All Forum Posts by: Dominic Lucarelli

I'm still looking for my very first property investment. I've found a potential property, but there are back taxes owed. In your experiences, have you been able to negotiate a reduction on the taxes owed? If so, what's a good reduction? 50 cents on the dollar? 30?

I used a 203k loan to buy my latest residence. We bought the house from FHA at $120k, with $30k add on for renovations. Lots of hoops to jump through, but it was worth it for us. Getting a good contractor who's familiar with these type loans will be critical.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me here on BP.

Welcome to BP! There are some great articles here to get you started. Look around and dig in!

If you plan on investing you money in someone else, there are a lot of costs and risks to analyze (risk vs reward):

1. Will this LOSE my money? Do the numbers add up? If you try to flip a $60k home into $120k in a $75k neighborhood, that home will sit empty for a very long time unless you drop your price.

2. Will this project be on budget? If you're house flipping, and the house is 50% complete you'll need to add more money just to finish, which will likely push you from a profit into a loss.

3. How much will I profit? If you aren't at least beating the stock market, the reward isn't worth the risk.

4. When can I expect to get my money back? If you invest and it takes you 2 years to get your money back out, what other deals have you missed? You'll find the "opportunity cost" doesn't pay out as much as you think. If you can make $20k in two years, how many $10k deals could you have passed up in that time span?

Just some food for thought...

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! I'll be needing a commercial loan for my first deal very soon, so I'll be in contact with you!

If you plan on living there first (house hacking), you'll have a great advantage getting started in the game. Run the numbers, check how much taxes are, and make sure you can get renters in there. Sounds fishy that a 4-unit is completely empty. Due Diligence is key in this deal, but this is going to be an ideal entry by the sounds.

You're going to greatly benefit from ValueAdd on this property, too. As each unit turns over, upgrading the kitchens and bathrooms will add more to each monthly rent. Even a modest upgrade can add $100 to each unit per month. Saving all your cashflow from Day 1 will pay for these future upgrades in time.

Good Luck and Best Wishes

I'm just starting out and would love to see what a professional work up would look like. If you have any completed, feel free to message me with them. I'd like to prepare my first property and every property in the most professional way possible.

A fellow PGH! Seems to be homes like this all over the place. Where is this property located at, if you don't mind me asking. I'm a mailman by day, budding REI by night, and I've delivered countless certified letters for unpaid taxes on properties up and down the old Steel Valley. Everyone seems to have that "filed for bankruptcy / it was my deceased mother's home / I don't want that headache no more" home around here.

Definitely do your Due Diligence, follow the breadcrumbs, and crunch the numbers hard. 

I've got a few homes vacant on my own mail route that couldn't make me a dime even if they gave them to me for free to flip. Sad to see them go though, but it's true

Thank you all for the feedback. I've decided to pass on this property in favor of another investment. This property has been For Sale for almost 4 years now so it's likely to still be around if I'm looking at it again in another year. At the right price, of course... 

I've been reading more and listening to podcast after podcast. I think I've come up with two creative options:

Option 1:

NNN Lease the property

Option 2:

Buy the building for $60k, and value the business at $40k and partner with the current business owner.

Thoughts? I haven't presented any info to him yet. Just testing out my theory here