All Forum Posts by: Eric Vermilion

Depending on your situation and where these are you could get a longer term.  

I'd still ask them for a maintenance schedule of costs and dig in.  The more hands off the current owner, the more the maintenance co could have been sending work to their buddies who own companies to get bulk rates for works on their other property owners.  

Awesome stuff, Jon!  Enjoyed the read and congrats on the baby girl, got a 15 year old version and it's the best my man!  Enjoy every minute.

And nice job on the RE deal!

Eric

I've been in banking for 20 years and I can't remember a partnership being a wise decision for any clients.  I've become a counselor for partners in my office and it's not fun.  I think the problem is when you mix your $ with someone else it gets cloudy and not very friendly when things do go to expectations.  

What I've recommended to others is to work deals together as if you are going to do deals together but when it comes to the money they do their deals with their money and you do your deals with your money (loans).  

I think what most people want is a partner for the ride in RE.  If you do it this way you will still have a friend at the end of the day and enjoy the fun of investing in RE. 

Have you had a chance to visit the property yourself?   I'd recommend talking to the current management company and seeing if they will give you a breakdown of the maintenance and dig into that report.   I trust my management company but I always approve anything over $100 before they spend my money on it.  It is possible that the current owner allows them a large budget that you may not necessarily do when you own it.  

Also, I'd try to get this on a longer term to make the cashflow more attractive.   

Very good question.  When I did my first purchase I just went back to my day job and let the process flow once the properties were purchased.  I found that time and observing helped me feel comfortable with the process and that I wasn't "missing something".  That confidence allowed me to move on to the next purchase.  Take your time is what I'm saying, have a plan and execute it.  I'd do this in a ton of little bites and always be willing to ask for assistance.  The Biggerpockets community is here for you.

Congrats!  First, nice job on the flip.  Getting that down payment isn't a small step, a huge step!  I have 7 doors and I chose to have somebody manage my 2 properties.  I know finance but I don't know leases, I don't know plumbing etc, so I hire out the details and have somebody keep track of all the details so I can focus on the growth of the business itself.  Buying the property correct is important and I just add my management fees into the equation and make buying decisions with that in mind.

The other thought that I had was that I've learned a lot of management lessons by watching my property management deal with stuff that I would have had to if it were mine alone.  You also see best practices that they do for you without even thinking twice.

Best of luck!
Eric

Very Cool stuff, Todd!   Congrats on kicking this off, it's a challenge but so much fun.

Congrats! Phillip said it well above. HELOC is usually the cheapest money for investment properties. There are a lot of options in the hard money world that offer creativity but it is most assuredly at a higher expense.

Eric