All Forum Posts by: Christian James Winey

I have a 4 bed 2.5 bath single family home near Camp Lejeune NC that I want someone to rent from me to run an STR or MTR out of. This can be a house hack as well with the operator living in the property and renting out the other rooms. Please message me if this sounds like something you would be interested in to discuss terms. The property would be available after the New Year. This is a great opportunity for someone stationed in the Camp Lejeune area.

Hey guys!! I have a scenario that my friend is currently going through that I need advice/ opinions on. This is a long one so I will attempt to break it into a flow that makes sense.

Scenario:

My friend is 26 years old with 3 children ages 8, 4, and 2. They have been renting a SFH in Michigan for about 3 years now. During the duration of their time there the landlord has been terrible in terms of communication, repairs, and general attitude. For an example a tree fell on their house during a storm and the landlord originally said that it was their responsibility to take care of it. Then after 2 months he finally removed the tree from the roof. They originally signed a lease when they started but that has now converted into month to month. My friend has always been on time with the rent over the past 3 years. Unfortunately my friend pays cash. So there is no paper trail. About 6 months ago they started receiving Foreclosure notices in the mail addressed to landlord at the property. When asked about it he stated that he was taking care of it. The notices have kept coming. And all this time they have continued to pay rent. This next information I'm unsure of how my friend became aware of; but this last week apparently there was a meeting at the bank or in court in regards to the foreclosure. My friend reached out to the landlord to figure out what's going on and has heard nothing. What should they do?

My take: I have been telling this friend for years now that they should find a new place. This landlord has a terrible track record for basic things and that he shouldn’t be trusted to do the right thing now. I’ve told them that they need to keep a record of payment and not pay cash. At the very least take it to Walmart and have a money order generated to have a receipt and paper trail. Also, month to month lease can be bad because the landlord can just choose to end the lease. All that said to me it looks like the house is in the foreclosure process and the landlord is taking rent and not paying the mortgage. They are wondering if there is anything to protect them from this? To my knowledge there isn’t. My friend just got their tax return and has some cash to play with, so my recommendation has been to find a new place to move into. Rentals are hard to come by in that area but not completely impossible. My suggestion is that it is better to move on your own terms than to be forced out when the bank comes knocking, especially since there is no paper trail of payments made to the landlord. Is there anything I am missing in regards to Michigan law? Does anyone have any knowledge about this process that could help? I appreciate your time reading this and any comments suggestions you may have!

I wish I was PCS'ing to San Diego now instead of January. I would totally rent the property and STR/MTR the bonus suite. I think you should try and find another military family that would live in the main house and STR the other side. Is the price you are looking for in rent below, at or above the E-5 /w dependents BAH rate? Would you send me the ad? I have some like minded people currently stationed in San Diego that may be interested/ know someone that may be interested in an opportunity like this. But i definitely agree with some others on this tread that right now you are eating the entire mortgage cost while it sits vacant. a couple hundred dollar loss a month is better than a couple thousand.

 This is awesome!! Thank you!!

Quote from @Chris Tarpey:

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $10,000
Cash invested: $10,000

This was an Airbnb arbitrage deal we worked with another investor on. Although we don't own these units, we signed 2-year leases on (3) studio apartment units and furnished them. These units were already freshly renovated. Being that these are close to base, we have had a lot of success with them on Airbnb, about $600/month cashflow per unit.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Wanting our business to get involved in Airbnb, we found a unique opportunity to have a low cost entry onto the platform by leasing units from another investor we know and furnishing them. This turned to be a win-win, because we were able to get 3 Airbnb's for the price of furnishing, and he was able to get the stable lease he needed to refinance.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We leased 3 units from this investor for $600/month each. Currently they each bring in $1300-$1600/month.

How did you finance this deal?

We used cash/credit card to furnish the units.

How did you add value to the deal?

These units were already renovated, we just furnished them, took professional photos and created listings for them on Airbnb.

What was the outcome?

We've maintained a 90% monthly booking rate...Being so close to Camp Lejeune has helped tremendously!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

When getting into Airbnb, it definitely is hands on until you build the systems. Although it was low cost the way we did this, we've spent considerable time building systems, adding team members and figuring out how to run this side of the business and get everything automated.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

For this deal, it was more so about networking and having a relationship with other investors. Opportunities like this come up if you have the right people in your circle.

 That is Awesome! Have you ever done Larger Arbitrages before? I would love to connect and talk more about your experience with this!

 I am looking to do this when I PCS from Camp Lejeune in JAN 24. I was thinking about nicheing down to focus on military families PCS'ing here. I know when we got here in 2020 that we had to wait about a month before we got on base housing. This was difficult with one child an I can imagine that it would be even more difficult with more children. We now own a 3/2 with a bonus room that I think would be a good fit for those that need 30-90 days to close or get on base housing. 

 I am also in the Camp Lejeune area and looking to do this when I PCS in JAN24. I would love to discuss ideas with you. I'm currently diving into numbers and looking for property managers to get an idea of potential costs.