All Forum Posts by: Jaron Walling

"can't find a cash flowing property" - Welcome to the club! With record low inventory and sales transactions there's no low hanging fruit.

In this market we think the best opportunities are value-add (BRRRR'ish), zoning changes allowing density (ADUs), or seller financing deals (buy a lower rate). Each require effort. 

@Anthony Zotto I hope you purchased a good deal because it's time to go to work and establish a new order. 

You bought tenants and all there baggage. Get as much information from the previous landlord as possible BEFORE meeting them. You could break the ice, introduce yourself (unless you go PM), do an inspection, and bring a lease agreement for them to read and hopefully sign.

You'll probably increase the rent. The tenants are not going to happy, they don't want the details, and they only want facts. Use the information you have and determine what they can afford. If you're $400 below market rate I'd give them chance to "catch up". Sometimes tenants never catch up to market rate, but at least there lagging behind. This is probably the reason why the previous landlord sold with tenants in place. They couldn't or choose not to get rent increases in order. It's about to be your small business. Treat it as such or the tenants will try to take advantage of you as well.

If you jump rent $400 per month they could just move out. They could put up a fight. Aim for a path that benefits the current tenants if it's worth it. Hopefully they realize working with you and paying higher rent is better than moving. Get your lease, notices, and documents ready incase they put up a fight and won't sign the lease. An eviction hurts everyone. 

@Walter C. Every state has different laws regarding a notice to terminate/non renewal of lease. What did your letter say? 

If a tenant is breaking clauses in your lease at minimum I would have stated that in the letter, given ___ days to make the correction, or plan to move out of my property at ___ date. You have to get specific with these dates, give opportunities to correct, and take action the next day if nothing happens.

"I am not a charity." - Exactly it's a business and there's little grey area when PM is done correctly. 

Outside of the letter you should explain the consequences of an eviction. It hurts the tenants ability to find another rental, nobody wins, and it takes forever costing you money. 

@V.G Jason That makes sense. I should probably focus less on the highs and lows and aim for that average ARV per location and what buyers/renters are looking for.

I checked out that house. Total disaster. I was able to walk right in. Every room was wrecked, windows broken, HVAC stolen, and the garage was just as bad. Only redeeming quality is location, layout, size of rooms, and vaulted ceilings. Actually checked 3 houses and they were all disasters. 

You ever buy and remodel house like that? Seems like a big risk given our experience. 

Previous owner bought it for $71k in 2022 (OOS LLC), asking $89k, ARV $135-150k.

@V.G Jason Are you finding it difficult to estimate ARV right now?

Prices are up in our market but the discrepancy between prices, similar specs, and actively listed is weird. It's $15-30k in our target areas. There's either a lot of clueless sellers or my sold comps are too narrow. There's a lot DOM also but I expect during the winter. 

As rates have gone up we tightened my sold comps. It's making it hard to find anything worth chasing. Driving by a property today to see if makes sense to walk. It's down the street from our rental which we BRRRR'd two years ago. Asking $89k, probably a $40-50k rehab.

We had our first child so we have been on the sidelines for a hot minute. Haven't bought anything since April, 2023. 

Starting looking for opportunities last Fall and so far it's been terrible. We have had success buying in the winter, but this time it feels different. Our buy [box] is small but dang it's tough out there. Can't find any low hanging fruit. Haven't found a deal that works for BRRRR. Off market FB leads, MLS, wholesaler doesn't matter. What were doing isn't working.

We're going to start attending local meet-ups again and stay active. We need to build more relationships. 

 Excellent! 

Have you tackled any rehabs yet? What does your buy [box] look like? Walked any houses and ran the numbers? What type of funding are you using? Can you DIY projects and cost cuts? 

You should jump into the weeds as long as you have a few exit strategies, know the market, have a stable 9-5, and emergency savings.

@Joshua Nichols I'd take @Travis Timmons advise to heart and think about the challenges associated with flipping RE. You're reading a 10 chapter book and tryin to skip the first 4. It's not as easy as the social media gurus preach. 

If you don't own a primary residence I'd start there.

Don't pile on risk at 21 y/o. I'd level up with a BRRRR, live-in flip, or house-hack before jumping into a challenging renovation. Those are opportunities for experienced investor but you're not experienced. Creative financing to buy deals is another dangerous approach. Avoid it until you get the investor ball rolling.

You need boots on the ground (you?) to determine neighborhood classes. A lot of the popular markets have maps created showing class but I'd take caution using them. Some of them are outdated and don't reflect current trends. A handful of quality flips, BRRRR's, or new construction can transform a neighborhood quickly. No map is going to keep up.

It's not a black and white thing. There's always grey zones of A/B, B/C, or D/war zone like neighborhoods. Generally speaking when you find more owner occupied properties and less rentals you're in C+/B class. A class is 90-100% owner occupied properties. Price to rent ratio rarely works in A class areas unless you go STR.

If it's a true B class expect to pay for it. Small multi-family is hot right now due to house-hacking (low barrier of entry), and future cash-flow. 

You either have verified income and meet the other requirements, or don't. Red flag. 

If you're this far along I'd call the employer anyways. 

Make sure it's legit by asking a question a buddy couldn't answer quickly. Call a different number you found online associated with the same company, etc. If it's not a real job... next.