All Forum Posts by: Chris L.

Terry,
I have found one of the most important elements of multi-family units is to have separate utilities.
That what you do not pay for, you do not value!
Also, I have found that a property manager makes life much better and well worth their commission.

Matthew,
I do not have experience wholesaling but there are plenty on the site who have so you can check with them.
Wholesaling would not be a problem to leave while you are away at basic & tech school. Always a good idea to have a buyers list.
As far as spending goes, do not spend on unnecessary items just to build your credit. I would recommend that you run all of your required expenses through a cash back credit card but only if you pay the balance in full every month. In fact, most cards will allow you to set up to pay the balance in full from your checking account on the due date. I do that with all of my cards. We probably get $600-700 back per year without spending a penny on credit card interest. You should not be spending anywhere near that amount to get those kind of rewards.
You have a bright future in front of you.
Keep up the positive thinking!

Matthew,
Knowing that you will be leaving for basic training, tech school, and then a follow on assignment makes a tremedous difference on how you should approach this.
First, what real estate course are you taking?
Second, you have the right approach to study, study, study.
I am gathering that you graduated a semester early from High School.
Are you working a job at present?
Knowing that you are leaving in the next 6 months, I would recommend the following:
1. Study, study, study. (sounds like you are already doing that)
2. Save every penny you can by keeping your expenses low. Although there are some out there who have figured out how to do this with no money, I have found it easier to have assets to get started.
3. I would put an ad on craigslist for your area looking for an investor that is currently acquiring homes that would be willing to let you tag along while they preview homes. That way, you are not requiring someone to go out when there is not much chance of you actually buying a property. I know that I would be happy to let you tag along if you were in my area.
4. I would recommend extreme caution about getting anything started that you could not have finalized before leaving. You will have no time in basic and very little time in tech school to devote to keeping track of any unfinished business.

Once again, I applaud your enthusiasm and effort.

Matthew,
I enjoy your enthusiasm to learn.
The FMV is ultimately determined by what someone is willing to pay for a property.
To determine whether or not this is a good deal depends on what you intend to do with the property and the condition.
I have walked through numerous homes and written NFF on the sheet-meaning Not For Free!
Would you intend to try to wholesale this property or fix and keep for a rental or flip it to another investor?
I have several more questions for you:
1. Are you from that area?
2. I am only familiar with a reserve unit at Niagra, are you in the reserves or active duty? Are you full time or part time?
These questions are intended to give me an understanding of your status so I can give you some better feedback.

I have some generic advice for you:
1. Go to the library and read everything that you can for free.
2. Avoid using your seed money for training materials that you can get for free.
3. I have enjoyed the Rich Dad series for big picture thoughts and motivation. Not a lot of specifics in the books though.
4. Find a local Real Estate investing group and attend meetings there.
5. The key to knowing a good deal is to get out and look. When you have walked through 100 houses, you will know which one is the best.

I look forward to watching and hearing about your progress.

Chance,
As long as you do not use your own name for the LLC, you can just tell the tenants that you are the property manager that represents the LLC.
They have no reason to know that you own the LLC.
Thankfully, we have a good property manager. We have found that it is beneficial to keep a 3rd pary involved in the process so that they do not believe they are dealing directly with the owner.
Additionally, they tend to tell "representatives" more than they do the owner.
All in the For What it is Worth category.

Chance,
I was able to set up our LLC in Indiana using the state website. Pretty easy.
Or, you can use legalzoom.com for a little bit more cost but it does the "handholding" for you.
Good luck

My favorite was a single Mom. Teenage daughter and special needs 6 yr old.
Could not pay rent because teenage daughter needed a prom dress.
Glad that i have a property manger now.

Francisco,
They may have been making the point that: when a property appreciates, you can refinance or take out an equity loan and that money/equity is tax free UNTIL you sell the property. It might be tax deferred after selling if it qualifies for a 1031 exchange.
I went to one of their seminars a while back and remember them making the point that you can tap the appreciated equity tax free by taking a loan.
They should stress that this "tax free" status is only for the duration of the time that you own the property or execute a 1031 exchange.

Jason,
I would try to find an investor or realtor from that area to give you an opinon on the value before you invest in a plane ticket to fly up there. I would do the easy research before you start generating expenses.
Hopefully, we are all just overly pessimistic and you got a great deal.
Best of luck to you
Chris

Jason,
A couple of thoughts.
1. Duplexes can be challenging in that we had continual issues between the renters. I felt like I was dealing with children most of the time. My wife and I have found the there is a different caliber of renter for a duplex than a SFH.
2. My first act would be to find a good property manager before I did anything. If you cannot find a competent property manager, I would advise that you sell and reinvest in a different market.
3. Be careful on a long distance rehab in that area. I am not familiar with the Detroit market; however, here in Ft Wayne I have walked through houses and written NFF: meaning NOT FOR FREE would I take this house. I hope yours is in better condition than that. My point is that I have walked through houses where the repairs required would cost more than the house would be worth or that comparable houses would sell for.
Best of luck to you.
Chris