All Forum Posts by: Dwight Cook

Thank you everyone! There is definitely a lot of good suggestions and strategies in here. I will take them all into account when deciding what to do. If I remember to I will update this thread in a few months with how I decided to proceed and what the results were!

@Tyler Lingle

That’s my biggest worry about the month to month. I’d much prefer year lease but I’m not sure if not offering month to month would be the thing to prevent me from keeping one or two of these tenants. I believe the one tenant has been month to month for 30 years now.

@Kim Meredith Hampton

I’ve been looking around and haven’t been able to find anything saying there is. How would I find it out for sure? I’m assuming calling either city or county office building?

@Kim Meredith Hampton

@Bjorn Ahlblad

Thank you both for your input!

Do you think i should offer them the two options still? If yes then do you think $700 for 1 year or $750 for Month to month is reasonable?

Hey everyone!

I'm currently in the process of purchasing my first property. This is a fully occupied 4 unit property in good condition. Each unit is a 2 bed 1 bath around 1,000 SQFT each. The current tenants are paying $400, $470, $630, $630. This area's market rents are around $750-$800. The tenant paying $470 has been there for 30 years, the one paying $400 has been there for 11 years and is a family member of the current owner. (that's why theirs is so low)the other two have been in the units for less than 2 years. 3 of these units are month to month. The 11-year tenant is currently in a 1-year lease.

At the current rents, I will be just above breaking even. How do I get the rents to market value so I can turn this into a good cash-flowing property without portraying myself as a horrible new landlord? There are some small improvements I plan on making, replacing a carpet, fixing a crack in a window but nothing major.

I am thinking about offering each tenant two options. 1 year leases for $700 or month to month for $750. But I fear this may be too big of a jump for the long-term tenants.

@Jason Bohling

That sounds great, thank you! I will get in contact with my bank and see what they are willing to do with that. Do you know what the usual max banks will lend on an unsecured personal line of credit is?

Hello everyone,

I am currently looking into buying a property that needs some work done on it. I haven't seen the property in person but I will be seeing it in the next day or two. especially because my last deal didn't end up working I have really high hopes for this one. this will be my first purchase if all goes well!

My goal is to BRRRR this property.

The property is listed at $39,900 but I am going to offer $30,000. I'm estimating the ARV to be $100,000

at this price, I am assuming that it is going to need $20-25,000 in repairs but obviously I will know more once I actually see it.

I have $40,000 in savings so I can afford to purchase the house and pay closing but the repair costs are a different story.

my goal is to refinance this house 6 months after purchasing it but I will be cash flowing enough that if I have to wait longer to refi it won't be the end of the world. what is the best way to fund the repairs on this? (I will not be living in the property) I have a $12k credit card limit (last resort) I also have $7k I can pull from my retirement fund at 1.5% interest.  

I'm thinking at this point a personal loan might be my best bet but I would love to hear about any less expensive or more practical ways I can finance this.

@Colleen F.

We plan on shifting the heat when the lease comes up for renewal each unit has its own heat source. I’m honestly now sure why the previous owner paid for it. I will most likely end up sending a letter then eventually introduce myself in person when we get ready to do some of the bigger upgrades.

Thank you for your advice!

@Brenden Mitchum

Thank you, we are definitely excited for this one!

Yes the property is in a really small town. I really appreciate the advice. I definitely care about being a good landlord and plan on buying a lot more properties as time goes on. I plan on trying to keep the current tenants as long possible from what I’ve heard and seen they seem to be good.

That is a very good point! I’m going to have them start paying there own fuel as soon the lease comes up for renewal but I’ll wait until it comes up again after that to bump it up the $50. We also plan on putting in washer and dryer hook ups for that unit and putting in a wall to give them an extra bedroom.

I’m currently in the process of buying 5 units that are fully rented. I know one of the tenants a little because he was a few years ahead of me in high school but the rest I don’t know. Most of them are his family (3 of 5 units).

I plan on making some changes to the lease when they come up for renewal. Should i make an initial introduction when we close on the house? Would we let them know of our intentions during that introduction or wait until their leases come up for renewal?

To add onto this I am active duty Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa, Japan. I could call or email them as an introduction or I could have my parents do the initial introduction. My parents live around the corner and will be helping my wife and I manage the property until we get home in a few years.

The main thing we are going to change is having the tenants pay for their own heat because I don’t think that should be our responsibility. We are also considering raising the rent of one unit by $50.

Thank you in advance for any advice!