All Forum Posts by: David Hall

Join us at 6pm at Henry's Place on May 24th to hear from Renaissance Property Management on best practices to manage a rental property.

@Kyle Fedewa.  I invest in the Lansing/Grand Ledge area as well.  I'd be happy to connect to talk more about your goals and plans for the year.  

We host a local meetup in Okemos at 6pm at Henry's Place.  We'd love to have you!

Experience.  Just pulling the trigger, diving in and failing (at first).  You don't really know what you don't know until you get into it.  For me that meant offering on homes and looking at what I thought were deals for a long time and finally buying something.  Each baby step eliminates fear and adds experience.

For sale are two SFH in Lansing, MI. Both are on Lyons Ave in Lansing Michigan. Both have new roofs in the last 2 years, one has new furnace, both have hardwood floors, both have vinyl windows. Both are licensed rentals with 2 years left before re-inspection. One is rented for $825, one for $800.

Hey Jon and welcome.  

I also am an investor in the Greater Lansing Area.  I have used several banks with good success.  Honestly since you have held the property for 6 months most smaller banks and credit unions will give you a cash out loan for 70%-80%.  I have only been using commercial financing lately which is 15-20 am with a 5-7 year balloon.  Rates I'm getting are around 5-6%.  

Commercial means cash flow is a little less, but equity builds much faster and less interest is paid overall.  I'm happy to help with any other questions as well.  Good luck!

I have rentals on the west side of Lansing and in Lansing.  It depends on a lot of factors obviously.  Location is everything, good locations are renting very quickly as there is high demand and low inventory.  The Waverly area (like any other) has good desirable areas and not so desirable locations.  The last property I rented I got over 30 potential tenants contact me, but only a few that qualified.  I had it rented in about 2 weeks.

The short answer I would say is less than a month either way.  Depends on location and how picky you are with tenants.  Feel free to PM me if you want anymore info, I've lived in Delta Township / Waverly my whole life.

Welcome Alex.  I am a local investor, property manager and real estate agent.  My answers to your questions are below.  Let me know if you are available to meet for coffee sometime in the next couple days,  I'd be happy to discuss your plans and next steps. 

1. I am a licensed realtor with Coldwell Banker.  I also am an active investors.  Most agents don't know a good deal when they see one and I would always recommend if you are looking to buy investment properties that you use an agent who has investment experience.

2. No abnormally high vacancies.  I would always steer towards 2 bedrooms as a minimum as 1 bedrooms are a bit harder to rent.  But again, all my 1 bedroom units are full with longer term tenants, the demand just isn't as high.

3. I would recommend the Lansing Real Estate Investors Group.  It's free and you can look them up on facebook or meetup.com

4. I've only met a handful of wholesalers. I haven't done any deals with any of them as often the deals they have to offer aren't too much better than deals you can find on a typical day on the MLS.

They're everywhere, on BP and locally.  Watch out for agents who are quick to offer advice that they themselves don't even follow.  This is coming from me, a licensed agent!

I don't know what strings could be attached to someone online, but there are tons of free resources that don't require anyone's time but your own.  Keep reading and studying, especially other peoples responses to questions similar to yours.

Lastly I would recommend not asking for advice too often.  There are far too many people who do a lot of asking but never take action.  And/Or people who ask advice and never take it.  If your intentions are good, I'm sure you'll run across people who eventually will be helpful, with the sole intention of being helpful.

Yes working full time and my wife worked part time. Flash forward a few years and I am doing real estate full time and she is a stay at home mom! REI can set you free!

I house hacked for a little while with children.  It is a sacrifice but worth it in the end.  Even if it's only 6 months to a year (check with your lender on the time frame they'll be happy with).  You can't beat 3-5% down on a cash flowing property.  Our moves set in place the foundation for the incredible traction we have now.

I would suggest either buying a multifamily and renting the other units AND/OR

Buying a home that needs work, remodeling it while you live there or before you move in (whether you do the work or someone else it does not matter) which will position you with equity to be used for future deals.

Good luck!