All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Ellis

Since the property is paid in full, and if you're not enjoying the landlord experience with this particular property, have you considered offering owner financing to the tenant or in general? This way, maintenance, repairs, and taxes are the responsibility of the new owner, while you continue to collect principal and interest, potentially as tax-free income.

I'm not a CPA, just a heads-up 😄, but you could possibly avoid capital gains tax with this approach. However, you would also lose any tax benefits you currently gain from holding the property.

Congratulations on the new purchase! 

My first question would be, how much will it cost to restore the pool? In my area, homes with pools tend to sell much quicker and at a higher price per square foot. Additionally, they can command a premium for short-term rentals.

  I would recommend adding $25 to the cleaning fee and an extra $10 per night to cover the cost of providing a grill for guests. When I'm on vacation, grilling is often part of the plan, and having to pay a propane deposit and a $50 cleaning fee could be a deterrent. I’d likely leave the grill cleaner than I found it! While some guests might not treat it the same way, providing amenities like this is a chance we take with Airbnbs.

There's a lot of great advice here, but the first thing I noticed was the dark photos that look like they were taken with an iPhone. My suggestion is to take all this amazing advice and hire a professional photographer to really showcase the property. Also, consider making the first photo something more exciting than twin beds.

can you share a link of the listing?

That's a tough situation. If you're really committed to the deal, I would personally reach out 3-4 times a day until you get a response. It's unfortunate, but it shows them that you're serious and not going away.

Your best bet is to get a high-performing real estate agent to market your property for you. As an agent, I've had multiple FSBOs end up listing with me because they couldn't or didn't want to take on the responsibility after seeing how much work it actually takes. If you're up to the task, listing on Zillow or Redfin will be your best bet.

There are numerous studies that show listing on the MLS will not only get you more net proceeds but also eliminate the liability from you as the owner by using a third party to sell the property.

I'm located just north of Austin, and our mega builders are offering some incredible incentives right now to move inventory. They're offering 3.99% interest rates (covering 6% of the home cost to buy down the rate), $10k in bonus money, plus a fridge, washer, and dryer.

Because they can't stop building, they have to offer extremely good incentives to keep the product moving in this buyer's market. During the housing boom, it was the complete opposite—they even dropped realtor commissions to 2% and made buyers pay most of their closing costs.

It sounds like a great time to buy. I wish i could purchase the SFR at these rates.

What a great mindset to have at your age! The best advice I can give you starting out is to stay out of consumer debt and save as much money as you can. Short-term sacrifices and delaying gratification will bring you abundance later in life.

Definitely take advantage of your first-time home buying benefits and consider house hacking a duplex or 4-plex. While you may not make significant passive income renting the other side or the other three units, you can probably cut your living expenses in half or even live for nearly free in a 4-plex.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have taken this approach at your age and purchased a 4-plex every year or so with minimal down payment. By the time you're 30 years old, you could have 40 doors if you purchase one 4-plex a year.

It appears it will be close to break-even even at the current rents.  Are the tenants month-to-month? If not, how long will it take to get up to market value?

 Three properties for $170K sounds like a bargain, especially if you can force appreciation after a turnover.

If the property is breaking even with the initial purchase, I would pull the trigger on this deal with plans to BRRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat) the properties as each one turns over to recycle my cash if the numbers work out. This approach aligns with my personal goal to recycle as much cash as possible. However, if your goal is to scale slowly with less leverage, you might take a different approach.