All Forum Posts by: Jaryn Pierson

Way to go Brandon. First recomendation would be to pick up the book in the BP library by Jamil Danji about wholesailing. Lots of good tips in there about building lists / making calls etc.  As for direct answers to your questions . . 

 - Personally I like propstream, it's fairly affordable IF you are using it daily to actually make calls and ready to pull the trigger on a purchase

 - As for pulling lists, that is all going to depend on your buy box. If you're looking for single family, well, you're going to pull single family list. If you're looking for small multi, well, small multi list it is. Beyond that, at least in Propstream, you will be able to tailor your lists with certain filters like 'high equity owners' or 'distressed properties' or 'out of state owner's' etc. 

Hope that helps and happy investing !

Hey Irving,

I bought something quite similar not too long ago. Got lucky that a few of the residents decided to leave pretty quickly when the new landlord (me) showed up.  Was able to get those units rented at market value pretty quickly without too much repairs. At face value with the information you've given us this property is going to run negative in quite a big way for quite some time. Doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it, but i'd want a really strong battle plan in front of me of EXACTLY how this thing comes together over the next 12 months or so and I'd make sure I had all the cash PLUS SOME to make it all happen.  Last thing I'll add is that you want to make sure you are paying for the value of the property AS IS and not paying for what it will be worth after you fix it up / raise rents etc.

Hey Cody

5 to 15 unit multifamily size is a great niche to get into. Most investors, especially beginners, are looking at 1-4 units per deal and the big players aren't even taking a peak at an 8 unit. I've found less competition in that space personally and had a pretty easy time getting an 8 unit under contract for a reasonable price.  The question for you is going to be how much time you're willing to put in. If i'm you i'm spending all my time looking for a property management company to work with that knows the market and will let you 'look under the hood' a bit of their operation so you can learn with them as they manage your property. I'd start calling them today as they may also have a few buildings for you in their portfolio that investors may be looking to get rid of. Last little piece of advice would be to read the Landlording book by Brandon Turner and his way from cover to cover if you haven't already. At least at that point if you do hire a PM company to manage the property at lesat you'll know the right questions to ask.
Good luck and have fun with it.

Hey Chase

I'll echo what Arn said above. I've also got an apartment building that is mostly 1/1's and I love it. Super easy to fill the units as the rent is pretty affordable for a single person or a younger couple.  Also is nice because there are no kids in the building which keeps things quiet for everyone else.

Hey Mike

Not sure if I'm exactly what you're looking for but I do own one commercial building with 8 units in it. I've gone through the acquisition / stabilization period once now. I'm not quite in upstate NY but instead located in The Berkshires which is pretty close, plus a great spot to visit if you're in NYC metro area. Lots of stuff up here that could potentially be a fit and plenty of stuff offering both appreciation & cash flow if you're willing to do some renovations. Message me if you'd like to chat more.

Very cool concept.  What if you lead with the idea of providing market rate housing rather than vacation rentals.  Leaning into providing housing seems like such an easier pitch nowadays rather than another vacation rental. Could still offer shorter term leases, maybe 3 month minimu, to traveling nurse types etc. Here's my pitch. Find an old warehouse in a place that needs housing. Retrofit the space with 20 units at ideally $50k or less a piece. Each unit would have bedroom with a small kitchenette, bathrooms would be higher end but shared, maybe 4 units per bathroom. Target tenant would be on the younger side, open to different types of housing and shared'ish living space.  Provide more modern amenities . . . larger communal kitchen, we/work style coworking space, laundry on site, pickleball courts, gym, etc, etc. Not exactly sure how to make things private if you've got 20 units in a warehouse but if each was its own building I'm sure it could be figured out.

Sorry not answering your original question but you've got my creative juices flowing. I just put together some quick projections and on paper it works at a reasonable rent number if you could find a warehouse for a reasonable price. Very fun, happy to share projections if you'd like just shoot me a message.

Very cool !

Hey Matt

Couple things that may be worth considering at your size. First off, as a pro member you should have access to all the BP landlord forms applicable to your state. From there you can pick and choose a few (standard lease / apt check in form / deposit to hold / etc /etc) and develop a resident onboarding strategy that works for you. I'll also add that if it's just a few apartments zillow surprisingly works very well for resident screening (background checks, credit checks, employment verification) at no charge to you.  Applicants just pay $25 to apply for as many apartments as they would like to over the course of 30 days. Last tip. Before you consider self management, read Heather / Brandon Turners book on landlording from cover to cover for the best primer out there.

 Great question. I'm talking more about your budget rather than talking down a seller. Essentially when you go to the bank they're going to work with you to figure out your 'maximum' purchase price. This essentially is the most expensive property they think you can afford. And generally, they often times will push you into buying something you maybe cannot afford or 'maybe can just barely if you squint at it the right way' afford.  In this market, if a bank told me lets say my maximum purchase price was going to be $200k for a duplex and that is taking the rental income into consideration, I'd just take 20% off of that and start looking for something that I could buy for roughly $160k. It isn't glamorous, but if you're early on a few base hits is a lot better than swinging for the fences and striking out.  Would I always say this, no. But right now with appreciation looking slow and assuming you're early on in your career its a great time to stay within your budget and to be patient and conservative. 

One thing to take note is that the more you finance the more the banks will make. Purchase price, down payment amount, and interest rates are all going to factor into your mortgage payment. When things were appreciating no matter what it was impossible to be under water on a mortgage. Today, it's easy to do.  If the banks tell you your maximum purchase price is $300k, do yourself a favor and take 20% off of that just to be conservative. It will put you in a strong position if anything was to go south and you needed to make a quick exit.  This will also help to keep your down payment at a reasonable amount to have some money left over for repairs or dealing with inherited residents that may be troublesome.

As far as shopping around, I'd start at your local credit union that hopefully you have an account at. See what they're putting out for rates, down payment requirements, etc. If the mortgage shop down the street is beating it by a crazy margin, rather than flock over, double down on due diligence, it's probably too good to be true.

Good luck and remember to have fun along the way.

Hey Brett

As mentioned above, great questions. One thing to look out for is that $200 cash flow per door goal will often come in a much less consistent way especially in the first few years of a new property. $350 cash flow one month, and then you could be in the red $3k the next. May not be crippling or even that painful, but make sure you have enough reserves set aside to weather the storm. Let's say the bank gave you $75k and then you have your additional $25k.  I'd be looking to be under contract on something at $300k or less. After 20% down and some closing costs it would still leave you with a nice healthy set of reserve capital to make some improvements or float a few rocky months if your inherited residents didn't work out.I say this as somebody who has overextended and although it's worked out for me, spare yourself the gray hairs !