All Forum Posts by: Greg Kasmer

@Sanil Subhash Chandra Bose - I would investigate American Heritage Credit Union. They are not just in KOP area, but all over the Philly DMA. I've found them to be "investor friendly" and recently worked with them on a loan. I know the business lender there so if you're interested in an introduction, please let me know!

Kevin - One of the larger REIA's in the country is right in Philadelphia. It's "Diversified Investors Group" or "DIG" - Their main meeting is in the northern suburbs, but they also have smaller group meeting in and around the city. Also, there is a smaller, but very active group in Delaware County called "Delco Property Investors" or DPI. Check them out as well!

Othman - Philly suburbs are different than the city of Philadelpia and within the city there many, many neighborhoods. I would suggest you underwrite 100 deals in your target market in Philly and get a sense for what the deal flow looks like. Like many have said, any wholesaler/agent will have good deals and bad deals and you'll need to decipher those apart. The only way to do that is to get a look/underwrite many deals so that you'll be able to spot a good deal from New Western (or anyone else). Good Luck! 

@Andrew Montgomery - If you're goal is get to 10 properties in 3 years you'll need to figure out how to "recycle" your money that you invest in real estate, mainly by either BRRRRing single families or doing something similar with multifamily. I would suggest you consider the following ideas:

- Can you put a HELOC on your primary house and pull out some cash ($100-300k) in funds to invest in BRRRR properties?

- Would you be willing to sell a portion of your stocks to pull out some funds, OR, can you get a line of credit against your stock portfolio? 

Overall, I think you'll need a way to pull out a few hundred thousand via what I mentioned above or another mechanism. Then, I would consider your strategy for investing, which might be:

- Do 2-3 single family BRRRS each year for the next few years.

- Invest in 1-2 smaller mulitfamilies (2-10 units) and drive up the value so you can pull out your cash and find another similar mulitfamily property.

- Co-GP or partner on a larger syndication or JV purchase of a large multifamily. That typically is a longer (3-5+ years).

Whatever strategy you use you'll want to make sure you can make investments, drive up the value of the property and then refinance to pull out all/most of your initial cash. Difficult, but possible to do. 

Let me know if you want to discuss. Trying to do something similar myself!

Good Luck! 

@William Pichardo - I agree with Thomas's points. I would focus on your contractors and agents at this point. Go to meetups, REIA meetings, etc... to find recommendations for contractors. You'll want to talk to them, see their work, and get a gauge for how much they cost. At the same time, I would speak/interview 3-5 agents and explain what you're looking for in your properties to see if they can keep an eye out for your ideal project. It's a numbers game for certain so the more you see the quicker you'll be able to identify a good deal. Just for your own sake I would pick just a few zip codes to focus in on first and committ to reviewing/analyzing 50-75 properties on those zip codes. Good Luck!

@Nam Pham - Could you provide more details on how off the leveling is? Is it parts of the floor or the entire floor? How old in the building? Is it settling over time? I've had my contractor pour a leveling liquid over sections of floor and then run LVP or carpet overtop to correct for a few inches (1-3 inches) in drop in a room or two. It sounds like any lifting and/or adjusting to beams would be expensive. To me, this is a cost that won't "add value" to your BRRRR, so I would more strongly consider how much it might impact your ability to rent the unit/house. Good Luck!

@Jeremy Altdorfer - The one point I would add to the conversation is it's one thing for you to be comfortable with the financials/income, but another for your lender. I agree with many that have responded that one year financials and a revenue number from a schedule E would be standard. However, I would also ask your lender what they require/request. You can utilize that as basis when speaking with the seller... Good Luck!

@Dan Kim - There is guy that does education/tutorials on developing business credit. His name is Marco Carbajo - I would google him and see his videos on YouTube, etc... He talks a LOT about building business credit and using business credit cards. Personally I'm not sure that there is one that can be issued without a personal guarantee, but if there is my guess is he would know about it! Good Luck!

@Adolphus Fletcher - If you're main goal is to build business credit there are different avenues to do so including: obtaining and unsecured line of credit for the business, applying for a business credit card, applying for business accounts such as Home Depot/Lowes, etc... Some are easier than others for a newly started LLC. I would suggest you research/follow a person named "Marco Carbajo" on YouTube as he provides good information for obtaining business credit. You can get the ball rolling using his techniques/ideas and then make sure your next purchase is in your LLC. Good Luck!

@Tasha Smith - I agree with Gino. The missing element/data point here is the market rents in the area and how your units compare to the market. If market rents are $1800 per unit, then it's an entirely different conversation. (i.e. I would set a "glide path" to increase rents every 6 months to get closer to the market). However, if you're rental rates are close to the market rates my suggestion would be to set them at $1375 and then bump them up next year upon renewal another 2-4%. $25/month over the course of the year is only $250 and you'll likely lose that amount in turnover costs if one decides to move out.