All Forum Posts by: Joe Edwards-Hoff

Any inputs on toilets?  Are some less prone to clog?

Probably true. Have many of you used the one piece, drop in, laminate counters? I just put them in at my home because I made custom hardwood cabinets and didn't yet have the money to do the counters, so for a couple hundred bucks did the laminate counters. I feel like if they are done correctly they should be waterproof. And if backed correctly,  pretty strong. But time will tell. I guess some of this will just be trial and error.

I like the fact that LVT is glue down and water proof. That means I can just pull 1 if I need to. And water cant warp it. That's two of my hesitations with laminate. I dont want to unclick 30 boards to reach one. 

What about counter? You guys think granite tile?

I know that when I bought the luxury vinyl for my home I bought the higher rated stuff, which Inwas told was supposed to be for commercial use. Hospitals,  grocery stores, etc. And though mine isn't scratched yet, I'm sure it'd scratch before tile would.

Even the stuff with the commercial rating? (For the LTV) The stuff in my basement seems pretty bulletproof. But yes, tile does seem like another good option. It'd cost more up front, but probably pay off.

Well, to make it short, I found some great resources on this thread- How to Harden Units , but I wanted to hear more. I'm picking up my first, 10 unit apartment complex. 10 tiny studio apartments. Mostly rented by migrant workers. Simple people with simple tastes. The previous owners wanted to fix it all up nice, but I think they learned that the tenants didn't want anything fancy. Just cheap and functional. Luckily cheap and functional is my middle name ;) ...

I was just looking for suggestions, any tips or tricks, to make the lowest maintenance units possible. I'd like to avoid clogged toilets, drains, broken stuff, etc. There are no washer dryers. No dish washers. And I think I'd rather spend a bit more on stuff it if meant that it would last longer and clog less (for plumbing). 

I have glue down LTV in my home. I think it'd work great at a rental. I'd do the whole place in it. What about counters? Shower surrounds? It sounds like subway tile is the best bet for longevity. Prefab laminate is cheap and easy for counters. Not sure about longevity.

Check this out,  the REVERSE 1031 exchange. 

https://www.1031exchange.com/reverse/

So, I may be using the wrong term (but yes, in Washington,  I found a good deal), but I thought a traditional 1031 is , I sell my sfr, then go buy something bigger.  And the reverse 1031 is, I bought something bigger, so now I sell the sfr to help pay for it. 

If it is the latter, then I was wondering if it'd be wise to pay off a large chunk of the apartment while I still could make use of the 1031 tax benefit. As far as I understand, if I sell it later I'll have to pay for the income on it... 

I'm ok with holding both, but I figured it'd be sweet to pay off the apartments sooner. Again, I'm not building an empire, I just want a few buy and holds to help offset my income.

So, I just got my offer approved for the purchase of a small 10 unit apartment complex. My wife and I are not big time investors, nor ever plan to be, but we wanted to try to make a modest income from real estate, mostly for retirement. All that said, I already own a SFR. It is 80 miles away ina college town. We pay a management company. We owe 80k, it shows up on zillow as being worth 201k. Our escrow payments are $630, it rents for $1300.

The new apartment setup will cost $350k. 20%/70k on an equity loan. It brings in about $5500 a month right now, gross. 

All this said, the first SFR is definitely a profitable investment. I am able to hang on to it. But the idea of simplifying my life and ust focussing on the apartment complex is tempting. Theoretically I could pay off $100k of that loan by selling the SFR and doing a revese 1031.

What is your guys' advice? 

They accepted my offer.... Now I just need to get financing to stick!!! Sounds like my HELOCs are going to be close calls. If they appraise at what Zillow says (which really looks logical to me by comparing to houses in the area) then I'm in. 

They accepted a 60 day closing window AND verbally sounded open to an extension if we ran into problems. 

Would I be wise to try a couple other places for financing? I've only gone to 1 so far... Someone willing to do a higher LTV on the home equity loans would help. This one is standard 80%. Just got to get my 20% down put together. God is good...