All Forum Posts by: Jaiden Olsen

Here are some great book recommendations on out of state real estate investing. 

Long-Distance Real Estate Investing, David Green

Emerging Real-Estate Markets, David Lindhal

ABC's of Real Estate Investing, Ken McElroy

2% is out of the question in Utah. If you find a good off market deal, you can get close to 1%. 

Looking at the numbers you posted for your duplex, you aren't accounting for any repairs, maintenance, capital expenditures (as you stated), property management, or vacancy. I assume that when you say that this is a "half duplex" that it is one unit renting at $1350, not two. When I account for those numbers I calculate that you're actual cash-on-cash return is -1.5% and your return on investment (accounting for loan pay down and estimated market appreciation) is closer to +3%. There are definitely better ways to leverage your money. 

As far as being a newbie and not knowing how to invest your money, that is definitely a personal preference on how involved you want to be. I know that the short-term rental (AirBnB & VRBO) market in St. George is screaming right now. I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to rent out your half duplex for $150-$200 per night. Even if you were 50% vacant, you could still get CoC returns close to 6.5%. But it is highly involved. If you are looking for more passive strategies, I would consider selling and looking at turn-key properties with a good turn-key company, or get into the lending business. There are tons of people looking for rehab money, and $50k goes a long ways in a rehab. A lot of those lending guys are making an 8%-12% return in 3-6 months.

My advice would be to figure out where you want to be on the "scale of passivity" as Brandon Turner calls it, and learn as much as you can!

Best of luck! Let me know if I can help at all!

I'm a huge fan of Hal Elrod and the Miracle morning. It is critical to get my mind in the right place, hone in on the most important things I need to accomplish during the day, and set achievable daily goals that will move me closer to my dreams. 

The first thing I do after my miracle morning is check the MLS and other listing sites for new deals, analyze deals from real estate agents and wholesalers, and then identify 1-2 off market properties that I am interested in and make a plan to contact each seller.

Everyone's routine is different, but a routine is critical.

My most recent FSBO was a seller financed deal. He requested that he choose the title company that I deposited my earnest money. My realtor complained about it and requested that he hold the money. I don't have a problem with either my agent holding the earnest money, or the title company (whether it is selected by me or the seller). As Jackson said, I wouldn't, for anything, give earnest money to the seller's broker.

@Clark Bown, Finding anything right now is tricky. Especially those properties that are in such high demand. We are at the peak of the market (not to say that the market won't keep going up, or that it will start to go down), people who are selling are likely looking for top dollar. My best advice, would be to keep looking, network with other investors in the area, and make sure you are in a position to move quickly, when a property looks good.

I'm looking at a property for sale near campus that I want to build 10-12 Married student apartments on. It would be a great investment. 

Let me know if I can help further.

-Jaiden

@Clark Bown, are you a buyer, land lord, property manager, renter etc.? 

Multi family is more scale-able in my experience. If you are looking for long-term passive income, the faster you can leverage yourself into these larger properties, the better.

Most anything you find on the MLS will be listed at top dollar. Almost everything that I've seen in the last year, as far as small multi-family along the Wasatch front, has been listed below a 4 CAP.

If you are looking to house hack, I think that your analysis has to change. House hacking is great, but most places that you find in Utah won't cover your mortgage payment, let alone make a profit on (at least initially). You'd probably be lucky to break even. When I have helped people identify good house hack properties (on the MLS), we have looked at what their PITI would be if they were to go buy a SFR. If that number is $1600/month, then our target for a house hack would be to make their portion of the PITI of the house hack less than $1600/month (accounting for vacancy, repairs, maintenance, etc). It is still a great way to invest in the current market, but you will definitely find it challenging along the Wasatch front if your only looking at listed properties. I think in the long run, it will be a great investment for anyone in the Salt Lake area, if you are willing to hold it long enough.

First off, welcome to BP and good for you for saving that much money and being able to afford that super expensive program! Second, My in laws are from Grace and Bancroft in Southeast Idaho. Love Caribou County!

I think option #1 is best. It will be difficult to find a property that will break even while House hacking. However, it will likely, drastically reduce your living expenses. You can get into the property with 3.5% down using an FHA loan, and it will give you GREAT experience! Since there is a possibility that you will only be in SLC for a few years, I would make sure that my eyes are on the future. If/when you leave, I wouldn't plan on selling, I would lean more toward hiring a property manager to handle your property. In my experience, Property managers do a better job with multi-family than with Single family. Aside from that, multi-family properties fare much better during short term vacancy than single family.

That being said,  you will likely have a hard time finding a good 2-4 unit building, but I would definitely prefer option #1. Good luck and let me know if I can help in anyway!

Jacob Howell, with Century 21 is one of the best agents for investors. He understands the game and has some investment properties himself. I first used Jacob as my realtor when I was a student at USU. Since he is willing to drive down to the Wasatch front, I still use him today. Here is his profile. Jacob Howell, Century 21.

Good luck in the graduate program up there! I had a great time during my undergrad and graduate studies at USU! Go Aggies!