All Forum Posts by: Florence Sullivan

We have a vacant facility and about 1.5 arces of adjacent open land totaling 3 arces. Need an agent to help sell or lease but I need advice.

Investing last 3 years and able to cover 60% of expenses… for now

We had bought our 1st apartment building in 2016 and was just something we invested in as passive income while working our W2 job. We had future plans, travel, etc. Then in 2019, I got laid off in September and had a stroke in October with mental and physical challenges and my spouse was the majority caregiver left us with limited income.

All of our plans had to change! We didn’t really know what to do or what’s next. We had some savings and thought we’d be okay but we plan on living a long time, the economy changed, OMG what do we do.

Expenses are not of a 25 year old, they are significant. After having a family, more ins, cars, mortgage, etc. This is our reality.

We decided to dive further into RE. Since then, we bought 3 more apartment buildings and some private RE loans. Sounds good so far but it covers about 60% of our bills. I know it has been discussed not to rely on cash flow, but in our case, we have to.

The 1 major thing I didn’t plan for is the ups and downs of cashflow from real estate. How do you save for the downs when you're so dependent on monthly cashflow?? Also, no house hacking, we are too old to have someone else live in our house. I have a line item in our budget to put savings away but the reality is we’re not at that point… yet.

Love BiggerPockets, it’s helped. One area we haven’t seen, is how someone succeeding with our similar scenario.

Update to come…

We are hoping to get one this weekend and that will make 4. Between the multifamily apartment buildings and a few private loans, we are half way to being financially free.

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $210,000
Cash invested: $210,000

6 unit each 2 bd/1 ba

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $89,000
Cash invested: $110,000

Cash purchase. House turned into a 4-unit.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I wouldn't have paid it all cash and would get a mortgage. Didn't get an inspection report, big mistake, a lot to renovate.

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) commercial investment investment.

Purchase price: $50,000
Cash invested: $50,000

5 Units, 1 br/1ba Fully rented, fixer. I have spent about $10,000 in the last 4 years and still need to do some things but not needed immediately.

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

It was the 1st deal I did and got it for a deal.

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

My brother already invest in Dayton and thought it was a good location to start. He did most of the negotiation but we leveraged the output of the inspection report to negotiate.

How did you add value to the deal?

Since purchase, we have made some structural fixes in the basement, outside structure, and parking area.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I didn't realize how much money I would have to put away to renovate and, when tenants turnover, the cost to renovate the units. Also, I didn't ask about the roof, electrical, etc. I know better now.

Cashflow is the main goal right now, and out of state (I'm in CA) investing in Dayton is more affordable and with now with 3 apartment buildings or 15 doors, I'm halfway to my 1st goal (everchanging). I'd wouldn't mind investing in different parts of Ohio.

They quoted me 29K for the service and that doesn't include what the CPA would charge. I'm having a hard time with that so I'm looking at other options.

My initial quote was $29K! That's now including filing or re-filing taxes. I'm still looking at other options.

Has anyone used WealthAbility? Worth the money? Did you get good advice? Thoughts? Any other tax strategist referral?