All Forum Posts by: Evan B.

I am interested in others reading routines. I have heard of a strategy from the military that goes as follows: have a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly periodical that you read. The reason behind this is because the authors have a different time horizon to publish their story and therefore synthesis and research differently. With that being said I believe books are a constant. 

Is this necessary?  

Does anyone read anything specific daily? If so what is it? ( local newspaper, WSJ, IBD, NYT, etc.)

What is your reading routine and how to you stay informed?

As always thanks for your time! 

Gentlemen, thanks for the feedback. I used Mark Spivey's buy and hold calculator. It is a GREAT tool I just may be using it wrong or underestimating the costs of maintenance.

I used a vacancy rate in his calculator of 5% (because of it being a military area, and when I looked at the vacancies on the street and how long they were there it was about a month). Then I used $1000 per side annually for maintenance. Since they are brick I ASSUMED they had less maintenance than something with vinyl siding. When I look at the cost inside the house as far as carpet cleaning, holes in wall, regular cleaning, etc. Once again I did not "think" that I would spend more than that a year per side nor would I have someone moving out every year because again the military PCS's every 2-3 years.

Therefore if these numbers are wrong, which I respect your thoughts and read through the beginners guide, what numbers should I have plugged into the excel worksheet because I still think it is a great tool? Or is the 50% rule better than using an excel document? I thought it was just to get a snapshot of the property? Thanks much, this is great learning.

Good Evening to most of you, I am looking at picking up a pair of duplexes each for $144,800 and was hoping that the community could give me some feedback on the purchase. I am in the military so I am looking at this from a buy and hold perspective.

Purchase Price: $148,800
Down Payment: $28,960 (20%)
Gross Mortgage: $118,00
Interest %: 4.7%
Loan Term: 30 Years
Monthly Mortgage (Principal & Interest): $600.79
Rent: Monthly: $1250 Annually: $15,000
Taxes: Annually: $650 Monthly: $54.17
Insurance: Monthly: $72.92 Annually: $875
Property Management: Monthly: $125 Annually: $1500

1st Year
Cash on cash return $2951 (10.1%)
Equity $2529
Reduction in Taxes $2668
Total Return $8148 (28.1%)
Cap Rate 7.0%

All the units are currently rented out for $625 (this is how I based the numbers above. Although I believe looking at comparisons in the neighborhood get $700 a side). The properties are backed up against the woods on a culdesac. They are all brick units. 2 bedroom 1 bath. dishwashers, fridges, and microwaves. They have washer and dryer hook ups but not the actual appliances. Brand new roof. These properties are within 5 miles of a military base. The rent plus utilities fit within the BAH as well.

I am not sure if there is anything that I am forgetting but if there is please let me know. Thank You and please let me know what you think.

I can't say that I am a "seasoned" investor but neither do I think that only a seasoned investor can answer this question. Communication depends on the people you are interacting with and what their interests are. There is no "right" way for a conversation to go. The best thing to do is to go and listen. Introduce yourself to people whom seem interesting and try and find common ground. From there ask questions. I have always been told that it is more about asking the right questions than anything else.

For the future if you have these kinds of questions I would read Keith Ferrazzi Never Eat Alone. Very good book along with Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson.

Hope this helps. Have a good one!

From one new guy to the site to another, Welcome!

Have Fun!

I would absolutely be interested on book recommendations. Thank you.

Welcome Becky! I am new to this community as well, anyways one thing that had not been mentioned yet was the type of financing that you and your husband will want to use. Multi-unit properties are a GREAT way to produce income especially because if you find the right deal you can have one side pay for the unit while another is paying you. With that being said I just confirmed through this community yesterday that is you want to purchase a unit that has more than four units you will need to apply for commercial money. If your unit has four units or less you can use conventional money.

Hopefully this is something different for you to think about. Also I do not know if you subscribe to Money magazine but in the Jan/Feb edition there is a formula for calculating cash flow, net income, return on investment, and a few other formulas. It is in the real estate section and you can easily go and pick up that magazine or search the internet for the same thing.

Have Fun!!

My name is Evan. I am very interested in learning from the post that are already on this site as well as responding and posting in the future. I currently own 6 properties and I am looking to purchase more. Which leads me to my question, when does a property become commercial? I believe it is when the property has more then four units. I am trying to understand more about lending and therefore I believe that if a unit is commercial then you can't receive a conventional loan from the bank.

Thanks in advance for your help and I look forward to learning as well as sharing the lessons I have learned.

Congratulations!!! I agree with what has already been said. All of my properties are in my name with the electric company and then when I get a new renter it converts from my name to theirs. Once they leave it goes back into my name.

This is appropriate mainly because when the rental is being showed you will have power to see but also to demonstrate that everything works. Due to the fact that I have rentals on the east coast, I need to also consider pipes freezing in the winter.

Good luck!!!