All Forum Posts by: Scott Dixon

Hey Hank,

Are you still looking for a property to rehab or you already have one under contract and now are looking for money to help with the rehab?  Assuming this is a student rental?  Any additional details would help.

Thanks,

Scott

Hey @Scott Anderson

Looking at your responses I would stay the course in the market where you have your first 2 properties.  Getting up to 5-10 units in the same area will help you keep an engaged team of professionals and also a little more scale.  I would continue to look at markets like Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Chicago Suburbs, Bloomington(IL), and possibly Peoria.  Who knows when the next market correction will be but that might be a good time for you to venture out to your second market like Indianapolis to hold part of your portfolio in a lower property tax market.

Yes both myself and @Nick Gaines are in the Champaign area and I have a few properties which are traditional college rentals.  I can only speak for Champaign / Urbana by my take is we are starting to get in dangerous territories of being significantly overbuilt at UIUC.  A lot of money has been chasing "safe" returns over the past 7-10 years and large real estate syndicators have sold the promise of college rentals effectively to pool significant amount of capital.   If you are looking at a Community College market contact the school and try to understand housing options for students and what percent of the student population moves to the area and rents opposed to just locals taking classes or starting their college career.  

Best of Luck,

Scott 

Hey @Scott Anderson

Good work on taking action and getting the first 2 rentals under your belt.  I feel your pain and often think through a similar scenario of continuing to invest in Illinois or focusing on areas outside of Illinois with net population growth, lower property taxes, and possibly a little less of a winter.  I personally value investing in properties close to where I live.  This is primarily because I still do the property management and about 50% of the maintenance.  

Couple question to get a little more information on your situation:

1)  Do you still live in your hometown or at least close?  

2)  Are you managing these properties yourself?  

3)  Do you already have a network of professionals in the area (Plumber, Electrician, Carpenter, Roofer, etc.)?

4) Is the MLS the only source of your hometown deals?

Let me know the answers to the questions above and I will give my 2 cents on next steps.

All the best,

Scott

@Andrea Snyder

I don't think it would be hard to increase your monthly income in most markets switching a LTR to a STR. If you plan on managing this property yourself it is good to understand a STR will have more commonalities to the hospitality industry than rental industry. If you have the time, personality, and desire I say go for it.
  

@Charles Cooper Champaign is a solid market and has a wide range of property types and price points.  The University (U of I) is by far the economic engine in the area but that doesn't mean that college rentals are the only properties worth pursuing.  Let me know if you have any questions.  

@Shane Gaboury

Just my personal opinion but when you can secure a 30-year fixed loan against a quality property under 4% I view that as an asset not a liability.  My own personal investing philosophy is to keep those loans in place as long as possible and deploy the additional cashflow into more rentals or other investments which would return much more than the 4%.  Either way good work and keep cranking!
 

@Sean DeRue

Do it!  Just like anything you need to ensure you have measurable goals surrounding your vlog/channel.  It is highly unlikely to make traction with your first 10 videos but this is where most people start letting off the throttle.  Like @Alexander Felice said there is some serious compounding of your reach, subs, and views so you need to stay the course and keep producing content.  

I would do a mix of traditional vlog style videos for the majority of your content which show your progress with some focused self-contained videos mixed in to help with discovery. Example of a self-contained video would be "How to Tenant/Kid Proof Your Bathroom Hardware" as this would have a much larger audience with both REI and also DIY niches.

Best of Luck,

Scott

@Landon Thompson

I would vote going the route of house hacking for the first investment and here is why:

1)  Helps you to mature as a manager of your property and business while keeping a close eye on things

2) FHA 3.5% down payment, fixed interest loans available on 2-4 units if 1 unit is your primary residence

3)  Allows you to put in a little extra work (repairs, mowing, cleaning, etc.) to increase your cashflow

This is the exact path I took 10 years ago and although I would not buy the same property today (paid too much, nicest place in the neighborhood, super high property taxes, etc.) this was my launch pad into REI and a great way to get started.

Best of Luck,

Scott

@Kristi Kandel

Good Stuff Kristi and way to roll up the sleeves and force some equity doing a live-in flip. Are you planning on move out and rent this one out after doing a cashout refi? If so, how are rents for that type of property in your area? I have a similar decision point to make with my primary residence in the coming months where I will either sell and pull out the equity or rent and keep the property in our small portfolio. My issue is I don't love the buffer between my PITI and the market value for rents. Looks like I would only have $500 per month which would need to cover vacancy, repairs, Capex, and management. Interested to see your plans and what kind of buffer you would be working with between rent and PITI.

Best of luck,

Scott 

@Leah Dunnells

This is my system for keeping track of expenses and making tax time less of a pain.

1)  I keep a "Temporary" folder where I put receipts for supplies, repairs, and maintenance which I have already paid but still need to document for taxes

2)  Along with the temporary folder I collect any bills coming in from the utility companies

3)  Every 2 weeks sit down and pay utility bills through Chase Bill Pay

4)  Once bills are paid I will document both the receipts in the temporary folder (step 1) and the bills I just paid (step 3) in my spreadsheet

5)  Spreadsheet is in the form of a Schedule E with all the same sections to make taxes easy at the end of the year.  Each section is expandable 

6)  Additionally on this spreadsheet I document rent collected, capital expenses, and capital improvements

7)  End of the year send it all to @Steven Hamilton II 

Obviously there are many awesome tools/accounting software out there which make tracking expenses on the go much easier but if you only have 1 or 2 properties this is probably a good place to start.  If you want a copy of the below screenshot just send me a DM and I will send it over.  

Example of My Expense Tracking Spreadsheet

Best of Luck,

Scott Dixon