay their rent instead of the storage unit.  

I realize the storage unit amount isn't as much as rent on their apartment too so please don't use that as to why they will pay for their storage unit over their rent.  It is IMO easier for them to disregard paying for something they don't see and "use" everyday.

You should aim to make it as much of a win win as possible. 

The buyers advantage is that he doesn't need to clear the red tape of the banking world to qualify for the loan and it gives him 5 years to secure conventional financing or another form of financing and also allows the property to appreciate more to make more likely for him to be able to do.

File for eviction and then when you get the order if they don't leave have the Sherriff/Constable remove them.

My rentals: Electric

My house: Gas!

This is the best landlording book I have seen: https://store.biggerpockets.co...

It covers everything you need to know and has all the forms available too

Managing Rental Properties by Brandon and Heather Turner