All Forum Posts by: David Butler

To me, the answer depends on both the property and what are your super powers--i.e. where do you have a competitive advantage? I don't feel there is one answer to this question as every property is different and what are your goals, how much time do you have to manage, what are your strengths when it comes to working the trades, people skills, etc as that will help drive towards your super power. A STR is probably going to take more day to day time to manage than LTR--do you have the bandwidth to handle more demands? What are your long term goals with real estate? Are you looking to quite your W2 job--STR might get a leg up because of the STR loophole in becoming a real estate professional? All of these things may well point to the best direction for you.

 I am a little unique in that most of my tenants are referrals either from folks I know or folks that my other tenants know.  If the applicant comes from the pool of people that I or my tenants know, I use real estate as a way to give back as many of my tenants will not qualify credit wise or may even have a criminal background or would struggle for another reason if I were to just stick to the "background/credit check" criteria.  That being said, there is a shortage of rentals in the area so a simple post to Facebook Marketplace or join the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/ElkhornandWalworthCountyOnli...  and you will have many many applicants assuming the quality of the rental and the rents requested.  

 Hi Karen;

The condition of houses vary greatly in Delavan.  If you have one of the older, turn of the century mid town houses, you are probably getting somewhere around 1600-2000 depending on the condition of the home, availability of a garage, etc.

 Hi Karen;

I am familiar with the Delavan market and can answer some questions.  Delavan has come a LONG way recently and prices are shooting though the roof both for rents and to purchase.  I live about 20-25 minutes away in Bloomfield Township (Lake Geneva mailing address) and have a rental in Delavan.  Happy to help.

@Jason Bohling  Everyone is entitled to their opinion so I appreciate yours even if I disagree. "Simply recalling the details" included statements about having the money to purchase 2 years later and never could have had that if she had to pay off debt.  That is recalling the details AND slightly callous in my opinion and if Diem was in the role of creditor, I doubt she would have been excited about how things played out.  Again, my post is less about the guest and much more about why BP would even get in the radius of this and open themselves up to criticism.  I can totally see how a rookie, in the name of the podcast, could hear this and determine that defaulting is clearing the slate, offering an opportunity to save and start over in 2 years.  I don't believe that is the message we should be sharing.

Hello Carlo. Not a dumb question at all IMO. To date, I have many rentals in my own name (with a liability umbrella policy) as many financial institutions are leery of lending to an LLC but now that I am doing more DSCR, I have created a couple of LLCs as the lender only wants to lend to an entity, not individual. My wife and I are the owners in the Articles of Incorporation and I am the registered agent. I have not set up a trust--mostly because it seems like a lot of extra work and expense but mostly, I don't know the benefit of the trust in ownership of an LLC.

Just listened to episode 449 of the Real Estate Rookie podcast with Diem Martin.  Her story of success is inspiring and she has certainly sacrificed in building her current portfolio.  I am bothered by the casual nature in which Diem speaks about her bankruptcy in that it seems to be one of convenience rather than necessity.  I have every empathy for folks who are hurting especially from instances that are from outside of their control, but filing bankruptcy to get out of debt that she chose to sign up for and promise to pay for the sole purpose of getting ahead faster (her story, not mine) seems less than ethical and Bigger Pockets promoting it is questionable.

Hello Angela. Congratulations on your first post and evaluating deals. In order to offer solid advice, I need more information. What are your plans for this house? Flip,LTR,STR? Zenda is a very small town so I question the demand for folks wanting to live there so that effects both flips and LTR and is a far enough distance from Geneva Lake that IDK the demand for STR so all of these things must be considered. Someone else has warned about out of state investing and I would be very careful as you are quite a distance away so there is increased danger due to distance. I am assuming you will need a downpayment and your scope of work is more than 30K so where does the money come from? I don't want to pour water on your interest, but I don't think this is the deal you are looking for because: 1. problems with all of the things you can do with the property 2. a general lack of reserves 3. long distance. I am a local real estate investor with experience and a contracting network and I wouldn't take this deal on unless there are details that you are not sharing that makes the deal better than it sounds by your post. I wish you all the best in your real estate journey!

I include language in my lease allowing me to change the furnace filters (with 24 hour notice) which allows me to enter each of my rentals once a quarter.  If the furnace is separate from the unit, I also have an inspection clause allowing me to inspect for necessary repairs (leaky faucets/toilets), etc, etc quarterly.  This has worked out well for me, but you do have to be close enough to stop by.