All Forum Posts by: Ken Van Haitsma Jr

@John Dombrowski @Ray Jansma I PM'd the info to you.  Best of luck!

@Scott Steffek I'd be interested in the info for you contractor in Griffith if you can PM me.

Thanks!

@Jay Bhatt I'll PM you the info for the contractors I used on my last rehab.

@Scott Steffek That all makes sense thinking the strategy through.  I think I have a natural aversion to flipping simply because I find it difficult to part with the property once I put the work in, haha.  I prefer to hold on to it and create the passive cash flow through renting, though what you describe does make sense for long run.  Regarding my goals, that is really #1: build a buy and hold portfolio to create passive cash flow.  I'm a fan of creating repeatable processes, putting them in place, and managing the process rather than the work and every single person involved.

This is all good stuff worth considering, I'll PM you for additional information/discussion.  Appreciate it!

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

@Abel Curiel I'm interested in the idea of portfolio lenders, but a little unsure of how to go about that.  Every lender I have spoken with thus far has been a bank that doesn't seem to fit the Portfolio Lender description.  I'm less inclined to take up wholesaling simply because it would take more time and a larger volume of deals to make it worth it.  Unfortunately doing this on the side of an already demanding full time job makes it more difficult to participate in something like wholesaling.  Appreciate the ideas!

@Jim C. I did end up going with a property manager which has been helpful so far.  They suggested a couple more repairs after I engaged them, and within two weeks we had a few applications for tenants.  I most likely would be tempted to just allow any renter in myself just to start the cash flow, so I was glad to have someone do showings, get applications and say "these are ok, but we want to do a few more showings to get a better application".  We ended up doing just that and found someone with better income and credit by waiting for it.

On the topic of HELOCs, I'm actually looking into refinancing to pull out the sweat equity.  By doing that, I can wipe out the credit card debt I incurred for the rehab, though it wouldn't be quite enough to pay back what I borrowed from family, so I will still have a waiting period to get back into the black after that.  I'm working with my bank, BMO Harris currently, but I'll have to check into Centier as well.

@Edward Rhoads I haven't heard of Huntington, I'll have to look into that.  Thanks

I recently finished rehabbing my first rental property in Northwest Indiana and we're expecting security deposit by the end of the week from our first tenant.  Since this was my first project, it was a huge learning experience and took a long time.  I used mostly credit cards and borrowed money for the purchase down payment and rehab cost, and now that we're finishing up I'm doing numbers on payback and the next property.

I want to keep up momentum and start the next project soon, but by my count, it will take me somewhere around 5-6 months to pay off all the debts I incurred in the process of purchasing and rehabbing the house (not including the mortgage).  That includes any profit from the rents, as well as funneling any income I have available from my day job into debts.

I am very motivated to keep rolling and get started on the next one soon, but it's seeming a bit difficult when I look at the facts.  Has anyone used strategies in similar situations to keep purchasing deals?  Any past experience that could be applicable to my situation?  I've been brainstorming for a while now and maybe it's just a natural aversion to risk, but it seems like the only option is to hold where I am and get back financial footing before moving on to the next purchase.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

Finished the walk through with the property manager and the property is officially for rent!  As promised, here are a few pictures of the rehab.  More is available on my website and Facebook page.

Once again, I appreciate all the feedback and response on my first property.  I'm looking forward to getting some tenants placed here and moving on to the next one!

Finally updating this post after about 6 months of setbacks, trials, and learning experiences!  The single family home I bought in Northwest Indiana (Griffith) earlier this year is finally just about done, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on the experience.

The first two months or so of the rehab process was my brother and I working on the house trying to do everything ourselves.  We eventually realized that wasn't going to work and started to hire contractors.  We were able to handle all of the demo ourselves and started using Thumbtack or Craigslist to find people to help with repairs/installs.

At that point we spent another two months working with low bidders and shady handymen to try to save money.  This turned out to be more of a setback because they would finish some projects while leaving others unfinished or not started at all until it got to the point that the last handyman I worked with disappeared with his pay without completing the jobs.  I ended up having to pay someone again to finish his jobs, and fix some things he didn't do correctly.

These last two months we finally realized it would save us time and money in the long run to bring in professionals.  We started doing our research and only working with people who have a history of positive reviews from satisfied clients and this turned out to be a huge step in the right direction.  In the past two months we completed more work than the previous four combined.

So here we are, this weekend my brother and I are doing finishing touches, appliances are being delivered Monday, final cleaning is Wednesday, and shortly after the house is being appraised and the property manager is taking final pictures to post for prospective tenants!

This has been an endless lesson in perseverance and patience, but it feels great finally finishing up after such a long time.  I'm looking forward to getting my first tenant in place and planning for the next one with the lessons I've learned on my first investment property.

I'll be putting up some before and after pictures next week after the final cleaning, so stay tuned!

Welcome David! I'm an investor from Dyer, and I used to live in Crown Point. I am in the process of rehabbing my first rental purchase in Griffith. BP is an amazing resource so I think you will find a lot of help here. It's interesting that you have a property in China, what's the story behind that? Do you find it difficult to manage from overseas? Is it profitable?

@Tristan Escove That's a great example with a lot of lessons to learn. I appreciate the information.

The house I'm renovating now needs a face lift just about entirely throughout the house, but there are no major projects or damages.  I'm hoping to find something commercial that is in a similar state.  Disrepair, out-dated, and cosmetic updates needed, but nothing out of code.  Your story makes it clear I will need to watch out for that as a possibility for sure.

Thanks!

I'm in the process of rehabbing my first single family purchase in Northwest Indiana to be used as a buy & hold and I'm already thinking about where to go from here. Part of me wants to stick with buying distressed single family and use BRRRR strategy, but I've also been interested in commercial real estate.

I would really like to find something, for example, which had some office space on the ground level, and a couple apartments above, one of which I could live in.  Has anyone had success with this strategy?  Are there any considerations to think about when doing this?  It seems like a great blend of house hacking with breaking into commercial space, but I'm sure there are some cons to consider as well.