All Forum Posts by: Kenisha B.

Hey @Jill Addison

Thanks for that advice and food for thought. Doing it in phases never crossed my mind, but that could make more sense. Yes, I can afford the mortgage alone if needed… but paying that, in addition to getting the units ready for new tenants could be pretty pricy and I may have to pick up extra shifts/grey hairs in the process. Definitely gotta run the numbers and see what makes more sense. Was also thinking it might be easier to have painters, handyman and or maid service do everything all at once instead of going back and fourth. 

@Jack Jiang my bad.. I was thinking evict, kick out, and 30 day notice were all synonymous… my bad I’m still learning:)

hey @Thomas Nowak yes I was gonna ask them to pay the additional rent increase by all means… but I highly doubt they would wanna go from $600 a month to $1,100. That’s almost double the rent. So I was thinking about worse case Scenario.  The realtor said one family has been there 10 years and the rent only went up once. 

@Jack Jiang they are month to month… I guess in that case I wouldn’t be “evicting” just giving them a 30 day notice

Hello BP Fam,

I found a 4plex in Texas, at a decent price, but the rents aren’t at market. I highly doubt anyone would want to pay an extra $500 a month in rent, so I’m thinking I’d have to evict everyone. Is this a bad idea? I guess if they have security deposits… they won’t get mad and trash the place 🤔. I do feel terrible displacing a bunch of people (when rents are so high)… but this is business so i need to “woman up” I suppose & not get emotionally invested. My realtor tells me it’s pretty easy to kick people out in Texas… unlike in my hometown (Los Angeles)… but has anyone don’t this before? If so did u find new tenants easily and did the old tenants leave peacefully? Also how much does it typically cost to get an apartment unit ready for a new tenant? 

@Will Stewart

Hey Will

I can only tell you what I did from experience.. not sure if it’s right or wrong. 1st I added up all my expenses: Utilities, internet, landscaping, mortgage/rent, insurance, etc and divided the total by the number of rooms (this was the minimum amount of money I needed to cover ALL expenses. Next I looked at what I had to offer (amenities) to increase the rents: laundry, parking, private bath,pool, storage, furnished/unfurnished, etc. Next I analyzed my location & how close I was to different businesses: gyms, grocery stores, underground metro rail, coffee shops, bars, hospitals, lounges, etc (in Los Angeles this is important since traffic can be insane) After that, I looked at what other landlords were charging for rooms in my area (craigslist, Facebook market place, radpad, word of mouth, etc). I also thought about the type of jobs my tenants would have… after doing this I was able to come up w/ the maximum amount I could charge for a room. Hope this helps and good luck!

Hey I’m in the same boat, and a brand new invested. People recommended Airbnb, furnished finders, vrbo, etc for short term. They also recommended housing hacking… if u can’t find anything in ur price range…then yes looking out of state or finding a cheaper price makes sense to me. Also The feds just said they are raising the interest rate again yesterday. Even with the increase interest rate people have said it’s always a good time to buy a house if you can find a “deal” so I’m actively looking and waiting for the right opportunity. I’m gonna start putting offers in (probably below asking price) and see how it goes.  (not sure if that’s the right strategy as I’m still learning, but I’ll change up my strategy as I go). Hope that helps.

Thanks @Mike D'Arrigo for dropping so many gems in that lil paragraph! I'm still learning as I thought equity and appreciation were the same thing and interchangeable terms. Time to google! I also haven't been considering the tax benefits (there are probably some I'm not aware of). Time to google that too! I'm so happy I found this community:)

@Alex Ramirez Excellent point and food for thought! Because, I live in LA, pretty much anything I buy will be less than my rent. So yes that would be a "win" and cash flow would be icing on the cake.I guess I never looked at like that. Also I know I wanna live in a nicer area since it'll be owner occupied so that also limits some of my options. I guess with my 1st property... I'll try and find something I "like" and with the rest of my properties I can be a little more flexible since I won't be living there. If getting a property means putting down everything you have would you still get the property? I was hoping to get something with 3.5 percent down, but inorder to have a lower mortgage I'd have to put down a lot more down.