All Forum Posts by: Kyle Z.

@Colleen F. Thank you!  These are all really good points and I will make sure to figure all that out. He did mention he was 18 at the time so it was almost 10 years ago. 

@Blair Poelman Thank you for your feedback I appreciate it!

To be honest, the dog issue doesn't deter me too much. We foster dogs so I have a soft spot for any four legged family member.  But every landlord seems to be against so I figured they must have their reasons. The Pet fee is a great idea

Am I liable for any bites from the dog?

New Landlord here!

I recently took a phone call from a potential tenant, interested in my rental property.  I started running him through the basic pre-screening questions and red flags flew up left and right but I am not completely writing him off. Below i'll list the pros and cons, I would love some feedback!

Cons

he admitted he and his Fiance both have felonies

They have a Dog (husky)

No prior rental history (lived with his fiance's mom)

fairly young (27) 

Pros

They both work (will offer references) (combined they make over 3x the rent)

willing to pay asking price (I listed it about $100-$200 more than I thought Id get)

He seemed well spoken and mature

they have a 2 year old

He said his credit score is about 650 (i'll fact check this later)

Am I looking for trouble here? Is there any way I can limit the risk?

Thank you in advance 

I'm finding them on realtor.com and Zillow.com 

In the last couple weeks I have found multiple great deals on the MLS (mostly foreclosures). The last two I found the same day they were posted and called the selling agent the same day. On both occasions, I set up a walk through at their earliest convenience so I am almost positive no one else could had before me (at least not with the selling agent). Again, on both occasions, before we could even walk through the property, the deal already had multiple offers made and was basically already tied up.

My question -  Am I losing these deals to other investors that are not even walking through the properties nor having them inspected? Is this normal?

I feel like I am finding home runs but before I can even look at the property they are tied up. 

This question/s relates to due diligence and inspection of potential properties.  for the purpose of of explaining my exact circumstance I am looking at a 30k Single family home and plan on using it as a long term rental. 

Do you always use certified inspectors before buying a property?

If not, how do you determine the condition of certain items like 

• HVAC units
• Electrical wiring
• foundation issues 
• Roof issues
• Drainage issues

Is there a good book anyone can suggest that explain what to look for when inspecting properties?

Thanks!

I think you need to differentiate between passive income from having it rented and the business you plan on running out of it.  Sounds like you have very little chance to actually have the boat bring any type of cash flow from rentals alone which means the business needs to completely support this "investment". You are talking to a bunch of Real Estate Investors here so you have to expect them to tell you that this is an awful investment if you are looking at rentals alone to support it. 

I would consider the rentals nothing more than a little perk that help pay for the tremendous amount of maintenance and other costs. 

Make sure your business plan is sound since it appears that will be what is paying for this boat. Because if your are borrowing money to fund this, its to start a business not Real estate which is much riskier. Maybe talk to some business professionals to help you work those numbers out. 

Good luck! sounds like a fun business 

@Anthony Dooley - Again thank you and I fully understand what you are saying. For a seasoned investor i'm sure your strategy makes sense. However, I am concerned being a complete newbie and throwing all of my money into one deal.  I don't quite have the experience to wager my personal house on one deal.  That being said, it has sparked my interest and I will certainly keep an eye out for such a deal. Who knows, if I find one I think has minimal risk I may just go for it. 

@Jaquetta T Ragland - Thats a great point 

@Christopher Giannino - Thats exactly what I am concerned about. Im worried about paying cash for a property and then not being able to refinance due to my HELOC debt. I was planning on buying a bunch of 40k SFH with cash and refinancing. But if i can't find lenders to refinance with then I will quickly run out of cash.

I'm just trying to find the best way to make this money stretch and I realize @Anthony Dooley probably gave me my best option for greatest return but i'm just not confident yet enough. 

@Anthony Dooley Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. That is a great idea although with my 40k income might make it hard to finance a $600k prop.  I agree, while I am excited to get started, I plan on making sure the math is checks out before buying anything. 

I recently took out a 170,000 HELOC. The plan is to buy as many rental properties as possible with it. I plan to buy with cash and then refinance and take as much back out as possible. I would like to BRRRR where possible and stretch out the 170,000 as far as possible. Is this a good strategy or flawed? does anyone see possible roadblocks I may run into?