All Forum Posts by: Joe Miller

@Alyssa Dyer thank you!! Appreciate the recommendations

Can anyone recommended a real estate lawyer or firm they’ve used in the okc area? I’m getting ready to purchase another rental and I’d like to discuss several things surrounding asset protection with someone. Thanks!

@Kraig Kujawa It required some work but I was able to get it done. What I did was I called the county and set up a time to go speak to someone in the office. I presented the woman I spoke to with the numbers I had run, the letter from my company relocating me to the area, and a letter from the bank saying they couldn't loan on the property. After hearing me out and having some conversation she explained to me that she saw no reason that the property couldn't be combined under a single tax ID and that the land description be changed to satisfy the bank. All she needed to move forward was a signed letter (which I drafted) from the owner express his desire to combine. The owner submitted the letter and a few days latter things were good to go. Now I am a few months into my house hacking journey!

@Kraig Kujawa  Do you mean that there are two Tax ID numbers associated with the property? If so I have dealt with this and can explain how I was able to work around it with a little effort on my end!

@Lane Cooper For my duplex I used an FHA loan which was perfect because it required very little money down and allowed me to keep cash liquid as I search for another deal. Like Omar mentioned above my monthly payments are a bit higher because of the loan and the associated PMI however the rent that I take in is high enough that it offsets that difference. Also like Omar mentioned you'll want to screen your tenants to make sure they will be reliable and you won't end up out of luck when it comes time to pay your mortgage.

Regarding the duplex you are looking at. If the duplex is vacant at the moment determine what you can rent each unit for. I like to run my numbers as though both sides are occupied since I won't be living there forever! Then determine what you can pay for it! Depending on the cost of the home hopefully the rent from one side covers the entire mortgage if not more!

Hi @Lane Cooper I am currently in the process of house hacking! I did a ton of research on different areas near where I am working and after looking at many many properties I came across one that met all of my marks. It's a large duplex in a good school district but needed a little work to make it look less dated. I am renting one side to a nice family who lives in the area to get their kids into those good schools. On my side I am also renting one of my extra bedrooms to a co-worker and I am looking for a second person to fill my other spare room. 

From my perspective house hacking takes some work especially if you plan to manage the property. However, when you pay the mortgage and none of the money is coming from your own account that is a really good feeling. In addition to that the money that I am saving from previously paying rent, electric, internet etc... I am now setting aside to look for another investment property. 

Duplex, triplex, quadplex is really going to be up to you and what your market has to offer and what income each "door" provides you with. It might sometimes make more sense to go with a smaller unit with a lower price or better margins. 

Good Luck!

@Tim Bales the floor I was discussing in this post I put in partially myself and had a part installed by a floorer. It looks great in the house and was not terribly hard to install after I got a hang of it. I think if you shop around you can get some pretty good deals on the tongue and groove vinyl. Plus in the event a tenant damages a section of the flooring it can be replaced in a small area rather than having to mess with big sections or even the whole floor! As long as your floor is pretty level this is a great option!

Thank you everyone for replying I think that I am going to give Cozy a try and see how it works for me!

@Jake DeBoer regarding the date you know you'll have the funds by (5th) is this something Cozy clearly tells you and is it always the same?

@Patrick M. Thanks for the reply and the information! So the only drawback of Cozy from your experience is the delay in the funds being deposited into your account? From what I understand Zelle is similar to Venmo, a peer to peer payment system. How do your tenants know where to send the funds via Zelle? Are you able to send them a direct link or do they search a username/phone number etc?

Hey everyone! I know that there are many posts out there about different forms of rent collections but I wanted to go ahead and see what everyone is using today! Based on many of the forum posts I have read through it seems like a favorite is: Cozy. Can y'all tell me a bit more about it and what you like about it... 

If you are using something different than Cozy what are you using? Have you used Cozy and switched to something else? 

Thanks!! Excited to get my tenants squared away on an easy to use service that can make collecting rent hassle (and hopefully cost) free!