All Forum Posts by: Ed L.

I was working 110 hours a week half way across the country thinking their must be a better way.. 

I ended up listening to BP podcasts on youtube, with one earbud under my radio headset, while running my machines..

I found the BP podcasts to be the least get rich quick scheme scam sounding.. 

Since then I have established my first lines of credit and am actively working on my credit and preparing the house I live in to be rented out when I have the credit and find a good candidate.. 

So what I understand is that anything under 4 is more like a regular home mortgage and 5 and over get into commercial/business type mortgages which are a disadvantage and more complex.

But, that if a 5 and over property makes good money, good cashflow, it can sell for more because prices are more based on ROI prospects than comparable sales..

I'm wondering what if, you buy a 4 plex that makes good cashflow, could you easily add a 5th apartment to bump it into a bracket where it would sell for considerably more if the numbers were good?

Looks like a nice project with #s that will work.. 

I am interested in doing something similar.. 

Originally posted by @Dan O'Neill:

@Ed L. You have quite a wide area there and things can vary considerably between those different cities.  You should be able to find properties around Mancelona.  You will have been more insulated from the run up in prices that TC has seen.  

 Right.. Rent is high around TC but property prices are very high so I'm thinking it will be hard to get anything to cashflow around there..

Prices are low in mancelona but the job economy is terrible so I'm thinking it will be hard to find tenants that a good steady income to afford rent and be reliable.. Kalkaska has more jobs..

I like next to and am very familiar with the shanty creek area so maybe I'll look into vacation rentals more..

Anything on nice lakes or Lake Michigan prices seem to go up faster than rent so may be harder to cash flow but property value for such places might have a better future outlook..

I'm not sure what I'm up to yet, really prices everywhere seem borderline too high to cashflow for what rent they will command so I'm thinking it's really going to come down to finding good deals..

My plan with my SO so far is for me to run the numbers, figure out the deals and financing, make things happen, and her job is to learn property management, deal with tenants, and probably eventually coordinate the small maintenance and repairs..

I'm in northern Michigan in between traverse city and Gaylord. I'm looking to invest in rentals in the area, possibly brrrr, from traverse to Gaylord, Cadillac to petoskey areas.. Any info on the local real estate climate would be great.. I am completely new and am currently starting by building my credit from scratch in order to finance..

Own 2 places right now, 1 rented out cheap with a self maintenance deal to family, pays the taxes on both plus a little, and the other we live in. No debt, no credit, not much cash saved for any down payments..

I could probably invest $1k-$2k per month right now..

Where do I start?

Girlfriend has a lot of hospitality experience and we are kindof kicking around the idea of a place we saw.. 

it has a house on it we could live in plus 6 small apartment rentals, some occupied, $130k, bank says $800 something a month and around $35k down.. It's like a motel with a few long term occupancies..

So we could move out of the one we live in now and get around $500 a month rent out of it, use it as collateral for the down payment, and have a go at it?

What sorts of things on the business and legal end do I have to consider buying something like that?

Sounds like a decent scheme no?