All Forum Posts by: Jay Orlauski

Hi John - To figure out a good starting point, you may want to start by trying to define what your personal investment objectives are. Without knowing this , you may never even know if a good deal is staring you in the face. Are you in it for the long haul and want to develop income over the years? or do you prefer to try to make faster money by flipping something? Perhaps you want to flip - then buy and hold , then flip a new one and buy and hold again - really it all depends on what you are trying to achieve. Also put some thought into what kind of return on your money you would like to see.... this would also affect the type of deal you go into. If you figure where you want to be and what type returns your looking for, you may get a better idea of what type of deal to get involved with. Also, try attending a few investor meetings in your area - you may pick up a few great ideas - hope this helps some.

I too have thought about wholesaling multi-families though I am usually a "buy and hold( collect rent)" type of investor - there has been many good deals here in the Fresno area. Some of my thoughts on holding were that the rent rolls would cover any holding costs if it took too long to move the property - In fact, at the rate that home prices are rising, and with rentals in such high demand in the central valley, one could even hold onto it for 6 months before flipping and collect some decent income and experience a greater return as rising prices push up the sale price beyond what a 30 day flip would provide. I would be interested in finding out how you do. Please keep us posted.

there is still deals on the MLS, at least here in Fresno - just be sure to connect to a Realtor with direct access to the MLS or you wont get up to date information. Zillow and other places like that are notorious for being out of date. Local magazines are usually a bust too , since by the time they are proofed and distributed , the houses in them are usually under contract - of course that is here is Fresno - obviously the markets are going to be different elsewhere - good luck!

thanks Steve - that's the kind of stuff I was wondering about. What about some kind of certification after repairs? does the city need to sign off with a special fire inspector and some kind of reinstatement forms or how does that work?

I was wondering if anyone here has done anything with burnt units. I recently came across a 4-plex with fire damage - from the pictures , it does not appear to be too horrific, however , I have yet to look at the property in person. I was wondering what kind of issues to expect from a burn situation - things like water damage, permits, blueprints, regulatory compliance, etc - that sort of thing. I used to know a construction guy that specialized in burnt homes and you wouldn't believe the homes he worked on ever had a fire - by the way, the 4-plex is selling for $40k and is in a decent area ( not the best part of town , but certainly not the ghettos either) anyhow, was just looking for some thoughts on the subject - thanks in advance

wow... completely opposite of when I was there ... of course that was 18 years ago. I was very close to buying and renovating mobile homes in Killeen to rent out to soldiers and families. I guess it just goes to show, the environment can change drastically and turn around on you.

also great advice about looking out for closing bases, which happens more often than people think about.

One of the things I like about MFR vs SFR is with an SFR you take a chance that one vacancy actually means 100% vacancy, or if they are late, you need to pay their rent. With a MFR, if one tenant leaves or is late, than you are not 100% exposed. Also , trying to evict a sticky tenant from an SFR could set your cash flow back by several months.

Moguls

When I lived in ft.Hood located in Killeen, Tx , there was a year long waiting list to get on base housing and most apartment complexes had a three month waiting period because there were so many soldiers that needed housing. I remember thinking at the time that getting a rental complex would have been a great idea if I had the money. I imagine it has to do with how large the base is - ft Hood is the largest base in the U.S. ) 330 sq miles) so there was quite a market for renters at the time. Not sure what the condition is like these days, but that was my observation of a military town.

you can make the contingency of the offer upon the inspection of the property - then if you have multiple acceptances , you can decide which property you like - the others do not meet your inspection criteria and therefore there is no deal. I had about 8 -9 offers out at once, but never had two accepting at the same time, but I had the contingencies so I would be covered.