All Forum Posts by: Eric Van Deman

Hi @Dusty Bowling,

The theory is right.  If I were you, I would break down the remaining $25K of expenses further as this might be a little low to me. Some numbers should be fairly easy to get pretty good estimates (e.g. property taxes and insurance), also who pays utilities?  Will you have to do snow removal/lawn care?  Lastly, I would build in some replacement reserves into your figures as roofs, HVAC, water heaters, appliances, etc. all wear out over time and need to be replaced. 

Once you factor all of these in, my guess is your NOI and profit on resale come down a bit, but still sounds like it could be a promising investment.

Congratulations Mike!  I hope it works out well for you. 

@Steven Gilbert I might have some ideas for you.  Feel free to reach out. 

Hi Quy,

It sounds like Ashley may have a couple solutions for you.  If not, I have a referral for a mortgage broker in FL who does both residential and commercial and could probably solve your problem as well. 

Kind regards,

Eric

@Dan H.

Ha ha.  It WAS on mission beach, but was 20+ years ago. We lived in the Surf Rider apartments between Liverpool and Lido, but had friends up and down the beach renting in similar situations. 

I'm sure it was easier on you when your student tenants chose the furnished option, but sounds like you were able to give them the option as you had the garage on site. Otherwise, you'd likely need to figure out a moving truck and storage rental for the STR furniture that would cut into the STR summer profits.

I went to school in San Diego as an out of state student. We rented a house near the beach, the property was furnished, and we had a 9 month lease.  We moved all of our stuff at the end of the school year and the landlord did weekly rentals all summer long. It was actually very common for the beach markets near school to operate that way. If you furnish the place and make it easier on students, I bet you’ll find some that love the idea of not moving furniture, and having a nicer place, while some parents will love only paying for 9 months. 

Hi @Scott Lieberg, We have a few student housing properties in a couple different markets in the SE.  While we were initially quite worried about the COVID shutdowns, all of our schools offered in person learning over the last academic year.  We had a little higher vacancy as some students either chose not to attend or to pursue other virtual options, but pre-leasing for this academic year went quite well and we're back to what I would consider to be pre-pandemic occupancy levels.  I haven't done any ground up construction and have focused more on renovating existing properties.  Best of luck with your venture!

Eric

I'm not sure of the lending rules in Canada, but many mortgage brokers in the US can use a portion of the expected rental income on the other three units to help qualify you for the purchase.  I would look into that option and call a few different brokers to see if it might work for you.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I don’t. But overall, as a Warren Buffett backed entity, I would expect them to be ethical and fair in their dealings with policy holders.  That is, I don’t really view my policy with them as any higher risk than any other insurer. 

Hi @Tyler Tacy,

I use them on my largest multi-family property.  No claims yet (fingers crossed), so I can't provide insight on the claims process.  But no major rate hikes between years 1 and 2, so at least from that perspective they have been good to work with.

Best of luck.

Eric