All Forum Posts by: Stone Jin

@Kiel Martin

Thanks for sharing and congrats on getting the ccie. I failed the ccna twice in college and ended up in software consulting but really enjoyed networks and making things connect and talk to each other

I 100% understand the buying stream of income perspective. I used to take on projects and what got me through was figuring out how many houses I can buy with the income from the project. If I can acquire 2-3 houses per project I’d do it no matter than challenges.

With that said I’m pretty much retired after grinding for a decade taking money from consulting and buying houses. Working 50 hours in consulting and self managing a portfolio of houses across 2 different states. What I’ve learned is this:

1) like closing costs certain expenses are fixed. For example an Hvac or roof is roughly the same for a 20k house or 150k house. Cashflow on the other hand is not the same between a 20k house and a 150k house. I can still make money after a new Hvac for the year on the

higher rents where the loss would be huge for the small house. I remember the years that a particular house operated at a loss due to either large expense or vacancy. The feeling sucked to realize you worked for free. With better properties you get higher rent and usually much much less headaches. Besides it sounds like you are trying to achieve financial freedom, do you want to do it with 50 junk houses or 15 solid b class houses?

2) as Darius mention. Cashflow and net worth are different things. There is a reason why that house is 20k. The intrinsic value of it and the neighborhood will not allow it to appreciate. even if you cashflow your net worth will likely not see the appreciation. With appreciation comes options. You can trade into bigger and better opportunities. Example the condo I bought for 30k 10 years ago I sold for 150k and used that money to buy 3 single family homes and my cashflow went from $600 a month to $2000 for just that one property.

I’m rooting for you. Good luck

@Jessica Flint

Just remember that short term rental is very very hands on. The extra money may not be worth the extra work. We used to have 4 and sold them. Now we have one furnished rental.

The extra costs to consider would be the utilities and perhaps extra insurance that would need to be carried.

The guests pay a cleaning fee and you can pay your cleaner to take inventory and stock toilet paper.

As for estimating annual gross, it varies so wildly from property to property. You are basically just guessing on your first one and based on those results you can better predict additional units.

Best of luck.

@Katie Willcox

As many have said it’s better to have no tenant than a bad one. So be patient.

The information presented is fine if the intent is to have tenants screen themselves and to save you time. We put up a similar “guide” when we list our properties. The piece that I would tweak is about the credit score. I wouldn’t necessarily list the score but rather a more vague statement about good credit. In the states many people have bad credit due to medical or student debt but are very qualified renters. We tend to take some discretion when it comes to credit. I normally would tell the tenant that the score is not as important as the payment history and type of debt they have.

@Kiel Martin

Closing cost when you buy for cash is usually a more fixed cost as someone previously pointed out. You can call a title company and asked them how much they charge to do escrow and title search etc. I’ve bought 30k property for cash and 200k property for cash and the closing costs are basically the same. I budget $1000 for closing when I run my numbers

Just curious. You’ve mentioned several times that no one has asked what your business plan is so I will. What is your plan? How will it minimize the risks that some of the other members pointed out. I think everyone truly wants you to succeed. They are just providing some advise so you won’t lose all that you’ve worked for grinding the last 15 years. Best of luck.

@Michael P. ssssshhhh.  Let the laplante guys tell how great the Toledo area is.

@Sean D we invest in Toledo area but wanted to point out that what you are describing is not passive. You are actively managing the realtor, the VA, the tenant etc.

With that said. The rents are strong in Toledo but deals are harder to come by. The cash on cash changes if you use financing or cash. You need to lay out the full strategy to compare apples to apples.

@Paul Balyoz I hear Gary Indiana is a good place. 😉

@Ike Patel 

Anything will cash flow with enough down payment.  The thing you have to remember is that investing is a long term strategy.  You may not get good cash on cash the first couple years but in 3-4 years when rents are up 300-400. What does your returns look like then.  I bought in 2016 some houses for 200k and at the time rented for 1400, now the house is 350k-400k and rents are 2000.  

@Anthony Duran we invest in Ohio but are in Arizona.  I think any major city in the midwest will yield cashflow.  I think before you need to narrow down your own criteria.  Are you looking for small MF or large MF?  Are you looking for B class, C class or D class?  What is your desired cash on cash  returns?  Once you refine your criteria then you will be able to look at specific neighborhoods rather than broad cities.

@Brad Martin

The azreia has 5-6 a month locally. Several bp events monthly. Check meetup.com has there’s probably 30 or so a month.