All Forum Posts by: Jacob Lapp

@Bonnie Rhodes Bought and lived in first triplex at 22. Just closed on a duplex where I am living now at 23.

@Jimmy Lieu

I did all the work myself. With some help of my buddies if they were around. I Went to school for hvac/plumbing in highschool and ive been doing sidework painting for about 5 years.

The house was laid out perfectly to add the bathroom just filled some empty space in the laundry room with it. Had a 4ft crawl space underneath that had the main sewer drain I was able to tie into. Used pex tubing and got the toilet and vanity (practically new) from a buddy who works in retirement homes so after each person they replace everything. Gave him $50 for his trouble which he didnt want to even take. I had a lot of paint left from old jobs I could use and just odds and ends. New mailboxes, powerwashed and added a ceiling fan in the one unit.

I’m always looking for things I might be able to use on an upcoming project and store it. But definitely saved a ton of money doing the work myself. If I wasn’t sure about something youtube is a great resource!

@Natalie Schanne

Yeah KW is who I’m with and the fees are killers. Who are you with?

@Benj Ecker

Last year I did my first deal for 25k.

Property type triplex single house in front, duplex in back.

Listed for 330k got it for 280k plus 3k sellers assist which is subtracted from cash to close and 2k in commission for representing myself as buyers agent.

The numbers were as follows mortgage,taxes,insurance $1950

Expenses to fix up 3k (added a half bathroom in single house and cosmetic repair)

Water, sewer, electric all split to tenants

I pay $400 a year for trash.

Single family $1400

Bottom duplex unit $950 (he cuts grass and does some minor property maintenance)

We lived in the other unit.

Just moved out and am getting additional $1250 for our unit.

Now flowing $1600 a month.

Because we claimed residency we were eligible for first time home buyer 5% down.

Ask your mortgage guy if this 5% down first time home buyer is available in your state. If not fha 3.5% down claiming residency would be a good alternative.

Hope this helps

@Brian Lucier

Again, very well said and I agree. I am extremely passionate about this and love helping people start because I do believe in it. At this point currently working full-time, rehabbing the house myself I am living in during my off-time, gaining new knowledge, and helping friends do the same. At times can feel overwhelming not because I don’t like doing it. I love the chaos it just seems my energy isn’t matched by the people around me. I know this is where there’s a lot of like minded people who hustle the same as me and wanted to get some insight on their views. I think I have a good consensus of what people are saying here and I just need to stick it out and keep being a good friend and learn with them. I appreciate your time.

@Michael C.

I’m a newbie as well just did my second deal.

I had the same question. You will get a lot of different opinions here.

I think it has more to do with your mindset, how you treat your properties and the type of tenants you are getting.

You are required to get Homeowners insurance and after talking to other vetted investors all lawsuits they had (so far) were covered under there homeowners insurance.

However, there is always the “what if” what if something really terrible happens and they come after everything I have?

Being as I am new you can take this with a grain of salt but personally I don't have an LLC yet but once I am more established I plan on getting them for each property or partnership.

@Brian Lucier

Well said! I totally agree I know building these relationships/ networks is extremely valuable. I have very little to offer in the scheme of things because of my lack of experience, plus these are my friends I would not want to ever ask them for money.

Where I was conflicted and feel like I know better now is that it went from planting the thought in them to holding their hands throughout the whole process. Where because I didn’t have the same hand holding I had to learn more myself which made me understand things better. I think I just have to make the disconnect/ boundary where I can show them the resources I use and help when I can instead of burning myself out.

@Stephen E.

The reason I am leery of commercial loans is higher down payment, higher interest (4% isn’t bad) and higher cost/more stringent inspection processes.

The only reason I would convert to 4 from 5 would be to get a residential loan and be able to put 3.5% down opposed to 25%.

I plan on getting into commercial apartments later on and just feel like it wouldn’t be worth it to do so on just 5 units.

I think if I would go forward it would be with either seller financing or just sticking it out and finding a quad.

@Kris H.

I totally agree. I’m brand new in the scheme of things.

My main point I was making is that I have people reaching out to me to get started. The amount of time I’m putting into helping them start too is starting to add up.

I’m not trying to add to my income from telling people I’m some guru. I was thinking of it more based on maybe people would ask less if I set that boundary.

I think I’m just going to let people know what resources I use from the jump and that if they want to have their hands held throughout the process I would need to charge for my time.

Thanks for your input.

@Todd Rasmussen

Lol well played post and I agree thanks!