All Forum Posts by: James Hamilton

Hello all, now that I have my first property finished and rented (as of 7/1/23), I am itching to get into my next one but not sure the best avenue to take. 

Here's what I have:

- $3K left over from rehab that will serve as "reserves"...(I know it's not much! Rehab went over a little bit...but I'll save up some more $$$ as I'm cash flowing around $300 per month)

- Have a primary residence with approximately $80K in equity

- $40K in a 401K 

I am really wanting to get 5 SFHs under my belt before moving into multi-family, but if the right deal comes along I may jump on it. I mainly need to figure out my source of funding first though. 

The way I see it now, I have a couple options:

- Complete a BRRRR and refinance, pulling my equity out (wouldn't be an option until next March, which is why I'm considering other options)

- Take a 401K loan for a down payment 

- Consider a HELOC from my primary residence

Maybe I should just be patient, but I have caught the RE bug and want to keep moving! Any suggestions or do I need to provide more information to get any advice? Just a rookie asking the pros here at BP!

Thanks all,

James

Quote from @Scott Mac:

Quote from @James Hamilton:

Hi all, 

Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday so far. I am hoping to find some advice for how to remodel an outdated kitchen on my first investment property. 

Pic 1 - blue square represents a wall I want to remove to open the space up. On the other side of the wall is the living room and front entrance. The fridge line and stove outlet are in yellow. I'll have to leave wall above the top of the stove (with a narrow countertop), but I want to move the water line to the other side of the kitchen. I also was thinking of painting the cabinets and installing a new quartz or granite countertop. 

Pic 2 - different angle. Horrible red countertop, shelf thing has got to go. 

Pic 3 - want to move the water line to the other side and put the fridge in the yellow circle area. Also would like to throw down some fresh kitchen tile. 

Admittedly, I am not very skilled at designing....so would love to get some advice on what you would do with this kitchen.  Would be greatly appreciated! 

Also, could anyone ballpark an estimated remodel cost for this kitchen...leaving out cost of appliances? I have some contractors scheduled to visit later this week but would like to have a figure in mind before they give me their bid. Thanks again!

 Hi James,

Have you made any headway on that kitchen project yet?

Any new pics for us of the ongoing construction?

Well everyone, let me know what you think! We did not end up removing any walls, just working with what we had. 

Well everyone, after 3 months of rehab...I have leased my first rental property!

Actually leasing it for $1300/month after originally hoping for a $1200 rent, so the hard work has paid off so far. Below is a before/after of the kitchen, which is where we spent the biggest chunk of time/money on during the rehab. 

We used Zillow to advertise the rental and it worked like a charm! Dozens of inquiries and applications within the first few days, so I would highly recommend them to list your property. I read through Brandon Turner's "Managing Rental Properties" pretty much every step of the way, so I couldn't be more thankful for finding this community and all the resources on this site. What a blessing! And the podcasts! 

Anyway, now it's time to focus on property #2! Looking to do something similar...and it's time I start working with a CPA too! Thanks for reading all. 

James

 Would you say the same thing about edibles? Would they be prohibited as well? Or just marijuana "smoking"? 

Hi all, just have a question about the following clause in the Standard Lease Agreement I pulled off BP (one of Brandon Turner's documents included when you order his book). See below. 

"MARIJUANA AND OTHER DRUGS: Tenant shall not be permitted to, and shall not permit any family, visiting friends, dependents, guests, licensees or invitees of Tenant to grow, produce, possess, consume, use, smoke, or ingest any marijuana, cannibas or any products or ingestibles containing marijuana or cannibas in any location in, on or about the Premises; the foregoing prohibition to be absolute and without exception and shall include any growing, production, possession, use or consumption pursuant to any medical use or medical prescription, or any medical, retail or recreational marijuana activities that may otherwise be permitted under any local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations now or hereafter in effect. Tenant’s violation of this rule shall be an immediate and incurable default of this Lease and shall be cause for eviction."

Considering marijuana is recreationally legal in Illinois - are we able to forbid consumption on the premises? How do you verbalize your marijuana/drugs clause in your lease agreements? Just seeing if this clause needs to be tweaked considering the changing laws for marijuana. Thank you all!!

 Thank you Laurie Hartz! It has been a long process and we're almost ready to put a tenant in place - have interest already without even listing the property, so I am excited! Good luck finding your first property - soak in as much education (books, podcasts, videos...) as possible and make some offers when you're ready! Just getting the wheels in motion is the hardest part, but everyone goes through it. You'll do great! 

Question for all - there is a little passthrough in the wall between the kitchen and living room, which is a bit ominous to me (see pics) 

I just don't know what to do with it. We've drywalled the other side to the kitchen, so now's it's an eyesore from the living room. Any suggestions, I would be appreciative!

Hello all, I am considering getting my real estate license and actually switching careers from Healthcare to realtor. Does anyone have a path to obtaining your license that was affordable and that you'd recommend? I see there's a bunch of online options. Any help would be appreciated! Have a good day 

James

Thanks guys! Just so I'm clear, a wall running the full length of the dining area? So there would be no pass through from dining area to kitchen? Just want to make sure i'm understanding. And that would allow for more cabinets up top and a counter below? 

 Wow, thanks for the suggestions Joe! Just to clarify, you're saying install a full wall the length of the ugly red countertop? Then move the fridge and stove over to that wall? Wouldn't I still have to move the plumbing? 

Hi all, 

Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday so far. I am hoping to find some advice for how to remodel an outdated kitchen on my first investment property. 

Pic 1 - blue square represents a wall I want to remove to open the space up. On the other side of the wall is the living room and front entrance. The fridge line and stove outlet are in yellow. I'll have to leave wall above the top of the stove (with a narrow countertop), but I want to move the water line to the other side of the kitchen. I also was thinking of painting the cabinets and installing a new quartz or granite countertop. 

Pic 2 - different angle. Horrible red countertop, shelf thing has got to go. 

Pic 3 - want to move the water line to the other side and put the fridge in the yellow circle area. Also would like to throw down some fresh kitchen tile. 

Admittedly, I am not very skilled at designing....so would love to get some advice on what you would do with this kitchen.  Would be greatly appreciated! 

Also, could anyone ballpark an estimated remodel cost for this kitchen...leaving out cost of appliances? I have some contractors scheduled to visit later this week but would like to have a figure in mind before they give me their bid. Thanks again!