All Forum Posts by: Jacob I Strauss

Hello everyone and thank you in advance for any advice you can give on my current situation. Long story short I have a rental property in IL when I run the numbers for it I am getting a 73% COC return buuuuuuuut theres some issues. Total cash flow is 183 currently renting for 2050 which is high for my area but not too high for the property in general it is in a very nice neighborhood but here are the issues.

1. it's on a flood plane and it did have minor flooding while I lived there it didn't get in the house but did damage dry wall in the garage and had to replace insulation in the crawl space. "I have insurance for this"  "as a whole when it rains the property retains water leaving the backyard squishy for a few days and the village wont allow for any regrading of the property to fix the issue"

2. Since renting I have had to replace the HVAC system, and a year before then the water heater, it has a new hardwood floor, and carpet but needs some minor work to the back deck and garage door step. I lost a tenant due to medical issues causing them to have to break their lease at no fault and it will cost me 2k more with current management to get a new tenant.

So my question: Should I bite the bullet and get a new tenant or maybe find a new property manager that doesn't have such a high fee and use a HELOC or cash out refinance to fund further real estate purchases? Or should I sell the property and cut my losses and lessen the risk of my property suffering long term issues. As per Redfin it says I am not at a flood risk of more than 3" for 5 years because of my crawlspace but it makes me un easy. When it flooded before it was more like 18IN lol staring at water just below the level of my house was concerning to put it lightly current equity is 100k.

Thank You all soooooooooooo much for your advice

Hello everyone brand new and getting out there looking for deals out here in Sunny San Diego. From what I can find here it seems like a lot more flipping than BRRRR going on because my market is just so expensive, but I have been considering Remote investing.

At the moment I have been driving for dollars about to generate some postcards and see if anyone might be considering selling their homes. Has anyone been doing this with any success or even some crazy stories about your experience? Do you prefer to send postcards via direct mail or leave on their porch or doorway? I currently have an agent, and a contractor lined up I went with a loan depot lender though considering hard money lending if the right deal comes along and I can only throw down cash. Is it worth going through a lender for a 203K loan or should I just stick to a hard money lender? Any tips for getting started is very much appreciated I thank all of you for all the content and feedback such a great community it's like drinking from a fire hose but im drinking from it everyday.

Have a wonderful day everyone and happy hunting out there!!!

Hey Auralee,

I too am a newbie but Ill tell you that you are on to something worth a closer look. In general it means there is opportunity perhaps the home is badly damaged to where most wouldn't buy it or other investors have tried to get a deal but the seller wont come down from their price. Usually after enough time a seller will come down but it is all situational they may not need to sell right away and can wait it out. I would say do your due diligence and if the numbers are right seize that opportunity. When you run the numbers even if you say to yourself there is no way they would accept this offer just give em a try and see what they say you never know.

So first I want to say thank you to the Biggerpockets my gosh I have consumed so much material Over YouTube and soon the forums to give me the confidence to push forward on my investing journey. I haven't signed up for Pro just yet but I will be soon and going to the next bootcamp really all of you thank you so much it's like I found my tribe and it is so refreshing to be around like minded individuals.

Ok ill try to keep this as short as possible so instead of going through all my numbers ill say this. Currently I have a rental property in IL I decided to rent It out and moved my family to FL. We had a tenant very quickly properly screened and so on well they have to leave and the property only cash flows 183 renting for 2050. That rent is currently high on Rentometer though my sfh can command that kind of rent. Zillow and my property manager believe we can go to 2300 now but it'll cost another 2,000 for a new tenant. I am not a fan of the finders fee as it murders my cash flow for the year. I am going to look for some other property managers and see what they offer as competition but that aside I am trying to expand into more real estate while I am stationed in CA. I've decided to go the flipping route lol nothing cash flows here now a days and I don't think I'm insulated enough to do remote investing at this time. I am planning on doing a few flips and using the proceeds to start remote investing performing BRRR's all over the US. Lastly I refinanced this property a year ago so after closing and fees I would see APX 65K in proceeds or I could take out a heloc and see 80-90K and keep my property. Lastly I am a little wary of this property because the lot retains water so during heavy raining though it doesn't go to the house does make the backyard rather unusable. The house did have minor flooding in the crawl space and is on a minor flood plane that I do have insurance for. So here's the question should I keep or sell this property?