All Forum Posts by: Jon Behlke

@Danielle Jones

Congratulations and thank you for sharing some of the details!  I think it's important that we all share our excitement and successes as well as our setbacks, as there's a motivational force behind seeing others in our field succeed.  If you can, keep us updated on the progress and the final result.  We're all rooting for you!

I would think I would have to have one demographic target or the other.  If I were going to have a sex offender in my building with this kind of background, I absolutely could not in good conscience have any tenants that had daughters living with them that were minors. 

From a business standpoint, if my units had 2 or more bedrooms, that would mean I wouldn't rent to the sex offenders, as I would have a larger tenant pool if I included those with children.  1BR and studios, I would tend to rent to the sex offender, although with two daughters of my own, I might just skip out on this character altogether.

There are other threads regarding this topic, so I'll be brief:  Zestimates suck.  Completely unreliable.

Count me in the 10 SFR camp. There's a diversity comfort in 10 SFRs that you just can't get in one building. Provided you're not buying 10 houses all on the same street, chances are you'll find a couple that are in areas that will appreciate more rapidly than the market overall. This will allow for more flexibility in strategy as you go, by being able to either sell that property for a nice gain or take the increased equity from those properties and invest them in more properties.

With one building you have all your eggs in one basket.

Are you assuming that if your parents don't notice his name on the lease that they won't EVER come by for a visit?  Even if the boyfriend is out of the apartment when they visit, it will be crystal clear to all that a man lives there. 

There were things I hid from my parents when I was younger, but I have learned over the years that it's best to just be open and honest with them.  They may not always agree with you, but at least they'll know they can trust you.

Definitely do the upgrade.  60 amps is nothing.  I would go to the 200 amp, as that has actually become a selling feature over here on the west side of the state.

@Chris Purcell

I'm no expert, but I would probably buy that building BECAUSE of the new building being right across the street.  Chances are you are correct in so far as they are probably building a higher end apartment complex.  This is great news for you on two fronts:

1) it should increase comparable rents in the area.  If somebody wants to live in that immediate area, there are only so many choices.  That building should drive up average cost.

2) not everyone wants to live in a large apartment building.  A four-plex offers a bit more privacy than an apartment building. 

These are just my thoughts, but I'd do it if I were in such a position.

Welcome @Sanzhar Zikirov

I would say not to get discouraged and don't compare your progress to those here, as you are working with a very different set of circumstances to those of us in North America.  I am actually rather impressed with not only what you've accomplished but your tenacity as well given the circumstances in your country.

Given the requirements you've outlined in your post basically putting out capital expenditures of $15-$20k for furnishings just to get $700-$1000 in rent, have you considered attempting to sell these off and holding the money for a few months when your purchasing power would be increased?

This is such a hard situation to really give any perspective on.  Normally, we're all working with other people's money because the rates are favorable to do so.  In my mind, cash is king in your country, and the sooner you can finance your deals in cash, the better off you'll be until your country's economy is able to stabilize.

So that was three paragraphs of basically nothing, sorry about that.  Wish I could be of more help.

@John Weidner

Not when the owners have signed a pre-possession.

Thanks for the reply, but I now have a follow up question:  What the heck's the point of Pre-possession paperwork then?  What are the supposed advantages to the buyer?