All Forum Posts by: Gretchen Roberts

@Joel Owens I was asking more generally because I'm putting together a property evaluation spreadsheet and wondered where to put the Reserves line item--in with the other operating expenses or outside if it. As you said--key metrics up front! 

My personal goals are to buy a smaller building to get my feet wet--not sure yet on 2-4 or 5-10 unit--and learn on the job with smaller properties so I don't make the big mistakes on the big properties. But I want to get the numbers right from the beginning.

I've read that capital expenses shouldn't be included in an NOI calculation, but is it ok to include a per-door reserve? (By OK, I mean if I include it and use the resulting figure as reasoning for making a specific offer, will the seller think it's normal or that I'm trying to pull one over on him?)

My husband isn't 100% on board either. He's concerned about our personal assets and doesn't want to divert money that he thinks should go into our retirement accounts.

Our compromise is this: we agreed that if I earn money from consulting outside of my regular job, that can go toward real estate investing (my W-2 income is all accounted for in our family budget). 

I'm positive that once I start and he sees how it works, he'll get interested in the number-crunching and realize how much better real estate can be as an investment tool than sticking all our money into a 401k. Not saying we'll quit doing that entirely, but that this is my plan to bring him 'round. 

I'm also developing a really super-detailed spreadsheet that combines the best of several downloads from BP, and am going to ask him to review it and show him how to put sample purchases in. The thirty-year forecast alone should show him the benefits of REI and leveraging.

Great strategy @Rob Wilson  I learn something new every day on BP! Didn't know direct marketing would work for multifamily...but why not? 

Wow, great story @Ken P. Talk about hard work and persistence. Nice to see you're half done and on your way to good cashflows after all that hard work. 

I'm wanting to get into multifamily for similar reasons to yours--if I were still 25 I'd start with single-family, but inching up to 40 my timeline is different. Really fascinating to read your first-year story. Thanks for sharing.

Seems to me that, without experience and a track record, you'd be wise to put together sample investments and show them to your investors and say "This is the type of property we want to invest in" and "these are what we believe will be typical numbers." Not only will it help them believe in you, but it will help you get more focused and really understand the numbers before you start. I think your SCORE advisor is right on.

I'm curious as well. I've always ever heard a WOB was useful for getting government and other large contracts because they often have a woman and minority quota to fill, but am not sure how it is helpful in REI, unless lenders also have a quota. :)

Thanks, Joel. I'd agree with that and would only do an auction with numbers firmly in hand, ready to walk. Just wondering about a multifamily at auction, if the owner is in trouble or what. 

I got this in my inbox yesterday, a 95-unit, 4 property mutifamily up for auction in my area. Starting bid is $1M. 

http://www.auction.com/Tennessee/commercial-auctio...

I'm just curious about how a property would end up on the auction block, and if by the time that happens it's still potentially a good deal or if no serious investor would consider it, and that's how it ended up there. 

Not looking to buy it, just learning. Thanks.

@Jeff Trevarthen Well, I bought it. I haven't done any real deals yet but have been using it to practice with pro formas so I can better understand the numbers. Seems to me to be the real deal, refined with years of real use by a real investor.