All Forum Posts by: Jess Thompson

Hey @Brenden Mitchum !  Nice to meet you!  I hear there's good rock around Atlanta!  What's your dream van?

I think I'm definitely on the rental cash-flow buy and hold plan.  I'd love to be able to climb and camp more, work less, maybe send myself back to school for a nurse practitioner license even though I won't make more money.  That's the dream!  

I have a duplex I rented. I didn't have any trouble at all with my renters knowing I was the owner.  In fact, I rented mostly to friends which was mostly lovely.

I WOULD advise to write a strong, detailed rental contract and to be very clear that their renting from you is a separate business relationship from your personal relationship.  Everything about that business relationship should be outlined in the contract.  I got into trouble when one renter asked if it was cool for her to pet-sit a friend's dog, and then kept the dog but I didn't say anything or ask for a pet deposit.  Next, she asked if it was cool that her boyfriend stored some furniture in her garage.. but actually he moved in with her and wasn't on the lease.  I wound up evicting them both, eventually for repeated problems.  Lesson learned:  set clear rules in writing that you would apply to anyone, and then apply them to every tenant every time, period.  It doesn't matter if they know you own it or not.  That contract defines the relationship, and you get to write it.

I'm an intensive care unit nurse in California.  I have three things to say.

1- Thank you to everyone who is staying at home.  Directly from the front lines, the time bought to spread out patients, develop new protocols and get equipment is saving lives every day.  Thank you.

2 - I love the American ideals of self-determination and liberty.  We should protect our freedoms from authoritarianism and I admire your willingness to speak up for that.  However, the personal liberty of one person should not infringe on the personal liberties of others.  Whether you personally get this virus is ultimately NOT about you.  It's also about the 2.5 people average per person that you infect within 5 days, and the 2.5 people they infect.  If you are here on bigger pockets, you understand the power of exponential growth..  250% growth in 5 days average incubation period means you go from one case to 97 cases in one month.  In the US we are seeing death rates around 4.5%, that's 4 people's lives in one month.  What about their freedom?  Should American freedom really allow us to risk the lives of others?

3 - Our first death in my hospital from COVID19 was a 31 year old with no other medical conditions.  He happened to work at an airport.  Are you sure you're safe?  Do you live alone?  What about your family?  I agree that the financial concerns from quarantine are huge, but if the choice is the health of the market vs... death, perhaps it's time to rethink our priorities?

Anyway.. stay safe.  Please stay home.  I hope I don't see any of you or your family in the ICU.  

I did!  Took a minute..

I'm definitely also curious about this!

@K T.  Wow.. that's a terrifying case list.  Who knew!

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Medford.

Purchase price: $130,000
Cash invested: $36,000

My first investment was a duplex in Southern Oregon. I started by renting one side while living in and fixing up the other side. This was enough to cover the mortgage at first. With some improvements and local rent growth, it's now cash flowing well. I've moved to California and I'm definitely interested to try this again.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Honestly, I had been trying to figure out how to sustain my ability to travel. I still am. The year before I bought the house, I quit paying rent and moved into my minivan. I went to three new countries, did a whole lot of rock climbing, and still worked close-to-full time with a flexible position as an ICU nurse. And while I highly recommend the van life to anyone adventurous.. I did start missing things like cooking dinner with friends and gardening. Solution: House Hacking.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

With an agent, right off the MLS. It was bank owned and took five months to close, partly because the place needed new heaters and HVAC in both units. I asked the bank to replace them with high efficiency new ones of my choosing and to cover closing costs, in turn I paid $10K over the agreed on price of the house. I wouldn't have had the cash otherwise.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional 20% down loan. I saved my down payment by living in the van and asked a little help from my family.

How did you add value to the deal?

I did a lot of DIY improvements on one side: flooring, landscaping, kitchen, bathroom. Five years in, rent on that side went from an estimated $650 a month to $1050. Some of this was luck of the market, some was the improvement.

What was the outcome?

Covering the mortgage by house-hacking didn't actually make my rent go away. It just meant that I was paying "rent" in house repairs and by working at my new job as a landlord. Initially, this was a break-even proposition that cost a lot of work. My climbing partner got pretty upset when I was scraping glue off my abused hardwood floors instead of training. That said.. it's certainly flexible and engaging as a job goes. When I hit the road again, the house paid for itself and more.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

- DIY won't always save you money. Factor in lost rent in the time it takes to complete your project, as well as what you'd pay yourself for your time.
- Neighbors are your best allies. Mine still call me about how my house and tenants are.
- Fire your property manager the second time they mess up. Don't wait.
- Repairs and CapEx really really are around half your monthly cost.
- Renting furnished in a cheaper neighborhood gets you terrible tenants. Not worth it.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Josh Kelleher was a great agent, for anyone looking in the Rogue Valley, Oregon. As far as property management.. Asurent Property Management was an utter nightmare. So far Northwoods Property Management has had no issues.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Medford.

Purchase price: $130,000
Cash invested: $36,000

My first investment was a duplex in Southern Oregon. I started by renting one side while living in and fixing up the other side. This was enough to cover the mortgage at first. With some improvements and local rent growth, it's now cash flowing well. I've moved to California and I'm definitely interested to try this again.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Honestly, I had been trying to figure out how to sustain my ability to travel. I still am. The year before I bought the house, I quit paying rent and moved into my minivan. I went to three new countries, did a whole lot of rock climbing, and still worked close-to-full time with a flexible position as an ICU nurse. And while I highly recommend the van life to anyone adventurous.. I did start missing things like cooking dinner with friends and gardening. Solution: House Hacking.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

With an agent, right off the MLS. It was bank owned and took five months to close, partly because the place needed new heaters and HVAC in both units. I asked the bank to replace them with high efficiency new ones of my choosing and to cover closing costs, in turn I paid $10K over the agreed on price of the house. I wouldn't have had the cash otherwise.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional 20% down loan. I saved my down payment by living in the van and asked a little help from my family.

How did you add value to the deal?

I did a lot of DIY improvements on one side: flooring, landscaping, kitchen, bathroom. Five years in, rent on that side went from an estimated $650 a month to $1050. Some of this was luck of the market, some was the improvement.

What was the outcome?

Covering the mortgage by house-hacking didn't actually make my rent go away. It just meant that I was paying "rent" in house repairs and by working at my new job as a landlord. Initially, this was a break-even proposition that cost a lot of work. My climbing partner got pretty upset when I was scraping glue off my abused hardwood floors instead of training. That said.. it's certainly flexible and engaging as a job goes. When I hit the road again, the house paid for itself and more.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

- DIY won't always save you money. Factor in lost rent in the time it takes to complete your project, as well as what you'd pay yourself for your time.
- Neighbors are your best allies. Mine still call me if anything happens to my house or my tenants cause problems.
- Fire your property manager the second time they mess up. Don't wait.
- Repairs and CapEx really really are around half your monthly cost.
- Renting furnished in a cheaper neighborhood gets you terrible tenants. Not worth it.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Josh Kelleher was a great agent, for anyone looking in the Rogue Valley, Oregon. As far as property management.. Asurent Property Management was an utter nightmare. So far Northwoods Property Management has had no issues.