All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Buelow

Investment Info:

Mobile home fix & flip investment in Mattawan.

Cash invested: $18,000
Sale price: $32,000

'69 trailer fix and flip
New flooring in kitchen
Added AC
New windows
Added Garage
New interior panels
Bathroom reno

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

It was free so worse came to worse I would break even

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

Off-Market: I was working for a storage facility and the owner needed help removing his stuff because he was moving

How did you finance this deal?

Personal loan for renovations

How did you add value to the deal?

New flooring in kitchen
Added AC
New windows
Added Garage
New interior panels
Bathroom reno

What was the outcome?

Learned a lot and came out with $14,000 in my pocket

Lessons learned? Challenges?

With the property being so old it came with a lot of weird ways of doing things which took a lot of creativity.

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

No

What are ways you have seen landlords calculate rent raises?

I plan to raise rent by 2% yearly, and round to the nearest $25. After that, I will re-evaluate every 5 years based on local rent. I've asked for others opinions and their fears are it won't look consistent to the renter and accountants. I'd like to hear others' opinions on this tactic.

Thanks!

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $171,000
Cash invested: $14,600

4 unit property, each unit is a 1 bed/1bath ranging from 560-850sqft.

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

Step toward financial freedom

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

On-market deal for 180k was brought down to 171k. Had the seller fix the electric and heating as well as bring the units up to city code.

How did you finance this deal?

5% down conventional loan at 6.999% interest

How did you add value to the deal?

The plan is to turn 2 units into 2 beds/1 baths.

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

Kattie Ninkovik with Keller Williams out of New Berlin, WI was a great agent and Kevin from Stampfli Mortgage out of Madison, WI went way above and beyond as well as incredible communication throughout the entire experience.

Thank you for your insight. Currently the property is under my business partner's and My name and we have an LLC specifically for our investment properties. It has more to do with keeping eachother honest than asset protection.

I currently have a warranty deed under my business partner and my name but would like to transfer it to our LLC. Would a Quitclaim or new Warranty deed be better?

How can the broker add my prospective property income to my DTI?

I have enough for a downpayment, good credit, and no debt but my income is too low. I understood I could use 75% of the other units' rent to make up for that but, I am being told I need to have 2 years of landlord. Will any lenders look past the landlord and look at the actual number?

Long story short, This is my first property so I don't know how normal it is to close with one loan company and then be moved to another a month later, but that happened a year ago and the current mortgage company we got put with has horrendous customer service.

They have messed up transactions twice already and both times took about two months to get an informed response by mail with an explanation/corrected. The initial representatives are clueless and will just push me to their "escalation manager" who they can never get a hold of so instead they set up a callback time and date. I have yet to get a callback on the day schedule; it's generally the following week. After I finally get a call from the escalation manager they have no clue why I'm calling so I have to start from square one. Every time I've talked to the escalation manager they are just as useless as the original representative and tell me that they have to escalate it to a specific department, which has no contact info besides an email address that they don't reply to. By the time I've gotten a response it has been 2 months after the original call and it is a response via mail. Both times the response was contradictory to what their escalation manager's reason was for the mistake and again there is no way to ask any questions about the "official" response because it is mailed with no contact information. On top of that, after the escalation manager moves the issue to the department they don't answer their phone or respond to my messages anymore.

When I purchased my rental property I used one company but they have pushed us off to another one. After 8 months I have had to deal with numerous incompetent people and can't stand it anymore. Is there a way to find another mortgage company to "assume our loan" (not sure if that is the correct term) I am not looking to refinance, just find a more competent company.

I'm a newer landlord(investor) and my primary concern is keeping my accounts organized so a bank where I can have an account for each property and then some sort of "sub-account" capability would be nice to have.

Does anyone have any suggestions or other attributes I should look for?

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $89,500
Cash invested: $32,000

Bought our first multi-family investment property from a private seller who is on his way to retirement. Turn-key property, Appraised at $120,000. Plans to update it and see where it goes.

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

Stability of 4 units in a cheaper neighborhood with easy comps.

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

Introduced to the owner through another real estate investor in a college physics course.

How did you finance this deal?

Split purchase cost 50/50 with a high school buddy.

How did you add value to the deal?

Price was already extremely low but it had room for rent increase. 490-550 up to $650.

What was the outcome?

In progress currently raising rents.
One unit was empty and is now filled with a solid tenant.
2nd is struggling to pay but is working hard paying what she can.
3rd has declined to pay rent until their CERA is funded (Paid out on eviction court date 2 months after approved.)
4th has been paying on time every month including increases.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Have current tenants re-apply for residency. One tenant cannot keep up with rent and the second has denied any payments for 6 months.

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

Berkshire Hathaway in Kalamazoo. Lindsey