All Forum Posts by: Erik Schilling

Hey BP, I finally have an accepted contract today for a new property for a new primary residence. It is right across the street from where I live now. Both properties are condos. My lender is working with underwriting to see if I can have a smaller down payment or else I may have to label it as an investment property. I’d rather put less money down obviously, but I’m more curious about when the time comes to sell this new property. Would I have to deal with capital gains since it is technically an “investment” property? I’m going to sell were I live now in the next few months, but this controversy seems silly. Maybe I’m thinking too hard about this, it’s been a long week already. Any help would be great. Thanks in advance! Erik

Hi Lee, I'm sure you will get many responses, but I've been told to go solo as long as you can. My friends and I have what we call a "braintrust" and bounce ideas off each other. Similar to what you can get here, but amongst people you know well. We have discussed this exact topic and established that if two people were to go in on a property together for example, one person is finance and one person operations / materials, design, etc and there is no crossing sides. Obviously, this needs to be someone you trust and would like as a business partner. I think at the end of the day, it's what you feel most comfortable with with each property. Good luck!

Hi Theo, I use the Nest smoke / CO2 detectors. I have these devices on Wifi so I can monitor the status remotely. This allows me to offer "free wifi" to my tenants as well. For people that stream tv on their computer / device, this was a popular feature to the property.

550 sqft studio condo for 820 / month 900 sqft condo for 1200 / month Cincinnati OH

Hey BP, Happy New Year! I checked a bucket list item off the list in November and purchased my first seller financing deal. I know condos get some bad publicity ( in some cases it's true), but I've had great success with them so far. So, I've acquired the condo (1/1) in an A neighborhood for 50k. If I put about 10k into it, according to my agent, comps are going for 110-125k. This would probably happen in May / June, so there are a few months of mortgage and HOA fees to go along with that 10k of updates. I also have a renter lined up (nothing signed, just that he would be interested if still available) for 1200 per month. This would give me about 500 in profit each month. This option can help with avoiding capital gains and after 2016 (I was busy with real estate), this would be an "easy" one to manage. Also been hearing that now would be a good time to be cash heavy due to economic / political climates. What would you do?

One thing my attorney mentioned, was if a tenant took you to court for some reason. Your LLC and not your personal name would be public record. A little protection. Probably wouldn't happen, but you never know these days.

Hi Patrick, I use Amy Higgins down here in Cincinnati. She is with Keller Barrett and Higgins. Real estate is her focus. She's a good person to add to your team. Good luck

Christian,  that is a question I think many people wonder.  How do you get the ball rolling?  I bought a condo about 6 years ago as a primary residence.  I bought it at the right price.  I updated the place and sold it for a 20K profit this year.  That allowed me to dodge being punished by capital gains tax and walk away with a nice amount to play with.  By the end of this year, I will have bought three properties (1 primary, 2 investment properties).  However, I have had an unusual amount of success with people not saying NO to seller / creative financing.  I haven't closed one due to various reasons, but still.  Just make sure you/ your agent/ seller/ seller's agent know(s) what that means.  Surprisingly, many selling agents around here have no idea and just assume their seller is not interested.  Another interesting observation is that the more expensive the property, the more people seem to be open to it.  Best of luck to you!

Hello BP,

I am working on my first seller financing deal (hope to get an answer tomorrow) and it is going to require some leg work.  I am very excited, but realize there is a lot of work to do if the seller accepts my offer.  Rezoning, architects, gut job, etc.  I am getting initial prep done so I can hit the ground running. 

I was wondering if there are any recommendations on an architect in Cincinnati?  I have gotten one referral so far and found out their pricing as well, but would gladly accept any others.

Any info would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Hey BP,

I have come across an interesting opportunity that I could use some experienced knowledge.  The place I am looking at is currently zone residential / commercial (6 units).  It needs a complete gut job for my purpose.  The commercial space is basically a huge room with halfway done renovation.  4 units currently have tenants and 1 is vacant.  This is a low income building but near some new development.  My question is how feasible would it be to completely gut the property and make it an upscale 4 family?  I called the city on Friday to discuss rezoning, but it was towards the end of the day - hope to hear back Monday.

My thought process is to make this a nice 4 family to appeal to a better class of tenant, but also make it easier to sell in the future if need be.

The surrounding area has SFH, apartments, and some industrial a few blocks away.

Is this a realistic (not too difficult) proposal or is this going to be a long and drawn out process? 

Any feedback would be appreciated!!