All Forum Posts by: Larry Turowski

Any experienced commercial/multi-family investors willing to talk a little about their investing journey--like on the phone?

I'm an experienced investor, both flipping and buy-and-hold many SFHs and small multis.  In addition, I've done a couple of small commercial deals.  Now I am considering going big.

One of the things I found invaluable early on was talking with experienced investors and asking them to tell me their story.  How did you get started?  What do you do now?  What is working for you?  It really helped me shape what I wanted to do.  I have in turn done that for many new investors.

And now I'm in need it again.  Would you be willing to spend 20-30min on the phone with me?  Please reply or DM me.

I am capable of beating average stock market returns in real estate. I am not capable of beating average stock market returns in the stock market. Nor are most people.

You can search BiggerPockets for general questions like this, that have been asked thousands of times. Basically, it’s a great way to get started, and even to continue and thousands of investors have done it.

I’ve been using Rentec direct for a few years. Never heard of Innago before now. What I liked about Rentec when I was doing my search is the monthly fee was lower than others like rent manager. It had to pay near me integrate it so people can pay cash at various stores to pay their rent. It also has ACH and credit card pay the background checks for half the price of others and it just had better features. I also like the recording.

Quote from @Alexandra Winkler:

Thank you both for the reply!

@Larry Turowski - The property is in North Winton Village in the city. We did install a sump pump and have a dehumidifier going, but not automatically draining. Our biggest issue now is that water is coming in through two of the blocks and the basement floor isn't graded toward the sump pump. We really don't have any opportunity for #4 because we have a driveway on one side, deck on the other, and covered porch on the front. We will take a look at the one side that's exposed. In your experience how long does the dry lock hold up? Is it something we need to redo every year? 

Concrete block is porous. The ideal situation is to seal it from the outside before it gets into the block. I think that is part of what the expensive solution provides. Drylock should hold up for 3-5 years for moisture. If you’ve got serious water coming in, it may not hold up long.

Since you say it is two blocks you’ve got a very specific issue and it is likely a gutter discharge issue in that area. You’ll need to investigate how to get water away from that area outside. 

@Alexandra Winkler I don’t know where your house is but generally it is not worth it. I get water in my own basement. I’d say more than 50% of older homes in Rochester do.

Here is what you should do in order of importance. 1) keep a dehumidifier running 24/7 in the basement, draining to a floor drain or put it up on a stand and drain into the utility sink. 2) install a sump pump. 3) get rid of the mold and dry lock (type of paint) the basement walls. 4) grade the ground away from the basement.

And I don’t know that I would do #4. It can be tough to accomplish on some lots.   oh and make sure gutter downspouts are extended to dump water at least 3 feet away from the foundation. 

@Nathan Gesner gave you the perfect answer. If you got sued for $1M and only had $500k it is not as if the insurance company is just going to pay out and you’re on the hook for the other $500k. They’ll fight tooth and nail to pay as little as possible, if anything at all. This is the one time we like how cheap insurance companies are. That $1M lawsuit, if there is any legitimacy to it, will probably get settled for $100k. 

@Alexandra Yates-keller you should find your local REIA and network with local investors. Take people out for coffee. Ask them what they do, how they got started and how they picked their niche. You'll learn a ton just from this. Eventually you'll meet some that are doing exactly or pretty close to what you want to do. Find one or a couple that you trust and ask them if they'd help you evaluate opportunities. You'd be surprised at how helpful people are.

Besides your local REIA, try calling rental ads for the types of properties you could see yourself buying. Get to the owner and ask them out for coffee.

Commit to making enough contacts to have at least one, or better yet two coffee appointments each week.

Excellent post @Scott E.  this reminds me of 2008 when the business leaders were saying there was zero visibility. That’s the problem even with commercial real estate. We know there is going to be pain but we don’t know how much or how it’s going to happen. Are owners going to go into foreclosure? Are they going to bring in more money in order to refinance the remainder?  Are they going to be able to even sell?

Cap rates seem to be holding steady in spite of the high interest rates. It doesn’t make sense to me.

I don’t have the fog lights (the information or mental acuity) to pierce through the cloud of uncertainty.  So I don’t know that I could identify what is truly a deal until after the fog lifts. 

Quote from @Ryan Boutin:

I have read that flippers tend to sit around the 70% mark for buying vs ARV for flipping properties. Is this what most use as a number? What do you use for a percentage?

That’s an old formula: buy at 70% ARV minus cost of rehab. You just have to go by the numbers and see if the deal makes sense.

Deals can still make sense at 80% or even 85% depending on how much rehab (if any) is needed and how high the ARV is.