All Forum Posts by: Francisco Feliz

That's a really high-value post @Matthew Forbes! I, like @Joe Rinella, would like to focus on multi-families, so this is huge to know. Hopefully, multiple bids really can help keeping "all means of egress at all times in a safe, operable condition" an affordable undertaking. Thanks for asking this, Joe.

@Jassem A., newbie question - where can we find these public records? and which records, specifically, are you referring to?

@Rex King, so do you charge the application fee in C/D areas still? What do you think about my suggestion here about crediting that fee towards their security deposit as a way to mitigate the balking, especially in those areas?

Hey @DJ Richmond, could you share with us what companies you've been considering outsourcing to? Are you talking about the lists - are you looking at sites like listsource or any others?

Thanks!

Yes, as many have said here, this should not be a multiple-thousand-dollar transaction on your part. In MA, you just have to pay $500 and fill out a one-pager on the website of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. And from the looks of the responses, this state is on the higher end for that.

Do the LegalZoom users - @Peggy Borgman, @Jamie Oie, @Simon Shih, and anyone - recommend to utilize that rather than just filling out the form yourself? Did you guys create any operating agreement or articles of incorporation with the LLC or did you just create the entity and that suffices? Thanks!

Wow @Justin Spaulding, how is Zumper only $20? Does it miss out on anything? I see the credit check with Experian, but how about evictions/criminal/background/etc?

Also, to the broader thread group, might there be any way where maybe you can do the application fee as a credit towards the security deposit if they get admitted? Maybe that can make it easier for people to be okay with the fee? By this I mean that they would have to come up with $35 less (if that's the fee) for their security deposit, for example...Thoughts?

So, given your other post on SmartMove vs Cozy, @Andy W., is there a service that you think is a good balance of affordability and quality? Those, AppFolio (mentioned above), or any others? I know that I am with the person above who would not want to pay money to apply to a place I may not get, and I am fine financially. But, if I can get it down to $30-35 as a landlord, maybe that's the best that can be done..

Also, in service to those with other real estate strategies like renting to Section 8 tenants, it's important to discuss this screening cost issue more broadly as well for others on BP to benefit.

I guess it's just like the stock market - if your horizon is long enough and you're diversified enough, it "should" all pan out. But the great thing about real estate is that it doesn't have the volatility that equities do.

Also, Downtown New York, from what I hear, even has some areas with people buying at *negative* cap rates. So, I mean, take that for what you will. (I would think you would at least want the NOI to be there lol ...

@Ryan Rogers, just going off the limited info I get from your post, I would offer that you're looking in the wrong areas. A general rule of thumb is that ritzy areas like Downtown Boston are barely ever going to cash flow, but they will appreciate like hell. The lower-end areas will not appreciate too much, but will cash flow like crazy. (This is a long-term comment, bc everything in Boston has appreciated like bonkers.) 

As an example, I have a friend who is moving and is trying to rent out her Seaport apartment, but is finding it difficult to rent bc the number is so high. However, the Seaport is exploding, and it will be even more now that GE has announced it is moving its headquarters there. So, is she willing to hold onto it bc of the appreciation that will come? - and none of that is speculation; the development has already been happening.

So, I think it's just a question of managing expectations. If you don't want to go into lower-end areas, you can look on redfin and run the numbers on more regular "B" areas. In Boston, the single units (or I believe even brownstones, but I could be mixing something up) in the Symphony/Northeastern University area, for example, give cash flow of like <$200/m, and that was with me assuming property management, as BP teaches you.

Hope this is a start. And yeah, 1% rule DEFINITELY is not a thing in Boston, let alone the 2%.

Seller financing would be one form of creative financing. This is when you can essentially have the seller act as the bank and you will pay them monthly payments (interest and "principal") based on the terms you guys agree on. If you search above, I'm sure there are BiggerPockets Blog posts and other forum posts on it.

Another way is, depending on how much you have, you have your deposit, the bank finance another portion, and then the seller carry the rest of the note. For example, you put in 10%, the bank puts in 60%, and the seller 30%. Tough sell, but you can never get anything without asking. Worst thing that'll happen is they say no.

Same thing goes for asking for a lease option (renting to own), where the seller allows you to make monthly payments while occupying the property over maybe 5 years that all go towards purchasing the property. And in case you have any other properties (like single-families, can't tell), a home equity loan or cash-out refi may be worth looking into.

There's probably a lot on creative financing somewhere on this site as well. And there are  probably others who can chime in on what the situation needs to be like (e.g. seller's motivation level) for these options (or any others) to be likely. Hope this is a start.