All Forum Posts by: Jonathon Rodriguez

Yo yo! Welcome to BP Tom! 

Flue, I just hit my 10 year anniversary of real estate investing and specifically, investing in Anchorage. About 2 years later I decided to become a Realtor to help other people do what I was doing because, although I had a good agent, he wasn't an expert in real estate investing. My goal was and is, to help other investors make sound investment decisions based on their goals while providing information, tools, resources and advice from someone who does it daily and has experience in all areas of real estate investing. I successfully help dozens of new and experienced investors a year find and buy great investment properties in Anchorage. The great ones hardly hit the MLS and the ones that do don't last long. I have made it my mission to make sure that my clients find the best deals first. I am very successful in helping any new investor I decide to work with find the right property for them and give them the tools to make it successful.

Let’s connect to talk more about what you are looking for and how I can help with your investing goals. No obligation, no sales pitch.

Jonathan, what is your current investing background? Do you have any rentals in any of these areas currently? Each place you listed has benefits and drawbacks for investors and some areas carry much more risk without the possible upside than others. That’s said, depending on your situation, background and goals, which area is right for you may be different from what is the right area to invest for others. 

Regarding lenders, there is 1 name in Alaska that stands above the rest when it comes to real estate residential investment properties (2-4units) and his name is Adam Heafner and he works at mortgage brokerage called First Rate Financial. No lender has more experience in real estate investment lending and with that experience he helps clients plan for the long term and not just the next purchase. What you buy next will dictate what you can buy in the future and that planning is what he specializes in. 

907-222-5505

[email protected]

Regarding where to buy, I help investors all over the state with not only buying their investment property, but goal setting, strategies and I help teach new and experienced investors the best systems and processes of being a landlord that help ensure your investments are successful. I would love to talk more with you on this. I’m going to send you a PM

@Phil Mcnally to expand on Jamie's comment and your valid concerns: 

Regarding the high heating bills many landlords pay for the building, they are only really high between the months of October/November and April with the summer lows being very low. On average, a typical 3600-4000 sq ft building with an average efficiency heating system will cost between $3,200-$3,800 annually. How does this compare to A/C or electric costs that owners incur in hotter climates? Do most owners pay that bill? I have always been interested in comparing our utility costs to costs in places like Southern California, Las Vegas, Kansas and other places that were mentioned in this post. Tenants 95% of the time pay their own electric here and owners typically pay heat, water/sewer and trash which can average $500-$600 a month for a "typical" 4 plex here in Anchorage. 

On the topic of oil. We are very dependent as a state on oil, this is very true. That said, we have been growing as a more and more economically diverse state and city. Oil has effected some jobs and we have experienced some negative job growth in the last 2 years with the expectations that job growth will be flat next year and increase in 2019. All of that said, we have had some HUGE oil discoveries lately that are greater than any oil discoveries in the world in recent years. With low oil over the last few years, exploration has significantly decreased worldwide and there are predictions of an oil shortage by as soon as 2020 http://business.financialpost.com/commodities/ener...

Anchorage is slightly less dependent on oil as the state is with strong, rapidly growing, employment in the medical field and a large army and air force base. Anchorage as a whole has many transient/ short term job opportunities thus create a lot of renters rather than home owners. We have enjoyed under 5% vacancies for the last 5 years and are just now experiencing a 5% average with the small amount of jobs that were lost. Anchorage for many years has had a housing shortage and has only partially balanced out with the job loss. Any sort of job increase/ population increase, will get us right back to that shortage and will lower vacancies again and cause rents to increase as they have steadily over the last decade. 

Hey Drew, 

I bought my first investment property at your exact age. I went with a 4 Plex. A couple of years ago I got into the sales side of things to help other people like me reach their investing goals.

Your first step should be to develop a plan. This is something that I do with all of my clients. I'm going to message you so that we can discuss a time to get together so that we can discuss your goals and develop a plan to get there. 

Jon Rodriguez

Keller Williams Realty

My apologies. I knew you by name, but had forgotten your BP user name. 

Cam, depending on the bank, they will usually have a threshold that they won't go under based on their asking price. Some banks will go exactly a certain amount under their asking price and will only go lower after a set amount of market time. This may be why your new Realtor was skeptical of it getting accepted if she knew that it was one of those banks that operate that way. The offers usually go through an asset management company, so you really aren't negotiating with the bank, the management company is given a price they can't go lower than and will accept the highest offer at or above the threshold.

Regarding your frustration with Realtors, it takes a 40 hour class and a 120 question test to get your Realtor license. It is harder to become a poodle groomer than a Realtor in Alaska. That means you need to be diligent about finding the RIGHT Realtor to work with. James Cash on here is a good friend of mine and very knowledgable about the market. I am also a Realtor, however, James would be a great resource to help you find a great buy in the distressed world. He knows his stuff when it comes to investment properties. 

Btw, what type of properties are you looking for? Single family or multifamily? I have multiple off market multifamily distressed properties coming up soon that would be great for flip or hold investments.

Ron,

Your concern over the market, economy and property conditions are all extremely valid concerns and any investor not taking those into consideration are likely not going to last as real estate investors. 

As James stated, I would not buy a single family home right now. Oil job losses are going to affect that market most significantly. We are already beginning to see that happen. Many home owners are putting their home on the market, even if they didn't lose their job, out of fear of the economy. This typically leads to this market being oversold and will soften home valuations in the near term. The same thing happens in the stock market, people overreact to negative news and sell off over fear. This is why you see the stock market have such high losses and gains over short periods of time. 

I also recommend staying away from condos if a primary concern of yours is liquidity. Condo associations are subject to unique issues that other properties are not. They can lose government financing if the association is mismanaged or their are too many tenants (for example, FHA loans require an association to be 51% owner occupied throughout the association). Also, certain condos have rules on using it as a rental (to avoid losing financing and other reasons). They can be good investments, but it depends on your goals and strategy.

I highly recommend a multifamily property. 2-4 unit properties have gone up significantly in value in recent years, however, as long as the property still cash flows, it can still make for a great investment. Interest rates on loans have never been lower, which is offsetting the rising prices. Duplex properties cash flow way less and often don't do much more than break even when fully rented if using owner occupied loans (FHA, VA, 5-10% conventional) where 3-4 unit properties cash flow at a much better rate. The 3-4 unit properties sell very quickly, if they even reach the market. Many of my clients are able to buy these properties before they hit the market because we are made aware of them before MLS or they get the information right when it comes to market.

Sounds like you have a good idea of what your goals are, but need a better idea on the path and plan to get there. I will message you to discuss further. 

Jon

Andrey, call me tomorrow. Short answer for everyone, yes, LLC is the way to go. Especially when it comes to multifamily properties. Also, you, yourself, can be the "registered agent"

Hey Andrey, 

I am a Realtor in the Anchorage market and specialize in investment properties. Primarily residential rentals (1-4 units) and commercial rentals (5+ units). These tend to have the best ROI when compared to other investments such as office space, warehouse, retail, etc. This is mainly because of the financing options for rental properties. Residential and Commercial living rentals have 30 year amortization loan options and lower interest rates than other type of investment properties. Longer terms and lower interest= better ROI.

Speaking specifically on what type of living rental is best, that comes down to what your situation is. If you are looking at it strictly as an investment property and don't plan on living in it. Your loan options are limited to 25% down on anything 1-4 units and 20% down minimum for 5+ commercial. If you have the ability to buy it owner occupied and live in it for a short time (Typically 1 year minimum) then you have loan options where the down is as low as 3.5% or 0% if you are a veteran of the armed forces. That increases ROI significantly.

Questions to consider: 

Are you looking at it strictly as an investment property? 

Do you plan on managing it yourself or hiring out management? Does that question depend on how many units you buy? Management fees are typically around 10%, so you need to factor that in when running numbers if you plan on have management. (ROI sky rockets on time invested with a manager, but obviously drops with cash on cash)

What do you value more, your time or money? This will help you decide how many units you want to buy or if you want to hire management. 

What are your long term goals? Think 3-5-10+ years out. What you buy today can dictate what you are able to buy in the future. Strategy is extremely important!

Last, have you met with great investment specific lenders to discuss loan options? I can connect you depending on what market you plan on buying in. 

Jon