All Forum Posts by: L'aura Bradford

Chelsea makes a really good point.  Be sure to take into consideration the cost of renovation, including the time it's vacant before raising the rent.  Maybe you could ease it up by 10% and then just let it be.  

I just scrolled down and saw your note about the housing assistance programs - that could be a GREAT solution! 

@Orion Hernandez I completely agree with what @Jamie Derasmo says!

And I applaud you for looking at this so young! If you can buy your first house at 19 you are setting your future up so well! It becomes a compound interest game and the sooner you start the better.

Primary residence loans have the best interest rates so buying a home that could later be a rental is a fantastic way to start.

Also buying something that needs some work is excellent! Don't overwhelm yourself - get an inspector to walk through the place with you and explain what the real problems are and a rough idea what it would cost to hire it out or if jts something you could handle (e.g.: you can definitely paint, but will probably want significant electrical to go to a contracor). If you can find a place thats just cosmetic you can update the kitchen and bath, flooring, landscaping yourself with "rental quality" finishes and after a year or two have enough equity to buy your next home and start renting the first.

Hello all! I did a quick search and didn't find anyone answering this question so -

Can anyone recommend a conventional lender with:

- good rates

- can finance in multiple states (FL and ME) and

- can work multiple loans at once

I have two SFH properties in FL and my primary residence in ME that I would like to refi. The two in FL will be cash out in order to purchase another.

Thanks!

L'aura

@Dylan Fellows I go to my property manager and get them to give me the high/low. They're experts and often already have the formulas on the top of their head.

If you dont currently have a manager but are considering using one, this is a great way to start having conversations, too, and get an idea if they would be good to work with.

And a plug for PM's, for me personally, they make me money. When I managed the property I didn't do background checks, didn't know what the going rate for rent was, didn't have a good handyman, etc, etc. If those are all things you're ok doing yourself then it might be worth the 10% you'd pay them, but I compare it to changing the oil in my car - its certainly something I CAN do, but those quickie lubes have it down to a science.

I second Ryan's comment above, Maine Real Estate Management has been great to work with.  They'll customize their service for you and do as much or as little as you want.  They can just find tenants for you and leave all the rest of the management to you or they can do everything including paying the utilities, remove snow, and mow the lawn.  And their rates are reasonable.  They also have a lot of good local relationships so if you need help renovating a newly purchased property they can offer references.  They even saved me with a last minute referral for an insurance agent that worked out fantastic.

L'aura

Hi @Rahul Singh, I'm curious how this deal turned out for you.  Did you end up making the purchase?  Have the numbers worked out as you expected so far?  Have you had good luck getting tenants in?

Thanks!

L'aura

@Jake Leicht, how do you find your deals in Stockton?  I'm considering buying a house for my sister and her two boys.  Because they're on a fixed income a duplex would be ideal so it could generate some of the funds to cover the mortgage.  Do you have an investor real estate agent you work with?

Thanks!

L'aura

Thanks Joel and Betty!  Great advice!

L'aura

Hi all, what's the term commonly used for that emergency fund one should keep to cover mortgages on rental properties if they're vacant?  Some of the folks I've talked to in my local area call it a "sleep well at night" (SWAN) fund.

And what are some rules you follow?  I haven't been diligent about it and we just picked up our second rental so I figured it's a good time to put more thought into it.

I'm a little late to the game on this post, but thought I'd throw my two cents in. 

I really wanted to start with as little money as possible, in part to really learn the process and in part because I was nervous about spending money before I understood, but I also wanted to be sure I was taking action.  We just started about 6 months ago. 

I started hand writing yellow letters.  It would take me a full weekend of writing in my spare time to do 50 letters (with envelopes and stamps). 

So after a couple weekends when I didn't have spare time I decided to automate and this is when I got serious about things.  I use Google Docs for everything and found some good hand written fonts, pulled all the yellow paper out of their tablets and did some mail merging.  I was able to get an envelope template for Google Docs, also.  I printed everything on my home printer.  This worked well - I could get a couple hundred letters done in spare time on one Saturday or spread the job out after dinner during the week.

As of last night my off-brand ink cartridge isn't recognized in my printer so I started looking at direct mail options.  It's $30-$50 for a new cartridge and I'd have to leave the house or wait for Amazon's 2 day shipping.  That was the impetus I needed to get over my fear of spending too much money and start looking at what others were doing so I'm now reviewing Click2Mail and a couple others.  I didn't keep close track of the cost for paper and my printer ink, but at first glance it's looking like it's about the same whether I do it myself or go to a mailing service and the mailing service is going to save a lot of time and allow me to stick to my mailing schedule which is an extra plus for the business.

I wouldn't change the way I did things, going slower allowed me to think through the process and learn some things.  Along the same lines, I intend to hire a personal assistant in time, after I've done some of the work myself so I understand it.