All Forum Posts by: Cory Iannacone

Thanks @Alma Bagaoisan I purchased my counters locally.  It's called Troy Granite.  I have had great success getting great deals.  I buy both quartz and granite--all depends on where I can get the best price. 

@Darius Ogloza - The PITIs are pre - refi.  When I refi'd the PITIs increased approximately $150 - $175 per month. But the rent income was significantly higher and easily absorbed that increased cost (with better tenants too). 

HELOC is not on those numbers. I used that to finance my second property (first one referenced in this post) and simply considered it a capital contribution. I am paying off the HELOC next month to free back up that LOC.

@Heshel Mangel Thanks! To pull together funds in a week--I called everyone I knew who said they were interested in REI if I had a deal for them. I knew the private investor, and another investor passed my onto his HML. And no--the HML did not care about the private money, because he put a first mortgage on the property.

Thanks! @Glenda Ortiz @Jana Brownbear @Roger Mohnani @Brian Kehoe @Nimer Ihssan @Mike G. @Anthony O. Porter @Ola Dantis @Andrew McCarty

@Tony Lee - Re: Seller financing.  All I did was ask if she would finance the deal.  She owned the properties out right and did not need the cash up front.  I think it even helped her defer taxes.

@Paul Lee Thanks!  And yes--I definitely feel like the money was tight on these deals.  It was all part of the learning experience.  Here's how I made it work:

1. I was also saving my rental income from all my rentals. Any money I made from REI went right back into the properties. I have a full time job and lived off that income (not the income from REI).

2. At the time of the third deal, I knew I was going to need more cash.  I always get promos for interest free credit cards.  I used one which got me an additional $25K which I had 18 months to pay off.  I have about $2K left to pay off on it now.

3. I did no interest financing every where I could to keep cash free.  For example--all materials, including appliances, were financed through no interest credit cards at Home Depot and Lowes.  Also, my counter people also offered no interest financing.  So, I truly only needed to pay the labor expense up front.  All other expenses I deferred where I could. Even some of my contractors (who I have a good relationship with) let me defer payments.

4. I still had some cash available in my HELOC.

5. I opened up a business line of credit which got me an additional $25K.  My bank secured the loan with my first property.

6. Deal #5 - #7 included my parking lot. I purchased the parking lot for $25K (seller financing) and was able to cash out refi a month later after I got new leases signed with all lessees to sign new leases. The parking lot appraised for $60K and after paying off seller, I received $20K in additional funds back from the bank. (75% LTV)

7. Re: the parking lot.  When I purchased the parking lot and did all new leases for the lessees, I required the full year of rent up front.  With the parking lot, I didn't want to be collecting monthly rent and I didn't have to worry about an eviction.  So, in January 2019, I receive approximately $5,000 in rent checks from the parking lot. 

8. Also--keep in mind that all of these rehabs took place throughout 2019.  I just finished the last rehab the end of August.  During this time, I was still getting rental income and cashed out refi'd each property throughout the year to continually freeing up cash.

You will notice I really did not purchase anything in 2019 because I wanted to make sure I had the cash needed to rehab these purchases.  

@Victor S. @Noah P BondsSee above.

@Dean Arrigoni thanks!  I use granite and quartz.  I prefer quartz if I can get a good deal.  Quartz looks very clean and is way more durable.  But I'll go with granite if I can't get a good deal on quartz.  I have had good luck purchasing remnant pieces from a local company.  

@David Clemmer I made my own mailers.  I literally googled every house on the streets I was interested in to find out which ones showed up as having apartments in them.  then I inputted that info into an Excel spreadsheet.  then I went to the county website and did a property search for those properties and added the owner info into the excel spreadsheet.  I did a one page letter that was more personal saying that I have been local to the area for the past 15 - 20 years and I have been looking to invest in the community, and saying to contact me if you were interested in selling your property.  I did a mail merge and sent out the mailers.  I ended up purchasing 6 of the properties from the mailers (from 2 different owners).

@John Kim I was able to cash out 80% LTV on the multi families (2 - 4 units). My parking lot was cashed out at 75% LTV.

@Sarah Schneider Thanks! Yes--I use the exact same paint color in each rehab.  It keeps things simple.  I use Revere Pewter (HC-172) by Benjamin Moore, but my contractor uses Sherwin Williams paint and simply has them color match the color.  It's neutral (I call it a greige - gray with an undertone of beige).   

@Greg Gangle thanks!  I make any repairs necessary to prevent larger issues (structural, water issues, code issues, etc.). I only make the cosmetic repairs (upgrades to interior) if they result in enough of a higher rent and will also help with renting the apartment out more quickly to better tenants (and also reduces future vacancies).