All Forum Posts by: Josh Dillingham

hey Gabriel, welcome to bigger pockets!  I am a new investor in Brattleboro and have used bigger pockets as a starting point for all that I know about real estate. I now have four units. A three unit in Brattleboro which I house hack. And a small single family in Hinsdale that I bought in December for 15k, fixed it up and am now renting for $850/mo. 

This community can point you in the direction of everything you would possibly need to know to be a successful long term investor.

In order to show a unit I require that a prospective tenant has a monthly income of 3x rent.  But that leaves more room for error for a single tenant than for a family of 4. would it be discrimination based on familial status if I required a monthly income of 3x rent + $200 per additional tenant?

also, for all of you that have a similar minimum monthly income requirement do you use net or gross income?

Thanks!

Josh

hey Michael,

Welcome to BP! I live in Brattleboro, VT. I bought my first two investment properties last year. A 3 unit in brattleboro which I live in and rent out two units. And I got a steal on a small single family house in Hinsdale, NH with a lot of deferred maintenance, which I just finish renovations on and am renting out now. I paid cash for it but am going to look into financing it and using the money for a multi. My goals are similar to you, I'm looking for multi-family buy and holds, but I would buy a single family if I got a screaming deal and could flip it.

We should keep in touch.

Josh

I'd say it all depends on your market. are there other units in your area with similar upgrades to yours renting for $1100 per month? if so then it could be justifiable. but if your upgrades are above what your area can support you might be pricing yourself out of your market. at some point you'll trigger the law of diminishing returns. only you can no where that line is based on research of your market. I just bought an 800 sqft single family home and put $5000 into it an raised the rent by $150 per month. I could have put nicer materials in it but I don't think it would be something my market would be willing to pay for.

I don't see any numbers when I click on the link.

In December I bought a single family home, all cash, which was in rough shape and had been vacant for over a year. I had the intent of fixing it up, renting it for a couple years then selling it. I have it advertised to rent now and I've got someone who is potentially interested in purchasing the house outright or doing a lease option. my questions are: 1.) if I sell it out right, only having owned it for 4 months will I get slammed with self employment tax and regular income tax and not be eligible for 1031 exchange. or could I still call it an investment property and be able to 1031 because my intent was to rent it? 2.) if I lease option it with a 2 year option will I be able to 1031, or not because my intent from the beginning of the lease option is to sell it? 3.) I don't currently have a mortgage on the house, if I set up a lease option would that stop me from taking out a mortgage so I can pull out my forced equity from all my improvements to the property so I can roll it over to a down payment for another investment? thanks! Josh Dillingham Brattleboro, vermont

Being from a small Vermont town myself, it's nice to have a resource like Bigger Pockets to go to for such great and vast expertise.

the lease says nothing about Lease termination, this is my first time doing more than a month to month.  I won't make that mistake twice!

I just had a tenant move in 8 days ago who signed a six month lease.  He texted me yesterday saying he wanted to break the lease because the apartment is too loud at night. (this is an owner occupied 3 unit, I leave right next door...it isn't loud.) My thought is that I'll allow him to break the lease as long as I find a suitable tenant to replace him with and there is no loss of income. apparently he has someone who might be interested in taking over the lease.  I told him I wouldn't meet with anyone until he gives me a firm move out date so I can market the apartment and choose from a pool of qualified tenants.

a couple questions:

1.) is it unreasonable for me to market the place just the same as I always would when renting it instead of first showing it to the person he knows that might want to take over the lease? (I would be willing to rent it to his person if they qualify and are the best candidate but I want to know everyone who is out there that might be qualified to rent it.)

2.) Would you keep any of his security deposit for the trouble of breaking the lease and placing a new tenant even if you had no loss of income?  could there be legal issues with this in your state?

Hey Wendy, I don't know anyone in your area but I can give you a basic time line of my short sale here in southern Vermont.  I made an offer in October, the seller counter and I accepted all within a couple days.  because it was a short sale it had to go to the sellers bank for approval (they had to approve it because they were taking a loss and the seller would no longer be financially responsible for that loss).  The seller has to submit a packet of information to the bank along with the buyers offer. it took about 45 days to here back from the sellers bank, who accepted the offer (everyone i've talked to about it seems to think this is pretty quick turnaround for the bank) once the bank agrees to the offer it becomes the same as any other property under contract.

Here is a link to a basic short sale timeline that I found helpful during the process.

http://homebuying.about.com/od/shortsale/f/What-Is-An-Average-Timeline-For-A-Short-Sale.htm