All Forum Posts by: Emma Powell

Welcome to Austin, a great place to live and invest! We were there for 20 years in the tech industry and recently relocated to Salt Lake City. We got started in investing by joining the local REIA and getting on every wholesaler mailing list. I'd run all those deals through the Bigger Pockets calculator and my homemade spreadsheets, learning to run comps on Redfin for flips and rental comps on Zillow and our local rental classifieds, visiting properties for sale, and meeting with contractors. We had done a huge live-in rehab in Kyle TX that we sold before moving to Salt Lake that provided the cash we needed to start buying rentals with hard money lenders and providing our own down payments, as well as valuable experience managing contractors. Living in the house helped us to be very hands on and on top of the situation to become wise to all the ways they mess with you, or what you're looking for in a good one. We learned to never pay up front and create a schedule of payments so they're only paid once a stage of work is done and therefore easy to fire when they ghost or get unreliable. The best ones never asked for any payment until the job was complete and invoiced. Once we had that, I felt much more capable to manage a rehab I didn't live in, but in my same city. We bought 5 that first year (none through the MLS) and then moved into commercial multi-family with a 50 unit, 16 unit, and 18 unit with pretty heavy rehabs. Just get in there, learn to find good deals, find money, and manage construction. Just keep at it, learn something each project, and you'll do great!

I've done the partial BRRR several times in Salt Lake area, leaving behind cash in each one but not the 20-25% down most investment property mortgages require because I forced appreciation before refinancing, so all in I'm in the 3-10% down area. I'm meeting a lot of other important rental metrics like cash flow per door, profit/value/spread per door, cash on cash return, low vacancy rates, in rapidly reliably appreciating markets like Provo. So getting 100% of my money out has so far only happened once (in stages with several down payments from the tenant from a wholetail lease option I refinanced then seller financed to him on a wrap), my other rentals are cash flowing well to get the rest of my cash out gradually. It's not all at once, but get creative and don't overlook a partial BRRR in this area.

I also buy in Pocatello ID where I can still BRRR, it's like having Indianapolis prices in our backyard for cash flow with a Utah economy for appreciation. I'm doing only large multi-family at this point though, but we are looking at a SFH project in Magna that fell in our laps that looks like it can be 100% BRRR right now. Maybe not, but if I can get close I'll still do it because it's Utah!

the have low limits on total properties owned, so we can't use them anymore, but they definitely have the best terms consistently

It's all up in the air now! We got ours a year ago for 80% LTV and a little higher than prime, variable, with a 10yr draw. All the staff there are very well trained on this product, so just need to call and chat with a rep

UtahREIA.org SLREIA.org and UVREIA.org are the three in this area

We are syndicators, eventually I plan to be only passive or KP and work less, so I hear you! You can use the HELOC money to invest however you prefer, lots of options, whether that's a BRRR or as a passive capital partner. Let me know if I can help

Just shoot me a message on here next local event you’re at and we’ll connect

Go with the low-hanging fruit first, your local REIA. Tons of training and networking there, and you'll meet others who have used more expensive training/coaching/mentorship programs who can either vouch for them or warn you away. If you attend the REIA meetings regularly, you'll quickly learn who's doing deals and who's not, and it's a great place to look for partners either experienced who can help you through a larger deal, or those who have cash to place but less experience.

Another great resource is to get on all the wholesale lists and start analyzing at least one property a day using the BP calculators, a spreadsheet, and learning how to run comps/ARV from Redfin etc. I found many of them at my local REIA and have bought a few properties here and there from them (most of the deals suck, but to get a good one you have to get really fast at analyzing so you can bid first)

I would NOT pay for any training until you've put in the time to exhaust the free and low-cost resources, namely your local REIA. The training there has been better than anything I have paid for, and the network of real, local people has been outstanding if you can sift out the 90% that are just poking around. You will need that experience and network to make the best choice on where and how to eventually spend your money on coaching.

We were not a fan of AFCU terms on a rental HELOC but have been very happy with ours from Pentagon Federal Credit Union, recommended to us two years ago by another BP member. Up to 80% on rentals with no seasoning. Underwriting took two months, but once closed it's been easy to work with with great terms. You can join PenFed CU by donating $20 to a military charity if you're not a vet or active duty.

We use Janet Behm of Utah Real Estate Accountants. She's not a fan of the checkbook SDIRA, but while it's still allowed she is comfortable with helping us use them. I like that she specializes in Utah real estate investors specifically.