All Forum Posts by: Christian Pichardo

Quote from @Jay Hurst:

Quote from @Christian Pichardo:

Hey all, I am new to long-distance real estate investing and probably did everything wrong on my first investment property. 

I bought a 3 Bedroom SFH in Cahokia Heights, IL on April 2024 and it is STILL NOT RENTED TODAY.

I bought for $79k convinced by the Section 8 mentor Tom Cruz to buy from his team and to focus on cashflow vs. appreciation

I went through 3 contractors that all did a subpar job and just barely got it all together

I haven't been able to find an appropriate Property Management team to help on this side of IL

I have it listed for rent (Zillow, Turbotenant, Fb, Craigslist) for about 3-4 weeks now since repairs were done.

If anyone has any suggestions to get this rented ASAP I would greatly appreciate it and any Property Management connections that can help would be amazing as well.

Thank you all for your time and Happy Holidays & Happy New Year

 I know you have owned it since April, but you just put it on the market for rent 3-4 weeks ago which is the worst time of the year to rent a property. Who wants to move during the holiday season?  So, before you panic give it more time into the new year. But, more importantly for future investing (and sanity) stay away from "guru's" and self proclaimed mentor's who have something to sell you. Section 8 "mentor's" are maybe the worst! So many half truths from those I have seen.  

 Hey Jay! Thanks for the insight seems everyone says to wait even up to February. That does help my sanity a bit haha and more research will be done on the next one.

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Christian Pichardo:

Quote from @Caleb Brown:

Quote from @Christian Pichardo:

Quote from @Caleb Brown:

Should you cut your losses and move on? Seems like it's in a lower end area so if it is filled you will have tenant issues and turnover cost. Why did you invest there? What drew you to it? Winter time is rough for renting especially in states like IL with rougher winters. 

I have actually been thinkin about cutting losses honestly, I am not sure this is the best investment I could have made as my first but worried about how much of a loss I would have to take.

It is meant for S8 for sure, I would have a stringent application process, and give the neighborhood a C from my research.

I invested there because it was the first deal that basically fell on my lap where the mentor works with agents that Seller Finance deals, it was only $3k down and had thought the proximity to St.Louis would be attractive to tenants also.

I effed up on waiting to post for rent until after all repairs and the COO for sure.

I would sell. You made another post about you mentioning you do well with STR in NJ. Why don't you further dive into that? Stick with what works for you

What would you say is fair? I thought of selling back to the seller at the same price, and take the 12kish loss on repairs

I doubt they will take it back.. check your note to make sure you dont have personal gurantees

Noted, thanks Jay! I will double check that . Appreciate all the insight.

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Christian Pichardo:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

taking guru advice not withstanding. keep in mind Dec is the worse month to rent a place.

things get better as you move into Jan feb.

U will need a section 8 inspection so hopefully the house will pass that.

Out of curiosity what was the draw to do a section 8 house as opposed to market rents??

Really appreciate your reply Jay!

That's right! and it definitely has felt that way haha, I've been posting it EVERYWHERE.

I was drawn to S8 for the slightly above/guaranteed rents and the very long term tenancy. I know I'll have to do major screening but seems to be very successful/passive

as someone who at one time had 200 section 8 SFR rentals.. there is a lot of miss information about the program.. ONe its not guaranteed your renters can and do get kicked off the system for violating the policies. And my experience was 18 months at best for term .. some went longer of course but many just went the first 12 months then moved and left a semi trashed house. But I understand the pitch and the appeal to those without any real experience of being a section 8 landlord. The happiest day of my investing career was when I transferred ownership to all those houses in one transaction and to never ever go there again with that asset class.
But thats me.. section 8 can work but its not as passive as folks claim. The tenant base is generally 95% single women with 2 to 5 kids and they flat destroy houses, Not on purpose  most of the time but if you have children all below 10 years old they are just brutual on houses even in the best of situations of which single parent with multiple baby daddys is not the best of circumstances.. full stop.

I was thinking since I only have about $80k to invest it was the best bang for my buck, now that you say that it sounds like I'd maybe have to bite the bullet but really not sure how I can still get the same or better cashflow for the cash I have available.

Also curious on your opinion of using Home Warranties, PM, Home Insurance, and Requiring Rental Insurance to mitigate some of those future issues

Quote from @Caleb Brown:

Quote from @Christian Pichardo:

Quote from @Caleb Brown:

Should you cut your losses and move on? Seems like it's in a lower end area so if it is filled you will have tenant issues and turnover cost. Why did you invest there? What drew you to it? Winter time is rough for renting especially in states like IL with rougher winters. 

I have actually been thinkin about cutting losses honestly, I am not sure this is the best investment I could have made as my first but worried about how much of a loss I would have to take.

It is meant for S8 for sure, I would have a stringent application process, and give the neighborhood a C from my research.

I invested there because it was the first deal that basically fell on my lap where the mentor works with agents that Seller Finance deals, it was only $3k down and had thought the proximity to St.Louis would be attractive to tenants also.

I effed up on waiting to post for rent until after all repairs and the COO for sure.

I would sell. You made another post about you mentioning you do well with STR in NJ. Why don't you further dive into that? Stick with what works for you

What would you say is fair? I thought of selling back to the seller at the same price, and take the 12kish loss on repairs

That's exactly the strat for now, some more Airbnb's and a House Hack for the first half of the year but a House Hack DP in NJ is still 5x more than a DP on a SFH out of state in some markets. I'm struggling a bit on that comparing the passivity, appreciation, etc

Quote from @Caleb Brown:

Should you cut your losses and move on? Seems like it's in a lower end area so if it is filled you will have tenant issues and turnover cost. Why did you invest there? What drew you to it? Winter time is rough for renting especially in states like IL with rougher winters. 

I have actually been thinkin about cutting losses honestly, I am not sure this is the best investment I could have made as my first but worried about how much of a loss I would have to take.

It is meant for S8 for sure, I would have a stringent application process, and give the neighborhood a C from my research.

I invested there because it was the first deal that basically fell on my lap where the mentor works with agents that Seller Finance deals, it was only $3k down and had thought the proximity to St.Louis would be attractive to tenants also.

I effed up on waiting to post for rent until after all repairs and the COO for sure.

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

taking guru advice not withstanding. keep in mind Dec is the worse month to rent a place.

things get better as you move into Jan feb.

U will need a section 8 inspection so hopefully the house will pass that.

Out of curiosity what was the draw to do a section 8 house as opposed to market rents??

Really appreciate your reply Jay!

That's right! and it definitely has felt that way haha, I've been posting it EVERYWHERE.

I was drawn to S8 for the slightly above/guaranteed rents and the very long term tenancy. I know I'll have to do major screening but seems to be very successful/passive

• Hey all,
• I have been listening to Bigger Pockets content for maybe 4 years and finally have removed myself from some side hustles, have the capital, and grew the...brains to start real estate investing.
  
  QUICK BIO:
  I am based in New Jersey, I work as a marketing/efficiency consultant, and have 2 avenues of real estate investing:
  
  Short-Term Rentals: I have 3 short-term rentals using my parents apts in NJ ( 1 of them just launched in Nov) for the past 2yrs near NYC (1 of them just launched in mid-Nov). We consistently produce over $70k in net income and I distribute this to support my family.
  
  Long-Distance REI: I am looking to invest in long-distance cash-flowing SFH in growing C-Class neighborhoods. I blindly invested in an overpriced 3BD SFH in Cahokia Heights, IL April 2024 and have been carrying costs since then! Learned all the lessons needed on this one for sure.
  
  I am now feeling the positive pressure from the huge mistake and looking to leverage all the resources I can to make sure I do long-distance real estate investing the right way from here on out.
  
  GOAL: 
  I plan to purchase 3-5 SFH to hopefully cashflow $2,500+ in the next 2-3 months. Hopefully grow that to $10k/m in 2025, then JV on deals with my family while traveling. Come back to 3-4x that within 5 years. Have a baby, and gallop into the sunset (while still making calls to PM's)
  
  INTEREST:
  I first got interested in Real Estate Investing because of the potential financial freedom it can provide to me and my family.

Hey all, I am new to long-distance real estate investing and probably did everything wrong on my first investment property. 

I bought a 3 Bedroom SFH in Cahokia Heights, IL on April 2024 and it is STILL NOT RENTED TODAY.

I bought for $79k convinced by the Section 8 mentor Tom Cruz to buy from his team and to focus on cashflow vs. appreciation

I went through 3 contractors that all did a subpar job and just barely got it all together

I haven't been able to find an appropriate Property Management team to help on this side of IL

I have it listed for rent (Zillow, Turbotenant, Fb, Craigslist) for about 3-4 weeks now since repairs were done.

If anyone has any suggestions to get this rented ASAP I would greatly appreciate it and any Property Management connections that can help would be amazing as well.

Thank you all for your time and Happy Holidays & Happy New Year