All Forum Posts by: Heather Wendel

My husband and I just closed on our first investment property, which we will be rehabbing ourselves with a few things contracted out. Since we were looking at a property in another state we had gone back and forth between buying a house that we could quickly turn around and rent out and building new. So we were excited to find a home that someone had gutted, with the intention to flip it, but must have run out of money or interest. The home is about 100 years old, with new windows, new high efficiency furnace, a good floor plan, a nice lot, and in a quiet neighborhood located near several amenities.

We ended up buying the house for $29k and are currently working to get a $50k construction loan to finish everything else, including hopefully furnishing the property for a vacation rental. In the future I can see the value of not doing the work ourselves; however, for this first property we think we can get everything completed by June (depending on when the construction loan goes through). I should also mention that my husband has the experience to do this work (along with the help from a few family members that now live in the area).

A couple questions for anyone who has some wisdom or insight to share:

1. Our bank is offering us a 12-year construction loan at 4.19%. What are your thoughts on refinancing and pulling our equity out (we paid cash for the house itself)? We do hope to buy one house a year for the next couple of years (though not necessarily homes that require this level of effort to rehab).

2. Any recommendations for a good CPA in Michigan with real estate experience? Or how you would go about finding a CPA to work with (especially when investing in a different state than where you live)? 

3. Any other advice you would offer us as we start working on this project?

Thanks!

Thanks @Andrew McConnell. A rental manager is definitely something we may consider in the future and I will check out the report you referenced. Since we are just getting started, I know I'm excited to learn more about STR (both the good and bad!). But since we are currently looking a smaller market, it would be good to keep our eyes out for other locations.

Thanks @James Carlson, @Jonathan Safa, and @John Woodrich - all great advice to know before we get our first property!

I was not aware of the personal occupancy limitations, so thank you very much @John Woodrich! 

@Ariel Vincent I've heard some of the BP podcast guests mention similar tactics, but I hadn't thought about using that with a cleaning person (or company). Great advice - thanks!

Thanks for the welcome and great suggestions! 

@Ariel Vincent the area we are looking at has a couple universities and is a popular destination for both summer and winter outdoor activities and we know several people who have been successful with using airbnb at their properties. Since we will be managing these remotely the logistics and costs associated with the STA are something we are currently trying to work through. I'm guessing once we purchase our first property we will have a steep learning curve and will hopefully figure out ways to automate as much as we can.

I have been listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast for about 6 months and I just recently decided to checkout the website. My husband and I are looking to buy our first investment property in the next couple of months. Although we are currently living in Duluth, Minnesota, we are actually looking at properties in the small town of Houghton and Hancock, Michigan. My husband still co-owns a small business in the area and we get back there pretty regularly.

Our current plan is to buy a house for short-term rentals (e.g., airbnb). I would love to hear from others who have tried this - both the good and the bad. Part of the appeal is to have a house we can stay at when we are in the area (usually about once a month).

Our goal is to buy at least one single family home per year for the next several years, so I'm guessing we will end up doing a combination of long-term and short-term rentals. 

Thanks for any feedback or thoughts!