All Forum Posts by: Jeff Roth

Hi Stephen from Detroit, MI-

Congratulations on having a house you owe $122,000 which recently appraised for $242,000.

Your questions is should you get a Home Equity Loan or just sell it. You are interested in having a new personal home as a goal. The answer depends on your ultimate goals and risk tolerance.

You say your current mortgage is at 2.875%. The mortgage is an asset and you are not likely to get that rate again anytime soon, if at all, in our lifetimes.

If your current house cashflows as you think it will, you might want to get that Home Equity Loan for the downpayment on a new house and use a property manager to help manage your prior home.

Your future self may thank you as you will have two houses appreciating, rent growth, and tax benefits.

If you need a property manager recommendation in the area, I can share that with you as I am not far in Ann Arbor and have Detroit area investors I help.

To Your Success!

Hi Scott from Detroit, MI-

Congratulations on having the cash or a line of credit to pay for a 2 bed/1 bath rental for 58K and you wonder which would be better to use and are leaning toward paying cash.

I think that is a great plan as the interest rate on your HELOC is currently 8.99% for you.

There is also something to be said for stacking a few paid off houses for cashflow compared to using leverage.

To Your Success!

Hi Edd in Central Oregon-

You asked if there are any benefits to the landlord going month-to-month on a lease for a tenant.

As you rightly point out, this does give the tenants more flexibility.

Benefits to the landlord include more flexibility as well if you intend to sell your property or if there are regulations on long term leases in your area that are problematic or you wish to avoid such potential mandates. Landlords can also charge more monthly for a month-to-month lease.

To your success!

Hi Jamie in Tulsa, Oklahoma-

You have kept your rents the same for some time but with property taxes and insurance going up you wonder if you should be increasing rents at lease renewal regularly.

However, you also are sensitive to the tenants and would like to keep them as long as possible.

This is a very common issue for landlords, especially for tenants that have been good tenants for a long time, to have rents below market rents.

I do think for your sake and the tenants, you have to be able to pay the bills for the property. Rent increases are a normal course of business but also should factor market rents in the area and if other landlords locally are able to increase rents at this time--especially if you are at market rents which it sounds like you may not be.

To Your Success!

Hi Dahrian in Knoxville, TN-

Congratulations on having your first duplex and being ready for your next investment.

You say you have about 30K in capital and wonder what to invest in.

I would look at a duplex in Lansing, MI for between $120,000-$130,000 and I have an excellent property manager there as well to help.

Lansing is the State capital of Michigan. There is a lot of economic development which creates jobs, which drives housing demand, which is good for housing providers. The cost of living is also more affordable in Lansing and so is the cost of labor to maintain your property.

To Your Success!

Hi Craig from Reston, Va-

Congratulations moving from Washington DC to the Greater Detroit area next month and your interest in investing in multifamily and commercial real estate.

You are looking to connect with multifamily and commercial brokers in the area and looking for introductions.

I would be happy to connect with you and share more about our practice based in Ann Arbor, MI. We at Arbor Advising help clients buy, sell, and invest across Michigan in all property categories from single-family, to multifamily, to commercial, to vacant land, to laundromats, to self storage, and everything in-between. We help high income earners save money on their taxes through strategies like owning the building you do business, to short term rentals, and cost segregations.

One of our best referral partners is a group that trains physicians nationally how to invest in real estate and we are one of their preferred service provider for Michigan.

To Your Success!

Hi Shaun-

You asked if you could invest in any market across the country where would it be and why?

I love this question.

Not knowing your personal investing goals specifically, in general, I would invest in still relatively affordable Michigan real estate that offers linear appreciation and rent growth.

The markets to consider, depending on your budget, are Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Grand Rapids and various areas for short-term rentals especially along the coasts.

To Your Success!

Hi Priscilla from Joliet, IL-

Congratulations on starting your real estate investment journey and you are looking for recommendations on markets to buy a property with the Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, and Repeat or BRRRR method.

I would look at a market like Lansing, MI. It is affordable, with low taxes, rental demand, appreciation, and affordable cost of living.

To Your Success!

Hi Amy in Charlotte, North Carolina-

Great Question!

You are deciding between buying a multifamily or a large home and renting rooms and asked the pros and cons of buying a large home and renting rooms.

The first thing you want to consider is zoning and how the local government regulates rentals.

Some communities limit the number of unrelated people who can rent in a property.

Once you confirm how many people can rent in a property you want to have a local title company look at the deed and covenants that may limit the number of unrelated people who can live in a property as well.

The pros are a property may check out that you can rent to a reasonable number of people in the property and the cost of the big house may be less than a multifamily offering a greater ROI and you are using the property for its highest and best use adding value to the community with affordable housing.

To Your Success!

Hi Olubunmi-

Great question! You have a rental property in Dayton, OH and have a property manager that is non-responsive to 4 citations from the city inspector for trash outside the house.

I am sorry to hear this is happening. 

The property manager is one of the most important parts of your real estate investing team, if not the most important, especially for an out of town landlord.

You definitely have to manage the property manager and it can be an expensive lesson if your property manager is not performing. I would get into local real estate investor groups (Facebook for example) in Dayton and ask for a property manager recommendation. If the same name pops up more than once, it is a good place to start.

To Your Success!