All Forum Posts by: David Abarca

Who is everyone’s favorite property manager in New Orleans?

I've used Stessa and I love it, but I still consider myself pretty new and not an authority on the subject.

I can't speak for the rates and closing costs (they seem a little high but don't quote me) as I don't have too much experience in that area, but are you sure the home will cash flow?  I plugged in the numbers on my personal residence and realized that it would not cash flow based on being in a flood zone and my interest rate is under 4%.  Good luck and let me know what you discover.

Long story short, I have a mixed use property with a good bit of equity in it.  I have been wanting to do something with that equity but I have a few problems.  I work a lot.  I spend about 70 hours a week running my restaurant (You can probably guess why I want more passive income from rental properties).  Therefore running around looking at properties is not much of an option for me.  I don't have very much cash on hand right now.  I would probably struggle to make monthly payments on a refi if I am not getting that monthly income returned.  I've seen that some syndicators pay out returns quarterly.  That doesn't seem to work for me as of right now.  Lastly I don't have much experience buying larger deals.  I have always invested in mobile homes until I purchased the mixed use building from my parents.  Not much due diligence was done as I was always on the property.  I would like to invest in trailer parks and multi family, but I have never done a deal in those arenas.  So what do you guys think?  Would you invest your money with another investor or syndicator under these circumstances?  And if you would, what are the details you would look for?  Thanks in advance for any advice.

Give a few local plumbers a call.  They should at least be able to give you a ballpark estimate with a few details.  Let me know how it goes.

Wow, that really sucks.  I'm sorry to hear about the issues you had with your tenant.  From what I've heard it is usually far more expensive to take someone to court due to court and attorney fees, than to just suck up the loss and learn from it.  It sounds like you lost control of the situation at the beginning with this tenant and property management company.  You really have to stay on top of both, especially in the beginning.  I had similar issues in the beginning, but through a combination of screening, learning the eviction process, and being firm but fair with tenants, I rarely have any issues anymore.  Hopefully you've been setting aside some of the income which when combined with the deposit, you should be able to get your property back in shape.  Good luck!

Hello Elvin, just wanted to welcome you. I’m not currently looking for any cash deals at the moment, but if you are looking to meet a few other wholesalers that could help you out in Baton Rouge you should check out the ring meeting that meets every month on the second Tuesday at the Hyatt on Bluebonnet. 

It is used up.  I'm just using the rented property to hold the fort while it sells.  I'm going to try to get some tenants to move a mobile home out there and rent the other 2 lots.  That way I get a little income while the property sells and hopefully it sweetens the pot for another investor if they are interested.

I am moving along with market research on storage units in my town.  My father and I have decided to invest in building storage units on some vacant land that he purchased many years ago.  In order for us to move forward we are looking into how to do the research on storage units in our area.  I already know some of the basics like traffic on the road the land is located on and people within a given radius.  Population and demographics are also readily available.  

Some of the things I am wondering are, how many units are in the area?  I would assume I can't just call and ask.  Would they really be that forthcoming with the information?  How many units should be built?  How many boats/ RV's in the area?  

What are some of the other questions I should find the answers to and how to find them?  Any help would be fantastic, thanks in advance.

You are absolutely right @John Teachout. The payment on the LOC is abouty $470 per month. Assume 50% expenses and it really isn't so bad, especially with 2 empty lots. The problem that I run into is that I am estimating about $20000 per trailer to purchase, move, and install. That will take me more time than I am willing to wait to save up. The thing that I am working on now is to just rent out the empty lots. Even then I still want to sell in order to recover my cash and purchase something that I can refinance.