All Forum Posts by: Donald Brinkley

I settle on my second property next week and have decided to make a real go at REI (meaning I will be buying additional properties shortly). For the past couple years there has only been 1 property so the business folder and the property were always the same thing. Now that I'm about to add a second I can tell things are WAY messier than they should be. So I want to fix this now, instead of doing it after things start getting mixed up and it's a real mess.

I use Google Drive to store all documents about the business and know that I should have a folder for each property.  But my hang up is how to organize things form that point forward (I can see so many ways to do it, that I can't pick one).  I'd love to know how seasoned investors organize their file structure.  What is your standard folder structure for each property?  What things do you keep at the "business level" vs the "property level?"  Any other best practices I should look to follow from the start?

Thanks!

I settle on my first HUD foreclosure next Thursday which, other than 2-week settlement delay, has gone pretty smoothly I think. That is until I learned today that HUD isn't giving me the keys for the property at closing. They are sighting liability concerns and essentially by not giving me the keys forcing me to rekey or change the locks on the property thereby ensuring some contractor who made a copy can't break in after closing. It seems that this is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but I get the concept they are going for at least.

However, this makes me scratch my head. Is this a normal HUD policy or just this specific listing agent being strange? If it's normal, how do you more seasoned investors handle this? Is a locksmith charge just a normal charge for every HUD property? Or is this just an agent being strange and not something I should worry about coming up with a process for handling as I won't see it often?

My agency doing the final walk through said I can "carry the key with me" to closing and if I happen to make a stop at a local hardware store who's to know.  Or she said we can just leave the door unlocked for the few hours we are gone.  So hopefully one of them work out.  But other than that, how would you handle the situation?  Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Following.

Hi Kristen, I’ll be closing on my second rental in January. I’m still relatively new myself, but welcome. I’m in EC as well so if you want to connect at some point and share info, let me know.

Looking for insurance brokers in the Baltimore/Washington area.  About to close on my first property next month and while I have no terrible dislike for my current broker I also don't have a relationship to the level that I'd like to.  This won't be my last property so I want to use the new policy as an opportunity to look for a new broker.  Currently, I carry auto, home, and umbrella insurance through the broker and will want to still have a 1 stop shop.  If anyone has any recommendations for a great broker I'd love an introduction.

I converted my previous primary residence into a rental when I moved in 2015 and it worked out great. Now I’m looking for my first property to be a rental from the get go. Hoping I can get a double check on my analysis. I’ve found a condo on the HUD listing that needs some work (which I can do, and enjoy doing, myself) that I think I can get for 122k. Based on comps I expect an ARV of 170k and rehab costs are estimated at 15k. I plan to rent it for 1500 per month. For financing, I’m going to put 25% down on a conventional loan at 4.5% with the plan of holding the property for a while. I’ve also thought about maybe a HML for the purchase and then doing a redo, but to be honest my ignorance of that process makes me a little leery to do that. All said and done I’m looking at cash flow of $290 per month after factoring the loan, HOA, taxes, property insurance, and vacancy. I know this breaks the 70% rule (coming in at 80%) so it it still worth doing? Any and all thoughts on the deal and or pointing out things I could have forgotten to factor in too would be great.