All Forum Posts by: John Kesner

@Adam Smith

You could install electric baseboard heaters and then try to split the electrical system into separate metered systems. I think the electrical would be easier to split in a finished house.

Cameron DePaola The first place to start is Craigslist. Search for other rentals that are comparable in that area. That should give you a good idea of how much rent you can get. Then just work out the expenses. Taxes should be public record (search you county assessor's site). Call an insurance guy and get a quote for insurance of a rental property. The loan payment should be pretty easy to figure out (run the purchase price through an amortization calculator). Then you will have PITI (payment, interest, taxes, insurance) add in 10% of rents for maintenance etc. and you have your expenses. Subtract your expenses from your total rent and you have your cashflow. If your happy with the amount of monthly cashflow, then you have a viable prospect.

Gaston Barua Become a licensed real estate agent. In most states its relatively inexpensive and pretty quick. Most states also require you are an agent to be a property manager. Then you can help folks buy and sell homes while building your property management. Learn the biz from many sides all at once!

Welcome @Jorge Rodriguez

Florida is supposed to be a great investment market, I'm sure you will do great!

@Angel Reyna

You really should crunch all the numbers. Try to get any information on the building you can from the listing agent. Assemble everything into a nice easy to understand package and talk to your friends about it. It would be a great exercise for you to get your head wrapped around the numbers and how the deal would work. Then you talk to your friends and say "if you had the money would you invest in this?". It will give you some experience talking about the property to people and finding ways to sell the idea of it. 

You might want to do this on a coupe properties to hone your skills before approaching big money investors. It will really help to sound like you know what your talking about.

@Valerie Hiscoe

I've been working this deal and it's getting close. I like the idea of 2 bedrooms, but as things stand I would need to cut egress windows into the basement. Not terrible but not cheap either, I got a price of $7K to do 2. My other thought was to pop the top and add a master on top of each unit. This would add a master and make sorting the floor plans easier. From the top floor you would also get a nice view of downtown, a feature very few properties in that neighborhood have. The house has a high peaked roof with 8' inside height at the peak so I would just raise 1 side. It would add about 390 sqft to each unit. I think this may add enough value to brrrr and bring the rent up significantly. I'm still working on ARV and cost estimates but it sure would be cool and fun!

There are some high comps (2x what I'm paying)in the area, there is an modern rehabber/new build developer working the neighborhood. Their current project is at the end of this properties street. They are converting an commercial building into 10, 2/2 apartments that they are advertising for rent (pre-completion) for $1400/mth. (I'm going to ask $800/mth/side with minor work, but if I pop the top and go full out I think $1400 is my ceiling. I think I cold make a competitive product and he view would give me a leg up. 

Lots of fun!

@Angel Reyna

Will it make $600K after financing costs? The payment on a loan like that would be over $70K/mth ($840000/yr)

@Ryan Keenan

I like to look at brrrr more as a concept than the literal meaning. The key to brrrr is adding value. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to buy home in rough condition (can be hard to get a loan) and fix it up. You could buy a fairly nice house (easy to get a regular loan on) that has a bad floor plan and fix that. You could buy a house that has a big unused attic or basement, that if finished could add value. You could convert some garage space into living space. You could turn a 2bd 1 bath into a 3/2. 

There are many ways to add value, the trick is adding enough value to be able to refi and pull out most or all of your cash investment, and still have a property that will cashflow. You are not stuck with hard money or private money loans, you just need to see where you can add value. Thinking outside the box will allow you to see opportunity where others do not.

Good luck, its a great strategy!

@Jeremy Richardson

Welcome to BP. My wife grew up in Blue Ash. I have many a great memory of Cincinnati, fun place! 

All the best to you in your investment journey!

-John

@Taron Jackson

My county has this site called quick maps. Its a map of the city that when you zoom in you can see every parcel. Click the parcel and get the owner info and a few other tab options for sales info, tax info, assessment info etc.. If I find a property I find interesting I check the county parcel search and run the owners name to see if they own more than 1 property.

I love to search around on it and find properties. You can see how long the people have owned it, what they paid for it, the owners name and mailing address. You can use this info to contact the owner and make an offer.

It takes some time but if you know the areas of your town that have the type of properties your looking for you can narrow your search area pretty quick. I keep a running spread sheet of the properties I find that I want to follow up with. Its kinda fun too.

Maybe your county has a similar web feature.