All Forum Posts by: Jeff Schemmel

Hey Collin, glad you're posting on BP. I spent a good deal of time in Mankato and have rented there a few times in the past. I'll give some general advice that helped me alot before I bought my first property. I built my own excel sheet, learned the calculations and got a little intimate with the math. It did a few things for me. 1.) gave me more confidence that these are my numbers and I got very used to what the ROI would look like without even plugging things in. 2.) this was a little faster than the BP calculator, and I very quickly developed an eye for my market after analyzing 20-30 properties a day using it.

That last part is really helpful.  In today's market where inventory is low and houses fly off the shelves, you have to be quick and you want to know your baseline ROI potential quickly and begin to spend your time searching for value-adds in a property like..."can I add a bedroom?", is this a "rent-by-the-room" type property, does this property have the potential for an additional unit, etc... If you get good at understanding what an OK deal looks like in your market you'll be able to quickly spot one that looks amazing.  

Nothing is better than learning by doing, and that first property will propel you forward like you wouldn't believe!  Feel free to reach out, i'm always happy to share thoughts or help.

-Jeff

I'd second @Tim Swierczeks approach.  Bake it in to the rent.  It's common for landlords to pay this and water/sewer is part of the same bill from my experience.  you'll want to keep it simple to manage the property while you plan to scale up, and from a tenant perspective you may get more questions/hassel than it's worth trying to make sure you did it right.

This is a good idea, and I want to hear what you guys come up with to cook it into.  All those cultures combined ought to make some delicious turtle-fusion dish.  I'll be waiting to hear back @Paul Sandhu

@Cody Duval yeah if you're looking to buy with less capital upfront shoot for FHA, unless a VA loan is an option for you. 3.5% down via FHA will get you into something worth 300k for around $10k invested plus some up front for inspection/appraisal cost. I recommend having at least $5k on top of that for cash reserves, $10k, if you can, will help you sleep a little easier at night. If you're trying to save and pay down debts, house hacking is a great way to put some money to work, although I wouldn't recommend it if it meant you'd blow your entire emergency fund. I think this whole idea of investing with zero money is kinda impractical, it implies you're already financially irresponsible or disadvantaged which is going to distort your idea of a good investment and making good decisions as an investor. If you have an e-fund, and you have an extra 10k, then maybe start looking for a MFH to house-hack, that's my free advice! :) Lastly, Meet ups are GOOD, but it's easy to find yourself in a sales pitch in one of those. If you feel like that, dodge it, but keep looking for those good ones. I've had the best luck in FIRE meetups (financial independence retire early). they're filled with people who used real estate as the vehicle for FIRE, and that's what it's all about right? Hard to make a pitch in one of those and you can link up with people you meet outside the meetup.

eh, in my opinion, nothing beats house hacking.  learning by doing is very important, and house hacking is a lower-risk way to do that.  The fact is, even if you went through his $10,000 courses, you would still learn by doing :)  Your best friends in this business will be those middle-aged investors who have decades of experience, I would jump in and connect with as many of those types as you can and you will quickly find someone who is willing to give you some tips.

Hi Saemi, house-hacking is a great start.  It's all about reducing your living expenses and it's a little less risky when you're living in your first investment.  Feel free to message me directly if you have more questions about house-hacking, otherwise there are infinite resources on the web about it.

-Jeff

Welcome @Xavier Marin.  I house-hack in St. Paul, and would refer you to @Tim Swierczek who looks like he's made his name known already :)  Also recommend connecting with @Adam Tafel as a great investment-minded agent.  Feel free to connect with me as well if you want to hear about my experience.

Hey BP!  For those who've owned rentals for a while, what are some spring cleaning tasks you perform on your properties following the winter?  I have some common-area maintenance and cleaning planned, and I will be replacing furnace filters that are due to be changed, as well as checking for water in the basement as the snow melts.

Any general good advice here that some experienced buy-and-hold investors are willing to share?

thanks in-advance!

-Jef

@Conner Malrose Adam Tafel is the guy to ask.  The seller sold 4 or 5 properties in December I believe, i'm not sure if he's selling more or even if he has any left, but Adam could help you make contact.

The Kirwin Group Home InspectionsASHI & NRPP/AARST #107128 / #107129Problem Solved HIS LLCCertified Radon Specialist MN-RMITS #00041651.308.1538

I had a fantastic experience with Greg at The Kirwin Group.  I walked through the inspection with him and he schooled me on how to manage my property, what to expect for repairs, and even gave me ideas on how to solve some problems I would have specific to my home.  He has a sharp eye and is willing to do the extra to get into some hidden details.  I was pretty happy to pay the fee.