All Forum Posts by: Erik Spell

@Patrick Flanagan I'm a little late to the party but I will say that I've had a studio apartment rented by travel nurses for 2+ years and they are excellent renters!  Clean, quiet, easy to manage and honest.  They will also pay a premium for their place as well.  The biggest challenge I've faced is background checks and lease agreement dilemmas - with a non-short term rental but also not a full 6/12 month lease, some have been a bit resistant to paying for a background check.  In building relationships with them, I've learned that most don't ask but that seems a bit too risky.  I've been accepting a contract to support in the interim as they do get background checked before hire and this has been a little easier even if they will take a photo, not expose their pay, etc.  I just need to know they aren't criminals :-)  Hope this helps.  

@Joe Martella thanks Joe! A wealth of good info. Appreciate it!

@Bud Gaffney thanks Bud!

@Scott M. Hey Scott, I have a property that has a MIL suite that’s a studio that I rent to travel nurses mostly.

I’m looking to do the same to the main home as well.

Hi BP,

Question for n how you manage your properties…

I was just trying out RentRedi and using their lease forms it sends an intro to the tenant to download their app. No ability to work in the website to complete the lease - it is only available to tenants through the app. A lot of great features but for short term rental, I don’t think tenants will want to complete and download an app just for a short term stay. Anybody have any other options you use online? To completely manage your properties…collect rent, analytics, bill, lease management?

@Tyler Battaglia hey Tyler, I agree 100%. Self managing without experience is a lot of trial and error - lease agreements that may have holes, not having the right resources when a problem occurs, leniency on rent payments. I would recommend a PM but input this into your expenses. Call a few around the area before you buy. What are their rates? Then you can throw that into your expenses when you run a BP deal analyzer to really know your #s and determine a good deal.

And always vet your PMs. They are not created equal.

Hello fellow new investors, I too have recently started investing and have done 1 flip this past year and am looking for a house hack for my next project.  I hope to do 3-4 additional projects within the next year.  If there’s ever a meetup in the Tampa Bay Area, I’d love to swap stories and meet some other investors in the area.  

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Clearwater Beach.

Purchase price: $185,000
Cash invested: $52,000
Sale price: $257,000

First true fix and flip solo. A lot of lessons learned and A LOT that needed to be done from top to bottom. Biggest challenge was I tried to do too much myself, failed a lot, but in the end learned a ton to be better for future projects and still made money. I can’t complain.

Facts: 1200 SF ranch 3-2 with an odd layout, sun room on back of house with fenced in backyard on a corner lot. 2 car garage.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I wanted to build some quick cash to reinvest into buy and holds but needed to make some additional capital first so I thought a flip would be best to start

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I used a local realtor recommended from a friend and she gave me an email list of multis and income properties

How did you finance this deal?

Straight mortgage 30 year but since I knew I wasn’t going to keep it I negotiated a higher interest rate for less money down and buyer credits at the table which saved $1000s

How did you add value to the deal?

Flipping the property and sticking to the numbers and not trying to overdo the rehab

What was the outcome?

A successful flip

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Tonsssss....subway tile takes time and don’t let your grout dry or you are screwed! I did the full bathroom Reno’s myself between my full time job and traveling for work. I was there every single day I was in town for the entire rehab. I should have hired a contractor sooner and not tried to take on as much myself. I hired 2 throughout the rehab - 1 not very reliable and 1 that was a game changer! Once you find a good one that is dependable and reasonable and does good work, don’t let it go

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes -
Becky Slocum with Smith and Associates - Realtor
Amanda Majette with Open Mortgage - Lender