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All Forum Posts by: Paul Chae

Paul Chae has started 17 posts and replied 61 times.

It was a little unique situation as I commented above, with the tenant having already been paying fair market price for his rent. So if I want to decline the request from tenants going forward, I guess I would either just say no or let them know that it's for someone else.. anyhow I ended up allowing the tenant to move into the renovated unit so he will move probably sometime next month or December. Appreciate all the great suggestions! Cheers

Quote from @Bjorn Ahlblad:

I am surprised the renovated unit is only 100 dollars more. Please check that out. If it were in my building I would let them move in the renovated unit and then renovate the other unit, have a better building make more money. All the best! 

What happened was this tenant's rent was already pretty close to market price and the unit he is living in only has one bedroom and somehow there was parking space in the lease although he does not have a car. Now he has been wanting to move to a 2 bedroom unit, not necessarily for larger sqft, but for more privacy with other family members. Writing this, I am thinking maybe I could counter offer with a new lease without the parking space for lower rent and see what comes back.. But of course I get the idea of getting both units renovated and maximize NOI, which is ideal for the most part : ) Thanks!

Quote from @Matt Devincenzo:

I'd likely have allowed him to move and turned his old unit over as well. Obviously details matter in this scenario, and maybe the return wasn't there for you, but typically if I'm increasing rent then it should be worth the turnover cost. If he was already interested you may have been able to have gotten an additional $50-100/mo.

Of course if you just don't want to do that period, then I would have simply said 'no' and left it at that.

Yes that makes sense. When the tenant asked, I was not ready for another vacancy and renovation with too many other things going on. Looking back on it I thought I'd need to know how to say 'no' when I need to next time this request is made.

 To add a little backstory, that's most likely what's happening over the next few weeks. The scenario I described above was actually a few months ago. The said tenant has made the same request this time for another unit that is currently being renovated. This time I am planning to accept the request. He will move into the unit and I'll have his current unit fixed up as well. So all in all, 3 out of 4 units will eventually be renovated, with which I am expecting at least $75 to 100 increase per unit approximately speaking.

I appreciate your suggestion!

Hello everyone, 

I have owned this quad since earlier this year. This one is my first multifamily property in central New Jersey. At the initial stage of renovation in one of the units, one of the tenants in other unit saw the rehab was being done and asked if he can moved to the renovated unit once the work is done. Eventually the request was rejected since it would only mean a turnover which I, as a landlord, want to avoid in general. I understand the tenant's motivation, the new unit is only a hundred dollar more expensive than what they are paying for their current unit. but planning on acquiring more rentals, especially multifamilies, I don't want to allow the existing tenant to move into the renovated unit, and the new unit will only be for a new tenant. 

Has anyone encountered this issue or similar ones and I would appreciate any suggestion on how to properly respond to such request? Thanks everyone!

Paul

@Mike Hern Haha yes I admit I had some luck in that sense. However they are actually pretty strongly against the thought of investing, entrepreneurship and there were a number of arguments when it comes to real esate and I spent a number of nights explaining what I am doing over the phone. The apartment probably won't sell at that price point, and is expected to be going downhill, and even though they gifted it to me, they still have a say in deciding on the asking price :/ I guess I have tried everything I could there and it's really the time to get creative. The time has come sooner than I thought. Thanks for your kind word, Mike!

Hey everyone,
I wanted to share what I have experienced in the real estate in the last 2 to 3 years, as someone who probably just got out of the beginner's phase in his investing career(or is still at it). So far I have owned 4 properties, including my own home, in which I have another tenant. Nothing informative, and no soliciting. Just wanted to let it out and be heard from like minded folks.

I came to the US from S.Korea in 2018 when I was 28, and had worked full time as an RN in one of the city hospital in New York City. On my way to work or when I got off work I would see people lying on the lawn enjoying the weather, which made me wonder how come I go to work on the beautiful sunny Saturday while the rest of the world is having fun(Probably majority of them in the lawn were there after work but somehow I acted like I was the only one who goes to work). Well, I don't know about any wealthy people, but I did know they don't work 12 hour shift in the hospital. I was going to apply for nurse anesthesia school for more income from my job. At the time that was my end goal but then I realized that I needed to reconsider my goal in life and make sure I am headed in the right direction. I started searching and reading about how to make money and build wealth quicker. Small businesses, stock investing, having youtube channels... then I was randomly listening to a guy talking about the real estate and later I realized it's something called BRRRR and he was David Greene. After I finished watching that video, everything he was talking about just seemed to make perfect sense(now I know it's not as easy as it sounds in the book!). That flicked this switch in me that day and I have been a big fan of him since, of course along with Josh, Brandon, J Scott and many others.

I had a tiny bit of saving in my bank account, which was of course nothing to do a deal anywhere in NYC.So I looked elsewhere but with just a little over 50k, there's only so many options. So I chose one of the lower priced market in NJ for my first deal. I kept saving, reading, listening to BP podcast and was looking for a 'deal'. It took about 1.5y for me to close on the first deal since the first time I got interested in RE. I purchased this old rowhouse for cash, slightly better looking one than houses in The Wire. and I had just a few thousands left in my bank account. And just on time COVID-19 hit, putting everything on hold. My plan was to refinance it as fast as I can, but I was not able to find a lender who was interested in cash out refi for less than 100k ARV. In a nutshell, it took about 10months to pull my cash back out. I did not feel good about it but what happened happened.

With the money I saved plus the money I pulled out from the first one, I decided to do a flip because I needed capital to acquire more rentals. Used hard money, which was expensive of course, and I changed my mind and decided to keep the property, which was then refinanced and tenant occupied. It was section 8 tenant, the tenant did not pay for about 6 months for her portion, which was about half of the rent. Eviction was filed along the way, but thankfully she has almost caught up with her rent now, but it was definitely some harsh experience looking back.
And then I bought my primary residence, moved from NYC to NJ, used FHA, have one tenant living with me in the house(good thing about it is each of us occupies different levels with separate entrance and we never see each other.).

Earlier this year I bought a quad for cash. The market was hot, all the houses had multiple offers as soon as they come up. I was putting in offers on small multifamilies with loan and I was talking about it with my family in Korea. My parents heard what I said and were generous enough to lend me money at 4.6% interest rate only, which will be paid back once the property is refinanced. I was quoted for 7.35% rental loan from my lender the other day so I am kinda holding off on it..

On the side note, my parents purchased an apartment in Korea about 7 years ago for about 220K. They again generously gifted this apartment unit to me last year. Over the past few years market price went up like nothing we've ever seen, and nowadays asking price has tripled or even quadrupled, at least until this July. These past few months the current global economy definitely affected S.Korea and there has been absolutely no transaction in the area and demand is very low(ARM is the most common there!). I have been telling my parents to sell this apartment since earlier this year but they want to keep it, expecting the value will be even higher in a few years, since renovation throughout the complex is underway and the area is great, which I understand.

My goal at the moment is to realize its equity and use my savings and the proceeds from selling it to buy 6 to 12 unit property for cash by the January 2023. The apartment is on the market at lower price(not low enough probably) and it's not very likely that it's going to sell in the near future. So I am looking to be creative and just need to figure out how to fund the next deal.

So that's how it went down on the investing side. On the personal side, It's been a rough ride, I am not going to lie. I had people to support and my wife's small business and also do my own real estate stuff. I was struggling at times, saving as much as I can, always poor in cash with debt, there was a time I personally asked around to borrow money so that I can either close on a deal or pay contractor before I can get each draw from hard money lender. No night out, no weekends, no travel, no life. A lot of moments and nights I kept repeating myself like a crazy person that I won't give up. I've had only 2 or 3 individuals in my personal relationships to talk about what I do with RE. It took a good amount of time and effort to bring my wife on board for this journey. And I appreciate her patience greatly. Even these days I work 2 nurse jobs for healthcare industry that allow me to fully remotely work at home which allows flexibility. I tried to find freedom but what really happened was, I have never worked and endured and been patient at something this much this long. I try to strictly stick to the core principle that I spend less and contribute a portion of saving to my asset, repairing, sometimes evicting people, renovating.. but I don't regret what I did, how I did it. Overall, I am satisfied with the performance of my properties. And I am planning on slowly reducing my nurse job workload. I am doing pretty well compared to myself 3 years ago. It's just that if I had more money so I didn't have to work 24/7 at my nursing job for nearly 3 years, I could've read more about real estate, get on BP, go to meetups or events to build network, practicing English and communication skills since it's not my primary language, and take better care of my business in general. I just couldn't find time to do anything to grow as an investor and as an individual, other than listening to podcast while driving. These days I try to find the balance in life and live a life, because if I don't, I know I won't be able to go far. 

So that's pretty much it. To sum it up, It's never been easy, but will I do it again if I go back in time? yes, for me, there is no other way around to get to where I want to be. Anyone who has read this far, I appreciate it and would appreciate your comment. I apologize if my writing was gibberish. I am a terrible writer lol. Thanks all, thanks a lot BP.

@Kyle J. I went over the post of yours it's very helpful. All I can say at the moment is I had some costly lesson today. Well.. what can I do other than keep going on the investing journey and try not to get scammed going forward. Thank you for your kind advice!

Hello BP! 
I am an aspiring investor in NY. My main focus is BRRRR stratety and I am doing the third R on my first rental. Unfortunately, it's not been easy at all, not to mention the pandemic that we are facing. Rehab was on hold for about 4 months.
My home was purchased at 45k in early February,
put in about 18k of work,
So initial investment was 63k all in cash.
Targeted ARV was 82k-90k

Anyway, I have been trying to find a lender to refinance on the home, but has not been successful until this point for some reasons.(I couldn't find the 'right' one)
Anyway here's what happened two days ago.
I spoke with a private lender via linekedin, I contacted him first, I sent all the documents requested. I also sent a breakdown to show him the analysis on the deal. He offered pretty good rate and he said he could close on the loan within 3-10days time frame. First he asked for Loan commitment deposit which was $1200 ish, and then yesterday he said the "boards of the company" decided to charge 5% of loan amount for 'payment protection insurance(PPI they call, but they also called it mortgage insurance)' which I couldn't find much about on my research. The reason they are charging PPI is,

He said fund was already wired on Wednesday(He sent me the copy of payment slip) but if I do not make the payment for PPI today, I wouldn't be credited by Friday. And so far I have not made the payment yet. But I sent the commitment deposit.

Is this a complete scammer that I have to run away from or are there some private lender that might charge fees like this?
I'd greatly appreciate your advice from the past experiences!

Happy investing,
Hoyoon Chae

Post: Cash out refi queston

Paul ChaePosted
  • Investor
  • Posts 62
  • Votes 11
Originally posted by @Whitney Hutten:

@Paul Chae As said above, you are going to have to get creative if you aren't going to wait out the seasoning period for a conventional refinance.  Talk to local credit unions.  Talk to SBA lenders.  Talk to investment companies with their own income funds.  I do know a couple of national commercial lenders who are trying to get back to the market this month... so keep on it!

It's worthwhile to note, that you may be able to get your money back quicker, understand the cost to do so.  It may make that seasoning period look very appealing. 

Thank you for the comment, I think I made 20 phone calls. I'd better target at 50 or even 100. Will look into all those type of entities as well!

Post: Cash out refi queston

Paul ChaePosted
  • Investor
  • Posts 62
  • Votes 11
Originally posted by @Dan Travieso:

Part of running a business is to be flexible when it comes to strategy. COVID-19 has turned the mortgage companies upside down as the increased risk to the banks has made them change the rules. Stay focused on your ultimate goal and don't be deadest on the strategy. I would assume that your ultimate goal is to grow wealth, obtain financial independence, etc. Your initial strategy may have been to do a quick BRRRR but you may need to delay it a few months in order to obtain financial terms on the refi that will help you when it comes to growing wealth. Jumping on a loan program with high points and high interest just to say you did a BRRRR would not be a sound business decision as it will result in you having less cash available for your next deal in the long run.

Thanks for the advice. It is enlightening indeed. I guess I'll have to try to look at bigger picture.