All Forum Posts by: Rene G.

Ok. Well everyone wants to talk about low or no money down. Or finding the perfect deal. I say if you put enough down you can always make the numbers work. So, in my opinion, it's more important to focus on location and be prepared for the long run (e.g. anticipate repairs, have a solid emergency fund, build self-service management, etc), than it is to find some perfect deal that may never come. Or worse, you end up with some weird property with good numbers but it's in an area no one wants to live. There is so much more I could say. I work with landlords that never plan to sellout. There's a big shift in your mindset when you plan to be a landlord forever, vs a property investor where you know one day you're going to sell everything and exit.

@Chris Wilson,

It sounds like you're stuck. I'm guessing here. idk

So, you don't have any rentals yet? How long are you committed to real estate investing?

Tell me, what's worse for you? 

If you wait to get rentals, but a recession never comes?

or

If you don't wait and get a property, but a recession does come? 

I don't know your intentions so it's hard for me to add any value here. I looked at your profile, but you don't have any details there either. 

Like, what do you want? Do you want single-family rentals/buy-and-hold? Flipping? Are you going for multifamily or short-term rentals? 

Rene G

@Marysol F.

When you say "buy and hold" is your strategy. How long are you committing to holding? And, are you planning to self-manage or outsource your management? I'm trying to understand your intentions a bit more before I jump in with my 2 cents.

Rene G

@Nithya D. I think you should just rent it out yourself. I've been a long-distance landlord for over ten years. If I can place tenants and manage my rentals from Iraq, you can do it too. If you're smart you'll learn the systems that save you time and money. You can do it! I'm telling you, it's not hard. Come on! How do you know if you never try!? Think of it this way, if you have to lower rent, but don't have all the property management fees, you'll probably cashflow. Best part, once you find out how easy it is, you'll never use property managers again. Feel free to message me if you want to talk more. 

Hey @Drew Sygit,

How many parts is this series? The link only shows part 1. I read it, good stuff. Would be interested in reading the rest.

Rene G

@Suyog Patel,

Has your friend considered doing their own management? It's not hard, especially if they only have one rental. Food for thought. I love being a landlord, been doing it for over ten years! 

Rene G

Hi @Ethan Lahav,

I think your question is missing something... I'm confused because ideally, you have a strategy and target what you're going after. When you ask how do you know what's better (rental vs flip) that makes me think you have a property that maybe you inherited or something, and you're trying to figure out what to do with it.

I looked at your profile, but you didn't have any info. Can you let us know your strategy or what you want long-term?

@Sabrina Sanchez talked about the speed of returns, faster for flips but longer for rentals. 

Like @Nathan Gesner said, flipping is a job, but long-term rentals are about cashflow. 

@Jim Pellerin talked about how you can use SFH flips to build up funds to get into multifamily.

That's all good stuff...

I'm curious though, what do you want from real estate investing? Are you considering getting into flipping or buy-and-hold? 

Rene G

Jay,

I built an auxiliary dwelling in Orlando, Florida (1,000 sqft single-story 2bdrm/1.5 bath in-law/apartment with a zero entry shower). It has separate parking and an entry that leads to/from the sidewalk. It has separately metered utilities, trash, cable/internet, and sewer connection. It rents for over $2k.

Why do you ask? Are you looking for markets to do creative value adds techniques or something?

The biggest thing I learned is to ensure you understand the zoning, which differs by area. Meaning, there are places in Orlando where I wouldn't have been allowed to build up to 1,000 sqft. Also, parking is a big issue and needs to be considered beforehand. I did not tie into the existing connections because I wanted everything to be separate, even separate address. Oh, if you can help it, get a corner lot because it can be much more convenient for you throughout the design and build process.

Rene G

Vidal,

I say look at Florida! Whatever state, definitely consider if the state is landlord-friendly now, and whether or not it might trend away from being landlord-friendly in the future. 

Also, most people will tell you that you need a property manager. That is NOT a requirement. I've been doing long-distance management for ten years, even while I've spent most of that time deployed to the Middle East. I developed self-service management along with other systems that grant me Real Freedom! If I can manage my rentals on the other side of the world, with crappy internet, in a backward timezone, then you can manage your rentals on the opposite coast. 

Let's do this!

Rene G

Hi there Cesar, 

Great job! You're off to a good start with your research. By now you must have a good idea of what style/strategy you want. For example, my style is long-term SFRs with buy-and-hold forever with easy selfservice-management so I can leave an inheritance to my kids (I don't think my kids want to be a landlord so I need to build my rental operation to practically run itself). What is yours? 

Do you like flipping, hoteling, short-term rentals, multifamily, syndication, etc? Once you really dial in what you want, and explain exactly what you're trying to do, then I think people would be able to help you better. I get it...it's hard to know what you want sometimes, but you have to give it a lot of thought and forecast the future a bit. Anyways, that's how I see it...

Problem is, your question is a bit too broad and you might get a lot of random advice. If you don't know what you want yet, then maybe it's not time to put together your plan of attack. Tell me, how can you narrow down what you want out of real estate investing, like what's your ideal "forever" plan?

Rene G