All Forum Posts by: Jim Reynante

I can offer you some advice through my own personal experience and mistakes. The wholesaler can offer their connections, but you really want YOUR team involved because they are working for YOU and watching out for YOU.

Be careful when a wholesaler becomes too helpful and offers "a convenient turnkey solution".

@William Fruman - I have a similar situation in my local area (So Cal). The numbers are not working out like they used to 10 years ago. Luckily I have some LTRs near me, but I have switched to out-of-state investing because the numbers work for me. The process and path for me was simple, but it was not easy... it takes some work and effort to get it started.

1 - Identify potential market areas (pop growth, job market, avg home prices, avg rents, etc) 

2 - Research properties, both off market and on market

3 - Build the "Core 4 Team" in the area and activate the deal flow

4 - Process the deal flow and decide if the numbers work and meet the goals/objectives

5 - Take action and make offers!

Good luck you and your all of your investing.

I had considered building an ADU on an existing rental property in San Diego county. I estimated the all-in cost would hit around $150K and would require about 12 months to complete. After playing with the numbers and considering other options, I decided against it.

I ended up using the money as the down for another SFR to use as a rental. After a 45-day escrow and spending 2 weeks for a quick cosmetic rehab, I had the property rented out and cash flowing.

I still own this property and collect $3,400/mo in rent. No regrets for not building the ADU.

Not a normal practice, at least not in California

Given your situation, I would recommend option #2. House hacking has some strong benefits for investors, plus you can eventually move out and collect rent for all of the units.

Quote from @Zachary Ware:

I have seen some great deals out of both Columbus and Cleveland recently. 

 I also like the Columbus area for possible deals. I like the potential that Columbus offers for the future growth of population (and related demand for housing) and growth of household income (as a result of big companies moving into the area and their need for professional, white collar employees).

Quote from @Joe Hammel:

Metro Detroit has what 99% of Real Estate Investors want. 

Couple hundred bucks a door monthly cash flow, double digit ROI, and yes the prices appreciate and you build equity.

I cash flow $100k a year off 20 doors and have built a ton of equity in a short amount of time. Happy to send a screen shot of the portfolio to anyone who wants to see, it just won’t allow me to attach pics to a reply.

Purchase: $80k-$130k

Rent: $1100-$1500 (no rent control in MI)

1% rule: 1%-1.4% rule deals

ROI: 10-14%

Cash flow: $250-$350/door (after all expenses and budgeting for maint, capex, vacancy)

Appreciation: 3-10%+ (has been double digit for a decade)

Location: C+, B-

These numbers are based on the "sweet spot" in Metro Detroit. These are largely in the suburbs and some markets within the city. You can find higher ROI (on paper) here and probably in other cities…but the probability of actually collecting rent significantly decreases. Where these numbers are found, there is a very high rate of rent actually being paid.

We have over a dozen Fortune 500 companies just in Metro Detroit with huge Healthcare, Auto, and mortgage industry National footprints. Ford, Rocket mortgage, Beaumont hospitals and more. All complimented with Amazon fulfillment centers, google, and more tech manufacturing jobs.

The bad reputation of “Detroit” comes from OOS investors wanting sub $40,000, D class properties. We don’t buy those. We have found what works and repeat it as much as funds allow. Detroit is known as the highest rent to price ratio in the country…and we’ve found the perfect balance of price/location within the area.

Thanks for sharing your numbers with the BP community, as it gives us a location to consider for investing. Of course we need to perform own analysis based upon our own criteria, but this helps to let folks know of promising areas. 

I have two PMs (for different areas of the country). One charges 9%, the other is 10%. The more expensive fee is for my rentals that generate a lower monthly rent. So in order to make it worth their time, I have found that most PMs want a higher fee if the monthly rent amount is lower.

For example, a rental that charges $500/mo would require paying a PM $50/mo using a 10% fee rate. Compare that to So Cal, where the rents are $3500/mo and the PM would cost me $350/mo. Both PMs perform similar work with similar effort.

Lower rent amount = Higher PM fees 

As owners/landlords, we want the lower fee but we need to balance that against the PM services and quality of their work. So research and shop around. Good luck to you

For me, I hire a professional lawn/landscape service to maintain my properties. The tenant pays for half of the service cost (included in the rent).

The result: Consistently good results every week... week after week. Plus the added curb appeal.

I am thinking that I am in the minority, for me I expect the landscaping of my rentals to be well groomed. So I hire professional gardeners to take of my properties. Not the neighborhood kid, not someone's friend of a relative, etc.

My gardeners are at my properties 1 x week, rain or shine (doesn't rain too often in So Cal). The cost varies depending on the lot size and complexity (small grass patch vs botanical garden.)

For the extra money (the tenant pays half), I get consistency and some good curb appeal. It's worth it to me, but I understand that many landlords don't want to hire a lawn service and expect their tenants to do a decent job of maintaining their property.