All Forum Posts by: Dave Poeppelmeier

Keep It Simple Stupid, that's all

I agree with @Mel Adams, I think you're limiting yourself to a very small demographic with this strategy. Regarding student housing in general, every college is different: both metro and college towns. You need to find out what the housing culture at the college is, in that do students stay in houses over the summer? If they do, then use the KISS method and simply rent long term to students. If they don't, and 9 month leases are the norm, then yes you could go STR/MTR for those few months, but then you're furnishing, storing the furnishings during the other 9 months, etc. If you have multiple units and happen to have a vacancy (which rarely happens in student housing during the school year), then just eat the income loss and move on. Some students come back from internships and need a place in the spring, but not commonly. I don't feel it's worth the squeeze to try to MTR/STR something if your main strategy is LTR for student housing.

Not necessarily. If you're going to do electronic payments, have them start that way. Otherwise, yes, you can get a book of receipts on Amazon, Staples, etc. 

Here for all of your posts! Love the straight shooting advice. Carry on. 

@Karim Kane fantastic idea. On paper it's a no-brainer, but it's not a decision that should be taken lightly as it could turn South on you really quick. Like @Dave Skow said, you need to partner up/get a cosigner (would a parent or family member be willing to cosign on a loan for you?) or look at non-conventional financing. If you can get a cosigner on an FHA loan, and the house doesn't need tons of work, then that would be the easiest option. Otherwise, you can look at DSCR loans and treat it like an investment property, but I don't know if the house hacking idea would work. This would also require a much larger 20-25% down payment, which is also a bummer. Bottom line is talk to lenders and see what your options are. If you can get the lending figured out and have your roommates cover the cost of your mortgage, that's a great start. The other thing you have to consider is having money if the furnace goes out, there's a roof leak, etc. Again, if you have some kind of financial backstop with family that can help you out if something comes up that would be great, but if you don't, you need to plan for that. If you can get it all figured out, you are getting a HUGE jump start on your investment career. Good luck!

@Timothy Burns Some solid advice on here. One thing I would suggest is if this is going to be your long term plan, is set it up correctly from the start. 

1. Set up a business checking account for your daily funds and a business savings for your Security Deposits. Keep everything separate from your personal funds. 

2. Since you're house hacking, it would seem like a very blurry line on if you need an LLC or not. Just have a nice big Umbrella Insurance Policy in case someone falls down your steps and the hand rail was loose or something. Once you move on to your next house, put your current house in an LLC. Talk to an attorney for official legal advice.

3. Tenantbackgroundcheck.com worked for me initially, and if you use Zillow they have a pretty simple application/background check system that should work. 

4. Start getting used to a property management app and running your room rentals like a business. Lots of them do allow ACH transfers for rent, but if you're going to accept cash, make sure you give them a paper receipt (and keep a copy) or have them go directly to your bank and put the cash in there so you never touch it. 

Best of luck, you're doing great so far!

It depends on what the point of the mentorship is. Are they simply using you to bird-dog properties for them? Are they simply using you for a payday? Or are they actually teaching you something? Back in the day (2013) my wife and I wanted to learn about RE but had nobody in our families or friends circle that was involved. We spent $3-4k on Robert Kiyosaki's 6 month online program, and it was invaluable in teaching us the basics of Real Estate and is probably the best money we've ever spent. It was also before he went off the deep end of crypto/gold/etc and was still a RE Educator. 

 Now, a lot/most of this information is available free, BUT you have to know who to trust. Any yahoo can say they have X properties on YouTube and that they're an expert, but they're just in it for clicks and ad revenue. Bottom line, you need to know the basics: knowing how the numbers work, how to manage a property (or find a PM), getting your team set up of a Realtor/Tax Pro/Attorney/etc. After that, you just need to take the plunge and buy a property, make mistakes/learn along the way, wash/rinse/repeat. And yes, you can find all of this here on BP. Best of luck to you!

 It's easy, you save a keyword search for "Ohio"... 😄 In all seriousness, we see lots of investors coming to Ohio for the relatively low prices compared to the other areas of the country. Plus, Ohio does have everything: Columbus is a hot market and hot city with limitless expansion potential (literally it is surrounded by farmland), Cleveland and Cincinnati are both established major metro areas with high end areas and cash flow areas, and the tertiary markets of Toledo, Dayton, and Akron also have great cashflow returns.

I would simply have the conversation with your roommate that her GF is essentially another tenant, and that if GF is going to hang out when tenant isn't there all the time, she needs to be on the lease. In general, this is how it should go, but when the property owner doesn't live in a house/unit, they never know that the significant other is essentially behaving as a tenant. Having the GF on the lease also protects the tenant, in that if the GF goes crazy and damages stuff, it's GF responsibility, not the tenant's. 

I would talk to an attorney to clarify what tenant's rights specifically are in St Paul just to be sure, but this shouldn't be a huge issue. You're still on the right path letting roommates pay for your mortgage.

I would put the stackable washer/dryer in. Even though it's not in a high rent district, it's going to make your unit so much more attractive to renters, and you'll likely attract a better quality renter with a higher rent number. You can also mention to prospective tenants that they're probably saving money by renting a unit that has a w/d and not getting raked over the coals at a laundromat or apartment coin-op laundry. Nobody is going to buy their own stackable w/d, because the next place they move to it likely won't be appropriate for. Just my two cents, good luck!