All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Garrett

@Sarah Pat

You must pay the taxes to Okaloosa County yourself.  Airbnb and VRBO do not pay the county taxes for you.  I pay them through there website.

@Josh H.

I try to buy 2 bedroom houses of over 1000 square feet and remodel to create a 3rd bedroom.  These houses are less expensive and going from 2 to 3 bedrooms definitely increases your cash flow.

@Hai Le

You can use a DSCR commercial loan. I've never had a problem with seasoning. It does depend on the lender. Need to own it in a LLC or other entity. Interest rates are a little higher. Must cash flow. Ratio of 1.25 generally of rent - NOI. I always put a tenant in before I refinance to a DSCR loan. That way they can use my rent versus the market which may be lower.

@Remy Piazza

It sounds like you’re talking about goals.  There are many different ways to invest in real estate.  What works for one doesn’t for others.  It’s all about your goal.  Of course, in order to invest in real estate you need cash flow of some type.  Anyone can buy a property.  Making it to cash flow is what investing is all about.  Disregard anyone who says $100/month cash flow is all you need.  That’s ridiculous.  If you’re going to spend all this time on an investment make sure it cash flows.  No cash flow = no deal.

Good Luck.

@Juyoung Cho

Generally you would analyze and create the ARV (after repair value). This can be done through a realtor or for me I would do them myself. I would use Zillow, Redfin, trulia sites to gather the information needed. I see you're in Nova Scotia, not sure what free sites you have there. It's too costly to hire an appraiser unless you have a friend who is helping you out. No fee.

@Eric Samuels

There are many qualities as an investor to find deals, but I think being an expert in your market and having the ability to analyze investments are key components.  Most new investors get caught up in that any city or area is there market (me included).  Narrowing down a couple markets and being an expert in those is the key.  This makes analysis much easier.  As an expert you already know what the value for a given property is.  It makes analysis quick and easy.  This allows you to not waste time on properties that numbers don’t work on and spend your time on numbers that do.  It’s a numbers game.  Let’s not make it more difficult then it is.

@Tomas Giro

Property taxes are very high compared to other states except maybe California.  Are you saying you bought a property with a section 8 tenant or the property qualifies for section 8 tenants.  I have good and bad experiences with section 8 voucher tenants.  Probably not that different than other tenants.  It’s all about screening your tenants properly.  

@Heather Lambert

It definitely takes patience.  I bought a short sale took 15 months for the bank to approve.  It was a great buy.  You have to be careful of costs.   The banks like to put costs normally paid by the seller on the buyers side.  So really watch your numbers for closing when you receive them.

@Matthew Richie

It depends on the size of it.  If it’s large enough to create a bedroom and closet without it being an awkward design it could improve rents with an additional bedroom.  You could put in a mini split hvac unit.  Just remember the code requirements for a bedroom; smoke detector, egress window or door and unfortunately a permit.  The permit is up to you.  Minimum bedroom size is 100 square feet for two people.

Building wealth requires cashflow.  Appreciation is a bonus.  If the property rents for $2500/month and your all in expenses are $2000 that’s a $500 monthly cash flow.  I tend to use cash on cash return as an important metric.  How quickly can I get my down payment, closing costs and rehab if any back.  Example down payment is 20K and closing cost are rolled in the loan, no rehab.  That’s a 30% return on my money.  In 3+ years I’ll will have all my cash back and I can repeat the process.  That is how you build wealth amongst other investment strategies.