All Forum Posts by: Jason Poquette

Thank you Jon. Appreciate your insight. I also wondered if there were any small improvements that tend to be very appreciated by tenants which I, as a new owner, could implement right away as a show of good-faith effort to improve their renting experience. 

Hi BP Community,

Looking at buying my very first MF very soon. It will likely have tenants, and I'm eager to build a good relationship with them. I know this is also a business, and I'm not looking to be their buddy. But I'm just curious if any experienced landlords have any tips or experiences they want to share about this. It might be especially important, since I may have to make a small rent increase, even though it will still keep the rent in a very good range compared to other similar units. 

Any suggestions, advice or experience you want to share about how you handled building relationships with tenants that you inherited when buying a MF?

Thanks!

Hello BiggerPockets Community,

Thanks for your kindness to Newbies like me. I'm brand new to investment properties. Looking at several MF units in our area (MA). I'm wondering about buying with existing tenants. What kind of things can you do to make sure the owner isn't selling due to tenants that aren't paying? Especially right now, when evictions are not easy. I feel bad even asking that, as I understand this is a hard time for lots of people. But for our very first property, I don't want to find myself stuck in a bad situation that I can't get out of. Obviously if they are good tenants, I want to keep them if possible. 

Any thoughts? 

Hi. I'm brand new here. My wife and I own our own home and have about 5 years left of the mortgage. But I've never owned an investment property. I would like to get into this. I'm interested in multi-families with 2-3 units. However, my only resources for the down payment would be a home equity loan. We have great credit, so getting the money is no problem. But when I do the math, I just don't see how any properties in my area will ever have a positive cash flow.

I'm guessing most people get into this another way. Maybe they do owner-occupied. Or maybe they had a big stash of cash for a down payment so they didn't need to pay it back, or maybe they are handy and could buy a fixer-upper and quickly make improvements to drive higher rents.

But for someone like me...I'm having trouble seeing how to get started. When I do the math on the home equity loan repayment and the new mortgage payment and the taxes...the rents just hardly cover that amount, leaving no room for maintenance, improvements or vacancy. 

What I'm wondering is if there is some other way to get into this that I'm not aware of. 

As an example, a MF unit for $349,000 would cost me about $2700 per month to repay the loans (home equity loan for down payment and then the mortgage itself) and pay taxes. This house would maybe get $2600 monthly between the 2 units. I'm not breaking even, and that doesn't factor in any upkeep or maintenance. 

I feel like maybe I"m not getting into this the right way. Any thoughts or advice or guidance would be appreciated. 

Thanks.