All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Garrett

@Nate Marshall

I get your point, but because the term hard money lender has such a troubling reputation, all they have done is changed the name to private lending.

I personally don’t like it. Private money to me is not institutional money it is a personal individual lending money on a project. I agree for the new or in experienced investor the term private money is confusing. I prefer they use the term institutional lender or any term other than private lender.

@James Mercer

When your running numbers be very conservative. I did use Airdna to look at revenue possibilities. I used 50% occupancy even though people were telling me occupancy should be near 75%. Look at all of your cost. Utilities, HOA if applicable, mortgage, property taxes, insurance (especially insurance) and rehab, furnishings, repairs, linens/towels, etc. I ended up renting an umbrella and two chairs for the season to add value to my guests. I do self manage my property.

@Ivan Zinginov

Congrats on your success. I've done a number of BRRRR projects in the nw suburbs. I bought a STR a couple of years ago in Miramar Beach probably 50 minutes from PCB. Sold a few of my properties and moved to Florida a few months ago. Still have a few rentals in Illinois. Let me know if you have any STR questions.

@Paul S.

Let me just comment on the repair portion. When I buy a property I go over the condition of the unit/house very thoroughly anything that looks worn out or is at its end of life expectancy I replace. I have found this greatly reduces the calls I get. In fact, I rarely get maintenance calls. Some tenants are heavy on maintenance. I let them know I will fix something like a clogged drain once after that they are responsible. It is a fine line about whether things will require maintenance or they will just stop calling. In this case, a quarterly inspection at least of the unit is probably necessary to make sure things are being maintained.

I self manage my units as well.

@Luka Jozic

I think you need the rate to drop at least by 1% at a minimum.  You need to look at the cost of the refinance and how long the payback is to make sure it’s worth it.  A refinance charging 2 or 3 points I probably wouldn’t do, but you need to run the numbers.  It definitely helps if your plan is to hold long term.  There is a chance you could end up refinancing a couple times especially if rates come back into the 3% range.

I have three sets of everything.  Because of the short time on turnovers (6 hours) my cleaners will take the one dirty set home and do laundry there and bring it back the next cleaning.  They will try to do some laundry, but usually there is just not enough time to get all of it washed and dried.  They only have a couple hours or so before they go off to other units.

@Todd Goedeke

Thanks for sharing the “Emerald Coast by Owner” ECBYO.  I had never heard of it.  Can you or others share their experience with using this sight.  I saw it’s an annual subscription of  $449 a year.  

@DJ Brooks

You will need to contact the city or county regarding why it is posted.  I’m not sure if the condemned notice is actually from the EPA or it just states EPA related issues.  If it is the EPA you then need to determine if it’s the state EPA or US EPA.  Could be a meth house or other type of hazard.  The term condemned only refers to the building is not habitable.  There could be many reasons for that.

@Mariah Myers

As @Luke Carl mentioned bookings for the summer start about now. Memorial Day to Labor Day. My STR is a 3/2 so it doesn't have the big numbers that the bigger houses have. You'll get a nice run for spring break. A solid 5-6 weeks full for March and April. Those don't get booked until a few weeks to a couple weeks before.

Best of Luck.

@Shenell Caldeira

I've had great success buying REO's directly from the banks. When banks finish the foreclosure process many times they just sit on them until there directed to move them. Don't waste your time with the large banks, you'll never get to the right person unless you operate a hedge fund and are going to buy hundreds at a time.

I found small local banks work the best. Credit unions as well. It’s all about small banks. They also like cash buyers, an easy way to move properties. It will take some effort. Here is the plus side, no competition for the most part. If you build a good relationship with the banker they will call you when there getting ready to acquire another property.

The two keys:

1. Have the money ready.

2. Be good at analyzing deals quickly, in other words know your market as an expert to determine what a good deal is. You can still negotiate with the bank based on repairs, mold, etc.