All Forum Posts by: Chris Lane

Quote from @Luka Milicevic:

@Chris Lane

Tax: Clint Hauser - Hauser CPA

Insurance: Look up Mike Batez. State farm agent. I work with Kendall out of his office. Love her - she is awesome and they have excellent rates. 

Hi Luka, someone else recommended Clint Hauser to me and he was my first contact. Not taking new clients.

Hi All,

I've recently started my journey, and I'm building out my team, started analyzing deals to see what might work for me, but I'm still in need of a couple of missing pieces. I'd like to find an accountant to help me mostly with the tax side of things as I get set up, and ultimately, I'd like to grow that relationship as I add more properties to my portfolio. So, I guess I'm looking for someone that's willing to work with me while I'm a small fish, with the anticipation that I'll be a bigger fish with more accounting/tax needs in the future.

I've been through the BP "find your tax pro" section, and I've got to say that none of the options work for me. Some seem to expect you to come with a sizeable portfolio to start, and have hefty retainers to reflect that. I'm looking for someone that's going to work with the little guy until they have that sizeable portfolio.

Same/similar need for insurance. Looking for a couple more insurance broker options. I've talked to one, left a VM for a second, but looking for a reputable 3rd or 4th to compare.

I'm based in Nashville, so I'm asking here, but I'm looking at investing primarily in Tennessee, and but also possibly down into Alabama.

Any recommendations?

Thanks, y'all.

Yeah - if you think about it, the cost of replacement is the cost of replacement, regardless. You can have two properties with similarly sized roofs in two completely different neighborhoods at different cost points. 10% "might" be a starting point, but it depends on a lot. But, my point here was that part of the reason I'm noticing deals don't cash flow is because of the amount of capital I'm allocating to expenses and maintenance as a new investor. I haven't built my war chest of funds yet to keep in reserve, so those first properties probably aren't going to cash flow heavily (especially since everything is more expensive with the last year or two of inflation).

Someone more experienced may chime in, but my impression is that at a certain point, you're putting less in reserve for expenses/maintenance because you've already got a chunk of cash stuffed away, and the likelihood of "all" or even a high percentage of properties having major repairs all at the same time is much lower than one or two lower end properties while we're starting out. Hopefully that makes sense. I'm starting to worry less about initial cash flow (I mean, I don't want it to be hundreds upside down each month), and more about does it break even or get really close? If so, there's a good chance I'm a year or two away from that property cash flowing, between savings and increasing rents.

Quote from @Felicia West:

Thank you, Mike!!! One day, I would love to be able to get properties at 75% of market value, but I figure I’ll work my way up to that.

Your explanation of the numbers was so amazing!  You have such a thorough grasp of that.  It makes total sense and I will give it a try.  Thanks again!

I'm going through some of the early stages of deal analysis, and listening to some of the books from the library here. One thing I didn't mention earlier, but came up again is the impact of CapEx savings. For those of us starting out, and looking at lower end real estate, saving for expenses will eat up a good portion of that monthly cash flow until we get a nest egg to hold, or until you (I'm in the same boat) get into more expensive/valuable properties. As Brandon Turner put it - $200 CapEx/month on a $2000/month property is 10%, but $200/month on a $600/month rental property is over 30%. The things that need to be updated in a property don't scale as fast as the property itself. In other words - a water heater or a dishwasher for the two properties won't vary nearly as much in cost. I'm betting your numbers look like mine, and CapEx saving is eating up a lot of it.

Quote from @Alan Asriants:

Quote from @Chris Lane:

I work in the tech industry, and there's a big push for people to return to office. Some industries and companies have not adopted it yet, but some big names on Wall St. have, and I think more are coming. Amazon just recently announced they're going back go 5 days in the office work weeks. Other tech giants have already announced similar, or hybrid 3-day work weeks. For places with company presence like this (Seattle, for one), people will either have to move back, or it will create opportunity for people to move into those cities to work for those companies. I won't comment on the actual return to office part itself, as I have strong feelings, but that is what it happening.

Thank you for that insight. If this is true, we can see more businesses returning to cities, more attractions and night life for those living and working there. So in theory they can bounce back if all the dominos fall in the row. 

If you want to go down a deep dark rabbit hole, and I don't want to get outside the scope of BiggerPockets, but look into "15 minute cities". I think that's the concept you're asking about.

I work in the tech industry, and there's a big push for people to return to office. Some industries and companies have not adopted it yet, but some big names on Wall St. have, and I think more are coming. Amazon just recently announced they're going back go 5 days in the office work weeks. Other tech giants have already announced similar, or hybrid 3-day work weeks. For places with company presence like this (Seattle, for one), people will either have to move back, or it will create opportunity for people to move into those cities to work for those companies. I won't comment on the actual return to office part itself, as I have strong feelings, but that is what it happening.

I have the spreadsheet. I think I got it from a link during the webinar, but I can't find the link now. Shoot me a good email address and I'll send it to you.

Some of it may be the market you're looking at. My local market is insanely high and so I'm looking outside my local area. I'm doing a little higher for repairs (8%), and about the same as you for others. I'm finding properties that are right at the edge, which gives me hope, but like you, I'm a new investor as well.

I don't know if you're on Facebook, but there are some off market real estate groups for various towns/cities. It might be work just looking for deal analysis practice to see if you get closer to a number that works.

I've been lurking a bit and messaged a few people, but I figured it is time to make a post.

I'm a new member, looking to start my REI journey. Getting started a little later in life than some, but that's ok. I have an IT career, but like some others, I'm looking at economics these days and realizing that I need to make a change to get to where I want to be. 

A couple of months ago, I ran across one of Dave Meyer's videos, and that led me to the podcast, and that led me to the Real Estate Rookies podcast, and a host of others who I won't mention, but were nevertheless valuable. I realized that I have more to work with than I thought (both financially, and just "knowledge"). So, now I'm reading and listening to books, gathering my thoughts, and getting ready to start the climb.

I want to build the right way, so I'm still reading, still learning, and getting my feet under me. That said, I'm eager to get started. I'm already looking at listings and doing deal analysis (or at least practicing at it).

From an economics standpoint, I'm going against the grain and starting outside Nashville. Even though I know more about this town than just about any other, the numbers don't meet up for me right now. So, I'm looking to start out of state - looking in Birmingham and Montgomery, AL, primarily. Ultimately, I'd like to go into MFR, LTR, but I think maybe I should walk before I run, so I'm evaluating the markets for both MF and SF properties. BRRRR is going to be a strategy, but to do that, I need to get to know some people, get a better idea of costs, and build my team accordingly.

Here is one question though - there's a pretty strong real estate community in Nashville already. Is there value in networking here, knowing that I'm really looking out of state at the moment? Obviously, I need to network "there", but in the meantime. I don't know how others who invest remotely have built their contacts and knowledge.