All Forum Posts by: Julie Haveman

I would start watching for owner financing, and keep working to save a down payment!

We have 7 duplexes near Grand Rapids, we pay between $450-$650 per year!

Hi Alex, We are also in Michigan and own 7 duplexes in Kentwood, Wyoming, and Jenison. My advise to you would be to keep working on your credit. Pay everything on time or early. Get a copy of your credit report and pay off some of the old ones. After that save $5k as fast as you can and get a FHA loan,and then you can buy one and house hack. Just don't buy anything we are looking at!

We personally would not buy a house with only 572 square feet. That could almost be a tiny house!

Try The Works toilet bowl cleaner!

In September we purchased 2 duplexes that share a parking area.  Since then we have increased the cash flow by $601.00 per month.  The previous landlords never increased the rent once a tenant moved in, so the rents were $600, $625, $625 and $700.

Here is what we did:

The $600 rent put in notice at closing, we rented that unit for $825 =$225

Increased the rent starting in January for the 2 at $625 to $700 =$150

The $700 unit just put in 30 day notice and we have it rented for $825 in January =$125

We passed the expense of trash service back to the tenants saving $66 month

called around for snow and lawn service and saved $35 per month.

We know the numbers could be better, but were surprised how fast we were able to turn it around!

we once rented to a military family we had never met. I spoke with both of them on the phone. The wife wanted to be close to family, she was 6 months pregnant, while her husband was deployed.  It was a great experience, and they were awesome tenants!

Sure, first of all we actually only own 7! I work from home, so on my breaks and lunch, I can make calls, print leases, and do other paperwork. Most of our tenants communicate by text message. My husband does all the maintenance/repairs. We can usually get everything done on Saturday morning 4 hours or so. Anything that can wait until Saturday we put off. Small leaks can put a bucket under sink, etc. sometimes he needs to go after work for an hour or two and do something that can't wait. When we have a unit turn over, we do the weekend warrior plan to get it flipped fast. I do phone interviews, take apps, and meet tenants there at night! We try to buy units in fairly good condition, and tenants already in place. We have still got some good deals. If they need a lot of work like one needs Windows, siding and roof. We will hire that out while tenants are in place. It may not be every investors plan, but it works well for us. We are getting 1.2%-1.7%!

We are huge Dave Ramsey fans. When it came to investing in real estate, we figured it both ways. By paying cash for rental properties we could have owned 2 in 7 years. By taking out mortgages we can own about 7 free and clear in 7-8 years. We both work full time, have 7 duplexes, and throw all the extra on the mortgages. The snowball works backwards too. The more you buy, the more income you have to throw at the debt. We just purchased 2 more duplexes which will only add 6 months to our payoff time, but will increase the income dramatically!

Net worth is: What you own - what you owe. We add up the value of all our properties then subtract all the mortgages and come up with that portion of our net worth. A great net worth goal is to try to increase your net worth by 10% every year. Not hard to do with REI!