All Forum Posts by: Kerry Smith

Hi @Carrie Bostek  - Welcome to the site!

Here are 10 tips to help you get started on Bigger Pockets:

1. New to Bigger Pockets? Start Here!

2. Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide – This little book is a true gem, and it will give you a good overview of the ins-and-outs of real estate investing.

3. Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with other successful real estate investors. The podcast is a wealth of game changing information, and entertaining too!

4. Develop your own business strategy and plan How to Write A Kick @$$ Business Plan – A great post by D. Scott Smith on how to write a great business plan.

5. Do not miss out on all of the free resources in the Bigger Pockets File Place – Lots of spreadsheets, example leases, and contracts can be found here.

6. Locate and attend several different local Real Estate Investing Association (REIA) meetings. REIA meetings are the best way to meet and network with local real estate investors, cash buyers, lenders, agents and contractors.

7. Stay away from the “guru” sales-pitch events - They rarely increase your investment knowledge, they merely empty your wallet!

8. Get active on Bigger Pockets by connecting with other Bigger Pockets Members in your area, and engaging on the forums:

9. Make sure you set up your Key Word Alerts – You will receive an email notification whenever someone posts on a topic you are interested in.

10. After you've spent some time on Bigger Pockets, make sure you go by the Bigger Pockets Podcast on iTunes and leave them a rating! 

Hi @Marques Rounds  Welcome to the site!

Here are 10 tips to help you get started on Bigger Pockets:

1. New to Bigger Pockets? Start Here!

2. Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide – This little book is a true gem, and it will give you a good overview of the ins-and-outs of real estate investing.

3. Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with other successful real estate investors. The podcast is a wealth of game changing information, and entertaining too!

4. Develop your own business strategy and plan How to Write A Kick @$$ Business Plan – A great post by D. Scott Smith on how to write a great business plan.

5. Do not miss out on all of the free resources in the Bigger Pockets File Place – Lots of spreadsheets, example leases, and contracts can be found here.

6. Locate and attend several different local Real Estate Investing Association (REIA) meetings. REIA meetings are the best way to meet and network with local real estate investors, cash buyers, lenders, agents and contractors.

7. Stay away from the “guru” sales-pitch events - They rarely increase your investment knowledge, they merely empty your wallet!

8. Get active on Bigger Pockets by connecting with other Bigger Pockets Members in your area, and engaging on the forums:

9. Make sure you set up your Key Word Alerts – You will receive an email notification whenever someone posts on a topic you are interested in.

10. After you've spent some time on Bigger Pockets, make sure you go by the Bigger Pockets Podcast on iTunes and leave them a rating! 

Hi @Ronny Long  - Welcome to the site!

Here are 10 tips to help you get started on Bigger Pockets:

1. New to Bigger Pockets? Start Here!

2. Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide – This little book is a true gem, and it will give you a good overview of the ins-and-outs of real estate investing.

3. Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with other successful real estate investors. The podcast is a wealth of game changing information, and entertaining too!

4. Develop your own business strategy and plan How to Write A Kick @$$ Business Plan – A great post by D. Scott Smith on how to write a great business plan.

5. Do not miss out on all of the free resources in the Bigger Pockets File Place – Lots of spreadsheets, example leases, and contracts can be found here.

6. Locate and attend several different local Real Estate Investing Association (REIA) meetings. REIA meetings are the best way to meet and network with local real estate investors, cash buyers, lenders, agents and contractors.

7. Stay away from the “guru” sales-pitch events - They rarely increase your investment knowledge, they merely empty your wallet!

8. Get active on Bigger Pockets by connecting with other Bigger Pockets Members in your area, and engaging on the forums:

9. Make sure you set up your Key Word Alerts – You will receive an email notification whenever someone posts on a topic you are interested in.

10. After you've spent some time on Bigger Pockets, make sure you go by the Bigger Pockets Podcast on iTunes and leave them a rating! 

@Ross Ellington - I haven't encountered this personally in my VA loan experience, but I cannot see them legally bumping a tenant out. I can see them holding your feet to the fire when that tenant's lease is up though!

@Alicia Maloney - Hi Alicia, welcome to BP! I agree with the above posters, I wouldn't continue to work with the lender. There are plenty of investor friendly lenders, but it takes some work to find them. I had to literally sit down over 2-3 days and call our local lenders. Best of luck!

Awesome, awesome, awesome feature!

@Rob Gleason congrats on your first real estate deal and MFR!

Think of the 1% rule as the bare minimum you should be shooting for on a rental property. If you cannot get 1%, run away. You will find some people say that .08% is acceptable, but I venture to say that if they really put in the effort to find 1% properties they could. In regard to achieving 2%, it can be challenging, and again some people say nigh impossible in metropolitan areas. I believe you can find 2% properties within two hours of all metropolitan areas, but they take work to find (direct marketing, word of mouth etc).

Accomplishing 10% ROI is good, but as you are discovering could be better. You will also find that all of the various metrics used in real estate investing are just that, metrics. Find out which ones you value most, AND fit your business plan. Use the metrics that are important to you to establish firm CRITERIA for buying properties in the future. This will help avoid 10% ROI, when you really should be getting 15%.

Also, one of the great things about MFRs is that they offer you a higher level of CONTROL than SFRs, especially with 4+ units. You have the ability to increase rents, reduce expenses and acquire even more units over time. Increase rents from $500 to $525, great! Reduce property management fees from 10% to 8%, great! Rent washer and dryers to your tenants for $30 a month, great! In essence, any positive improvements in cash flow have a more profound effect because you are operating on SCALE. While an SFR offers no scale, and there is only so many ways you can squeeze cash flow out of an SFR.

Again, congrats in your first deal! Awesome feeling isn't it!

All the best!

Hey Mike, congrats on the flip! I know you're looking for private lending, but have you considered a local portfolio lender?

I've had good luck with First Bank getting financing on flips in that price range. I put together a simple business plan, a deal analysis sheet from BP, and my financial statement. Now all they want to see is my deal analysis. I know they have an office in Fayetteville...I do not have a point of contact in that office unfortunately. 

Let us know how this deal turns out!

Good luck!

@Pamela Smith Welcome to Bigger Pockets! Pam, I'd recommend you take a few moments to complete your profile, upload a photo, and then post an introduction in the new member introduction area. You will find that you'll receive a much better response, rather that your first post asking for an agent in your area to run CMAs and absentee owner lists for you...

If you want to find specific people in your area, you can use the member search function under the Network tab. A word of caution, make sure you do not spam the same message to multiple members, otherwise your posting rights may be automatically removed by the BP system.

All the best!

@Pragya Singh Welcome to Bigger Pockets! Make sure you take the time to post a New Member introduction in the New Member intro forum. It will help you garner more interest in your postings, and it helps others understand what kind of investing you are in to.

It's really hard to give you a specific answer without any of the details of the purchase etc. I cannot think of any reason why you would want to split a duplex, just to refi it. Splitting them up in to two separate houses seems like a whole lot of work (and capital), and for what?

Why do you want to do it? Cash out for another REI venture? Considering the information you've provided....

My answer is definitely no, it would not be "profitable" to split them.

As to how much it will cost - It will likely cost you tens of thousands of dollars to "split" them up.

Please provide more detail so we can help you find a solution...