All Forum Posts by: David Hodge

Mark Wolffer I am driving for dollars and then checking on when they purchased their home. All the homes on my list are distressed looking and have plenty of equity, assuming they didn't pull any out. I also made sure they were homes I'd want to hold as rentals.

I'm sending out a few hundred yellow letters to multiple neighborhoods about 15 minutes from where I live.  This is our first direct mail campaign and we're hoping to get one rental out of it.  My question is, should I include my last name in the return address?  We have a P.O. box so my personal address won't be on it, but my fear is that someone could look up where I live if I include my last name.  Am I being overly cautious, or is this a legitimate concern?  What do most people include in their letters/envelopes?

The county tax assessor website usually gives the owners current address. If they don't have the online then I would think going into the office should work.

@Bill S. I believe she's expecting her cash on cash to be a minimum of 8%. She doesn't need this money now as she isn't retiring in the next few years, but she wants to start getting her money into assets that will cashflow for when she needs it. I know her COC will probably be better here in Denver in 10 years compared to the typical CF markets due to rents increasing here at a faster rate than the rust belt and midwest, but I also am aware that that isn't a guarantee so it's somewhat speculative.

Thank you @Brian Pleshek we have been considering that option as well... using her as our bank.  We have that near the top of the list for possible options.  Appreciate the input!

Thank you all for the responses!

@Ian Ippolito I really appreciate the detailed, unbiased response.  I'm going to check out AlphaFlow since it was mentioned multiple times. 

I am by no means experienced yet, but I have spent the last two years learning rental investing and I now own 2 rentals.  The problem is, I'm in Denver which is more of an appreciation market.  That's perfect for me because at this point, I'm looking to build my wealth, not retire off cashflow.  My in-laws are looking for cashflow which is harder to come by here.  If I lived in the Midwest, it would be a no brainer... I'd buy her some rentals and manage them for her.  Since I'm in a more expensive market, it's a little more complicated. 

One option I'm leaning towards is this.... Buy a rental here in Denver where we each put in 50%. I would then give her ALL the cashflow but take all the proceeds upon selling myself (except for the money she put into it). Does that sound reasonable? That will double her COC return (since she's only putting down 50%) and would double my return on appreciation (since I'm putting the other 50%). Opinions? Any pitfalls here? I know the obvious one would be investing with family can be complicated but I feel she really would be easy to work with.

I appreciate all the great feedback!  I might respond to some of you personally but rest assured, I won't be putting any of her money into anything I don't fully understand. 

Thank you all for the replies.

@Curt Davis I have a crazy day today but I'll try to give you a call either today or tomorrow!

@Leslie Pappas I'm not familiar with DSTs but I'll look into that!

@Micki M. Other than owning her own residence and a bad rental in California decades ago, she has no real estate investing experience.  I agree about the loaded shot gun.  I would rather her get less return but something that has a fairly low chance of her losing money.  She might be accredited.  She is married and I believe her and her husband combined make over $300K.  If I'm wrong, they still might meet the net worth requirement.  They sold their primary for over $1M so I'm pretty sure their net worth would be over that.  I would need to confirm to be sure. 

I don't think she's going to be happy with the CD idea.  She wants a better return than that.  Would you consider a good syndication in apartments to be safer than directly investing in single family homes?  I know the key here would be finding someone trustworthy.  Any recommendations?

My mother-in-law recently sold her primary residence and downsized since the kids are all moved out. She's looking for something that would provide her with good cash flow as she is very close to retiring. She doesn't care at all about appreciation. She was very interested in buying a property near where I live, Denver, until I showed her how much cash flow she could expect right off the bat. She then started asking me about purchasing in the Midwest, where you could get more CF, but I'm hesitant to recommend this due to the potential issues that are common with investing out of state. Since she doesn't have decades to recoup losses, I want her in something very safe. I'm thinking a REIT might be her best option instead of putting a bunch of money into 2 or 3 rentals. What does everyone think of this? Is there something else I should look into for her? She needs a, low risk, hands off investment that will provide cash flow right off the bad. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Thank you all! I'll be shopping around next week. Planning to use this for my first Denver area rental.

@Dan Mackin

Thank you both for the responses!

@Dan Mackin how are the terms on the 90% LTV? I'm assuming higher interest? Or were the terms all comparable to 80%? Also are you able to share the length of the loan? 5 years or 10 years?

@Ryan Balentine do you know if they're offering 90% LTV?