All Forum Posts by: Jaiden Olsen

I would Highly Recommend using Reeder Property Management. They are local to Utah and have a ton of experience. They have offices in Logan, Ogden, and Salt Lake City. I personally use them and I love working with the people at Reeder.

https://www.reederproperties.com/

@Michael Sharp, I personally use a property manager out of Logan whom highly recommend. Cody Reeder,  with Reeder Asset Management. He personally owns lots of properties in Logan and manages thousands of doors. I'd expect to pay between 8%-10% on a multi-family property. If I were in your shoes, and dead set on managing my own property, I'd reach out to a reputable, local property manager, like Cody, and see if you can't purchase good lease agreements from them. Either that, or I would have a local real estate attorney draft you your own lease agreement. You can find free ones from the State of Utah, but they are not very well written and are designed to be as unbiased as possible, if not, favoring the tenant, which isn't what you want. Congrats on finding a fourplex in an awesome market! Good luck and let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Thank you for your service to our great nation. Cody's website is below.

https://www.reederproperties.com/

@Michael Sharp

@Nathan Marden, If the numbers truly work, then make it happen. It is rare to find a 4-plex that works well here in Utah. Meth Remediation is not that expensive, especially if you just do it in one unit. I recently bought a property that had readings at 0.8/100cm2. To have it cleaned up only cost me $2,200. That is a pretty mild investment to get into your first property. It may seem like a lot up front, but if the numbers work, make it happen.

@Josiah Halverson, check out Reeder Property Management, They have been around in Logan and Ogden for a while and recently opened an office in Salt Lake County. They are awesome! I'd definitely recommend them!

@Caleb Lund, Welcome to BP! This is a great community. I am a practicing structural engineer in the Salt Lake City area. I own a few investments and have done fairly well investing in the greater Salt Lake City area. Engineering is an incredible skill, but most engineers are terrible business people. My guess, is that if your company is like most, you'll be hard pressed to have a career that provides you a salary that ever exceeds $100k. My advice to you would be to pursue your career through engineering, but make sure that you build your lifestyle to suit your investing goals. For example, last year I accepted an engineering position with a small firm that paid significantly less than what I was making with my previous firm. I did this for a few reasons. #1 to be closer to home (read "Set for Life," by @Scott Trench ). #2 this job offered the flexibility (as long as I get my 40 hrs, I can work whenever I want) I need to manage my rental portfolio and attend as many networking events as possible. #3 to grow with a young engineering firm that has plenty of opportunity for growth and allows me to bring in my own engineering work through the real estate network that I've developed (flippers, developers, etc all need engineering services occasionally).

I'm a big fan of having that W2 income that will help you qualify for loans, etc. but make sure that you don't lose focus of your long term goals, especially as you move forward in engineering. It will be hard and overwhelming, and if you let it, you'll work 80+ hrs per week. DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN! You deserve better, focus on the long term, and do your best at work, but don't kill yourself for someone else's dreams. Build your own dreams. Be patient, the deals will come as long as your are involved in the local market; networking, talking to people, driving for dollars, etc.

Best of Luck and let me know if you have any questions I can answer!

@Brigham Lewis, fellow Aggie here! I loved my time at Utah State. There are a ton of great things about going to college! I graduated with a Master's degree in Engineering. I worked my way through school and was able to graduate debt free (miraculously in this day and age). I love the idea of investing your $10k into a rental property (check this one out in Logan) and doing both. I see no reason to not pursue both. Both Real Estate and a formal education are worthy goals and worth the time and effort you put into them. You are still very young and have a lot of life ahead of you! I think your goal of being financially independent by the age of 30 is an awesome goal, and definitely doable even while going to school. Stay focused, get through school fast, avoid student loans as much as you can, and in your free time, learn about real estate. If you are looking for inspiration, read as much as you can about Dakota Worrell. He started going to school at Utah State, and is now one of the most successful investors I know. He started super young and has done some INCREDIBLE things! 

I'm not sure where you are getting your pro-forma rents, but those look super high for a 2/1 Roy apartment. A quick google search shows that this 4-plex was recently rented at $645/unit. Looks like the deal may fall apart using those numbers... 

@Nils Hay, Welcome to BP! This is a great community. I am a practicing structural engineer in the Salt Lake City area. I own a few investments and have done fairly well investing in the greater Salt Lake City area. Engineering is an incredible skill, but most engineers are terrible business people. My guess, is that if your company is like most, you'll be hard pressed to have a career that provides you a salary that ever exceeds $100k. My advice to you would be to pursue your career through engineering, but make sure that you build your lifestyle  to suit your investing goals. For example, last year I accepted an engineering position with a small firm that paid significantly less than what I was making with my previous firm. I did this for a few reasons. #1 to be closer to home (read "Set for Life," by @Scott Trench). #2 this job offered the flexibility (as long as I get my 40 hrs, I can work whenever I want) I need to manage my rental portfolio and attend as many networking events as possible. #3 to grow with a young engineering firm that has plenty of opportunity for growth and allows me to bring in my own engineering work through the real estate network that I've developed (flippers, developers, etc all need engineering services occasionally).

I'm a big fan of securing that first engineering position with a decent income that will help you qualify for loans, etc. but make sure that you don't lose focus of your long term goals, especially as you get started in engineering. It will be hard and overwhelming, and if you let it, you'll work 80+ hrs per week. DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN! You deserve better, focus on the long term, and do your best at work, but don't kill yourself for someone else's dreams. Build your own dreams. Be patient, the deals will come as long as your are involved in the local market; networking, talking to people, driving for dollars, etc.

Let me know if you have any questions about investing in the Salt Lake City area, or need recommendations for engineering positions out here, I've worked with some of the best structural firms in the state and would be happy to chat about that as well!

@Peter Rodriguez, Welcome to BP! Congrats on finding this awesome community! Finding deals is hard. Period. Especially in Utah! Every investor struggles with it. If it were easy, everyone would do it, right? I would highly recommend coming out to the local meet-ups and meeting people. Networking is one of the most valuable tools you can have in your toolbox. Meeting good wholesalers is a great strategy. Surrounding yourself with like minded people is extremely valuable. Check out these websites for the most valuable, inexpensive, networking groups and start attending! There are several events, in multiple different locations, at different times, etc. So find one that works for you and get out there!

https://www.utahreia.org/

https://uvreia.com/

https://slreia.com/

https://www.nureia.org/

@David Fairall , Welcome to BP! Congrats on finding this awesome community! Finding deals is hard. Period. Especially in Utah! So congratulations! Every investor struggles with it. If it were easy, everyone would do it, right? I would highly recommend coming out to the local meet-ups and meeting people. Networking is one of the most valuable tools you can have in your toolbox. Meeting good wholesalers is a great strategy. Surrounding yourself with like minded people is extremely valuable. Check out these websites for the most valuable, inexpensive, networking groups and start attending! There are several events, in multiple different locations, at different times, etc. So find one that works for you and We will see you around!

https://www.utahreia.org/

https://uvreia.com/

https://slreia.com/

https://www.nureia.org/