All Forum Posts by: Gershom Lewis

I want to say thank you very much for your detail assistance on this. Here is what I looked at. I put in an offer over the weekend. This is a four over three with a finished basement. 

*I am thinking I can rent the top floor as rooms or ans an apartment ($200 a week) or $1600/1700, 

*rent out the first floor or rent two bedrooms as rooms as well

*Keep the finished basement for myself since it has full bath and a little kitchen (FHA purposes)

My down payment is under $15K, and my mortgage is $2800. If I rent out the entire house as rooms, I will be able to pay the mortgage with ease. I may do a combination. Rent a floor out as a three bedroom, and rent out the rooms on the other floors, keep the basement apartment.

**There is no other two family in this area, mostly one family. None in this price range, and the property looks great.

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Good Day BP!

I just got back from Atlanta after spending a week in a rented house with my family. The plan was to bring my family to Atlanta to have a great time and to convince everyone to move down there with me (I just need the wife to be convinced). I also used the opportunity to check the market, establish some connections, and to put boots on the ground. This is important since I live in NYC (Brooklyn), and the properties are too expensive. After brainstorming, I think I would like to bring in an investor. My goal is to purchase commercial multi-unit properties, but I have to get seasoned before a lender would look my way. I would like to jump into that space, but I don't have the finance nor the experience. I bought a multi-family in Philadelphia many years ago, but sold it and have not purchased any property since. I would like to work with someone to either purchase a duplex or work with someone on a deal on a multi-unit property in Georgia.

What can I bring to the table? 

I have a few pre-approvals in NYC (can't be used in Georgia) and was pre-approved in Georgia (working on getting a better lender with great rates)

I have 20K for a deal, but need another 20K to start with one family. *I rather work on a duplex so I can maybe do a FHA. Rent one out, and Air BnB the other side which I can also use to stay when I am in Georgia when it is not being rented.

Credit is in the 700s, and I have been in the IT field for the last 20 years with ok income.

The tech in me loves to research and working on getting better at this. I gathered a lot of knowledge over the years, and tend to think out the box keeping the next steps in mind as I am working on present projects.

I am hungry and would like to purchase at least one property a month.

Goals

As I stated, I want to get in the multi-unit property space. I think I have to start with buy and holds, and especially flips to get to the multi-unit goal. I want to make areas better then I found it, help as many people on the way, create financial success with crippling my family finances, and financial independence.

I am back at my 9-5 today after a great week, and realize more then ever I want to start a new beginning. Once I get a handful of properties under my belt (mine or partnering), it will make my transition easier from NY to GA.

PS The best way to investigate a market is to turn it into a family vacation. It was expensive but so worth. If the family like the area, that is half of the battle. These decisions are easier when everyone can be involved.

Gershom

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $82,000
Cash invested: $1,000

First floor, One full bedroom apartment on the first floor
Second floor, two bedrooms (kitchen and bathroom)
third floor, one studio

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

It was a multiunit property

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

A good friend brought me to PA, and I went to a real estate office.

How did you finance this deal?

Wells Fargo

How did you add value to the deal?

Paint, pulled carpet, fixed the ceiling, and put up new walls.

What was the outcome?

I sold the property for $130,000

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Do more research, and create a team. I would have still had the unit if I had a property manager.

Calling Experienced Commercial investors to work with New Investors in Atlanta

Good Day BP,

I am a real estate investor, and looking to make a big change! I work in the IT department at a law firm, good with details, and focused. I owned property back in 2015 in Philadelphia, so I have some experience owning and managing real estate. My plans are to move from NY to Atlanta by the end of summer next year and to invest in residential and commercial properties by the end of this year. My goal is to purchase a residential and a small multi-unit apartment building. I want to work with an experienced commercial investor in exchange for some equity in our future deal.

I will be headed to ATL in a month (Aug 2-11th) to look at some deals and to meet some investors. I am in the process of finding a place for our real estate meetup. If someone is interested in this deal, or needs help with their deal, or want to be a part of our meeting, please reach out to me. I am reached out to lenders, hard money lenders, etc, and found a few I can work with. I am looking for a property in the 1 to 1.5 million range. Once this project is stabilized, I will be looking for residential to do flips, and buy and hold

I make almost six figures, great with managing money, and have decent credit. If I can’t gather a team or the resources, I will focus on smaller units and make this my plan next year. I am scanning for deals, and great people to work with so feel free to reach out. If you have any advice for my team and me, we are open to any ideas and suggestions. My hopes are to help someone in my shoes in the future, and to spread what I know to help my BP community!

Thank you,

Gershom

Allan,

I truly appreciate this advice. The challenge is getting a pre-approval, and my residence is in NY. This is some great advice! I would like you to send some information regarding brokers so I can start preparing myself. I'm in IT, so I also have to look for a new job while I am searching for the market. Are you living on Long Island, or do you live in Atlanta? How did you make the transition?

Good Day to All,

I am going through my first steps of real estate investing. Investing in Brooklyn and Queens is expensive, but I am starting where I live to build equity before I start looking in Atlanta. How should I look for a pre-approval? How do I look without bringing down my credit score? Is three enough? Should I check BP resources? I am getting three pre-qualifications for a residential two family in Queens. My options are limited being that I have only 25K for a down payment and closing. Scores are in the low 700, income is 90K, and ready to move to the next step. Once I build up some equity, I will start purchasing in ATL. My goal is to buy multi-units in ATL, but I do not have the capital or resources as yet. Making a trip in August down there to start checking out the market. I need to put boots on the ground but have some people who are helping me build my team. Just need to talk to a few property managers.

Thanks for any Feedback!

Brian,

You are right 100% and appreciate your logical reasoning. It is time to part with my home town. The only reason why I think I am still here is because of my family. My son is a junior in high school. With graduation for him in the near distance, I can start to plan for the future.

Building Captial while traveling down there make sense. Your steps, as well as the other advice I received here on BP, are a great way to build a foundation for the future. Thanks for giving it to me straight, and to the point. I owned property in Philadelphia many years ago, but I don't think I can handle the cold anymore. From your advice, I can tell you are a great investor. Many thanks, Brian for your sound advice.

Gershom

Gershom

Hi Marc,

I must say, I will miss the deli's on every corner, but I will gladly trade that in for financial independence! I am making a trip down to Atl in August for a week so I will look you up, and maybe attend a meetup or to. It will be a family slash checking the market out type of trip.

That is a good rule of thumb! I will be exploring the three roads next week within the next 14 days. That is so good to know since each will probably give me different feedback. I am trying to put my toe in the pool without my score dropping from different pulls.

As far as duplex is a concern, I have to say this. The price for a duplex in Brooklyn (1 million +)is the price for a multi-unit apartment complex in Atl. They say to start small, but if I am going to pay close to a million for a duplex in Brooklyn or Queens, why not pull in an investor and get a multi-unit in Atl? My book"Long-distance real estate investing" just came yesterday, and I am going to utilize every drop of knowledge and resource. Once I get a pre-approval, I am going to make calls to the brokers. Establish some relationships, while running the numbers through BP calculators. 

I will be upgrading to pro after watching the webinar last night and taking action. Thank you for your insight, and will connect with you for future questions. Maybe we can meet when I head down there in a few months. 

Thank you very much for your time..

Thank you Brian for responding. I truly appreciate your time. So here are my answers to your questions which are great questions. I have about $25,000 for a down payment and about $15,000 for closing costs which I can get through gifts or my credit cards. My score is 750 on all three bureaus, and my wife score is hovering around 660. I think I will need her scores and info for better qualification. I do want to house hack. Instead of paying rent in the house her father owns, I rather pay a mortgage to build equity to invest in a multi-unit apartment building in the near future. I was looking at a two family, but the ones in queens are starting at $850K-$950K. I can't pull in investors unless I get something more reasonable which will allow me to pay them back with interest.

I am in IT (90K), and she is a manager (60K). I am ready to move to Atlanta maybe by the end of the year, or sometime next year. I think (I know) I have a better chance to flip, and live a better life in Atlanta. I am visiting down there to scope out the area. I would like to buy here to start and then buy in Atlanta. It may be better to pay the cheap rent here and then start down there. I have family both here and down there that can help me in either case.