All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Vlk

Greeting everyone! I remember reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and getting hooked to start investing in real estate. I joined the military and married/had kids young which is not a good situation financialy when trying to find money to buy rentals. My goal was to move into a house paying owner occupied rates, move out in a year, and then rent it out. I acquired 3 rentals this way and just got tired of putting my family through moving so often. My goal is still the same from years ago; be able to support my lifestyle with passive real estate income. My questions are as follows:

1. I own a condo that has 23 years left on the loan, 4.625% rate with $102,000 left on loan and also another rental with 23 years left on it at a 4.0 % rate and $169,000 left on it (sold the 3rd rental a year ago). I know the name of the game in rentals is cash flow..should I refi these back to a 30 year to increase my cashflow since I am only making about $350 a month between the two now or should I not refi since I have already been paying for 7 years and shouldn’t go back to a 30 year. 

2. What do you think is better...buying a bunch of houses and let the renters pay them off or hit a certain number of houses say 10 and then start paying them all off? 

Thanks for the help

My plan is to find foreclosures/short sales selling for 80% of their vale, put 20% down, then when the time comes Cash out refi my 20% down payment and put it into another property and repeat. My question is can I use a HELOC to pay my 20% downpayment on a property at 80% of value and then cash out refinance and pay my HELOC off?

I need to replace all the windows in one of my rentals. Please recommend your best window contractors that are reasonable priced. Thanks

I am new to being a landlord and I had a military member just contact me about viewing my property and he has to go back to Japan tomorrow because he is on house hunting leave. He said if he likes the property he will fill out the application right then and there. What should be my process during this? If he likes it, have him fill out my online application which has links to his criminal and credit reports, then tell him if he qualifies and have him fill out a holding contract for $350 that would go toward the security deposit when they actually move in. Then when they move I have them sign the lease and have them give me security and 1st months rent in guaranteed funds? I know he wants to secure the place for himself but I also want to look out for myself and have the house still on the market unless he pays to hold it. 

I bought a brand new construction condo 2 years ago that is waterfront and just a gorgeous home with my va loan. My intention was to add this property to the 2 other rentals in my portfolio to help me on the way to my goal of 10 rental properties by the time I get out of the military in 10 years. I am closing on another house that I will be moving into in a week and am trying to rent my place out right now and am having troubles renting it out. I will bullet the situation so people do not have to read an essay.

Location

- East Beach Norfolk, VA

-waterfront with views from every window in the house

-upcoming area around the neighborhood. 10 years ago the area was filled with crack houses and now it is being revamped and there are multimillion dollar homes through out now and more to come (should be a great capital gains investment if held for a while)

What worries me about the condo

- not getting any applications and the house being on the market for 30 days.

-some of the other rentals in the neighborhood have been on the market for 3 months now, 1 of them for 6 months

-it is waterfront so in 5-10 years they are going to have to replace the bulkhead and place the cost on all the homeowners

- the condo association is ran horribly and they cant get anything done. When I moved in the hoa dues were $190 and this year they are $230. So I am nervous that they are just going to be going up

- there is some talk from the association that they will be enforcing the 80% owner occupied rule when the neighborhood gets to that (its literally right next to a military base so I don't think that will be more than 2 or 3 years.

-there is a brand new apartment complex going up next to my place so worried about the competition

-it is a very niche market neighborhood...the schools are horrible so only older people or families with not school age children will want to move in, my rent price is around $1800 and it is a condo with no garage or yard so that limits people there.

The good

-home is water side and 30 seconds to the beach so I would think that would attract people

- the area has lots of new buildings coming in and is starting to attract some businesses.

- they are putting in a new outlet mall about 5 miles from my place

-when people do get tenants in the neighborhood they tend to get pretty high rents 

-home is brand new so if I rent it out there should be really low maintenance issues

The Situation

- My property has been on the rental market for 30 days now and have had a lot of interest but not even one application turned it yet.

-Some one contacted me and said they wanted to buy the property without any realtor commissions and they would pay for all the fees. I would properly only make $10,000-$20,000....should I just take the money and go put it into a better place that I will be an easier rental so I can get cashflow and capital gains?

Hey everyone! 

I am new to real estate investing and am taking the real estate licensing class just so I can gain some knowledge. If you have another job and just want to use your license for your own investing and to have access to the MLS you can't do it because you have to be part of a company right?

Thanks