All Forum Posts by: Lynne Hart

Hi everyone!  I'm a realtor and investor in St. Louis Missouri, with mostly longer term rentals, however I have one short/mid term rental in St. Louis (currently) and two in Puerto Rico.  I'm considering this year that I MIGHT sell one or two of my long term rental buildings and scale up to a short term rental in a new market.  I'm open to consideration, especially if there's a lucrative reason, but am looking for thoughts and considerations in the following areas:

- I think my first spend would be about 200k or less.  

- Considering the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area, maybe something else in PR, or maybe Dominican Republic.  Open to other locations but ideally this would be a location I might like to visit from time to time.   Touristy enough to make money, but prefer not super touristy unless of course the money is insane!  

- That 200k currently crosses me about 29k and net about 22k.  So the reason to make a move would be a markedly better return.  If I find that, I could sell one or more additional buildings for further purchases.

- Also of consideration is long term rentals if the numbers are right, I'm hearing crazy things about the rental rates in some of the major metros.

- Bonus points if you are a realtor and/or short term rental property manager who has a turnkey offering, managed for me.

- I could be willing to do some amount of improvement, but not major projects in markets that I'm new to and not present in.  

- If you happen to be in St. Louis or eastern Puerto Rico - I can cover those locations myself, so no need for help there! (sorry, its what I do for a living).

Looking forward to your insight and possibly new business connections!

Lynne

Yes I did.  I understand that the question was about a conventional loan, however, ultimately I percieve that he wants to just be able to buy property, and can do so using a commerical loan.   Quit W2 2015 April,  Licensed July 2015, Bought July 2016, without having yet filed 2015 taxes, and with full disclosure that my W2 income had changed, and I had only one year as an agent.  The building was operating and cash flowing.  I put down 15% with a local bank.

@Scott Goulet, Hey there!  Yes the others are right.  There really isn't enough infomration here.  I"m a St. Louis investor and realtor to investors, our rental stock is diverse in price, location, and condition.  We'd need to know what type of property this is, number of units, location, etc to have an idea of this specifically was realistic.  that said, I have lots of clients from the coasts and other large metros that find amazing price points and investments in St. Louis because our price points are so affordable compared to other cities.  As well, our investment properties sell generally at higher rates of return than other areas.   If I can help in some way I would certainly do my best but I'd need more specifics, and specific questions about what you want to know!!  Cheers!

Slow but steady growth is the trend, but I guess you can choose to view it as you please!

Hi @Ramon Perez  House Springs is significantly outside what most of us would consider the St. Louis Metro, so Peter is smart to ask for Zip code.  House Springs would have a totally unique set of coverage and most property management companies covering St. Louis will not likely cover that far out.   @Peter MacKercher Might have some ideas, or may go that far out - but I unfortunately am not familiar with property managers in that particular area.  Another keyword you could use in a search could be Jefferson County, perhaps you can find PMs servicing broader Jefferson County?  Best wishes!

@Jonathan Thomas  Welcome and congratulations on already getting started.  You're taking the right steps and getting some great advice here!  I am an investor and realtor in St. Louis MO, and my client base as a realtor is 100% investors, primarily multifamily.   St. Louis is a fantastic place to invest, with a low barrier to entry and strong rental audience.  There's something for every type of investor!  I'd be happy to jump on a phone conversation this week and chat about anything you find helpful.  Just let me know when works for you!

If you don't find a conventional HELOC, you might look at local / small commercial banks. I have a commercial Line of Credit on a 4 family I own in St. Louis Missouri that I'm using to renovate another property. Once I'm finished with it (its a SFR splurge to become my own home and an STR) I will likely cashout refi that or HELOC that SFR to pay off this line of credit and then repeat to use it to buy and/or renovate other things. BTW if you have issues buying in DC, St. Louis has some lower price points and generally higher returns than the coasts. I'm an investor, but also have my license and my client base is nearly 100% investors. If I can help in any way, I'm here!

@Troy Palmer Your wife may not have a natural passion for real estate, but if you present her the option of what your future could look like, it could get her interested.  There are ALOT more women investors now than there were 10 years ago.  Speaking as an investor and a realtor to investors (St. Louis Missouri, my client base is 100% investors).   I personally began on my own doing flips to gain experience, build capital, saved from my executive job for years, and slowly but surely growing my portfolio.  I have lived in and renovated properties, buy, renovated and held properties, long term rentals, short term rentals and 8 years ago I achieved my first dream of leaving Corporate America.  Shortly after that I turned up the volume on renovate and sell, AND renovate and hold, and after getting a kick in the butt by a few of my clients who I was helping to expand their portfolios and learning to leverage debt (and reading Robert K's real estate book also on the same topic), I've purchased and renovated a home, turned 2 family Airbnb - and now live between Saint Louis and Puerto Rico as I please, working virtually with my clients and construction teams as needed.   I'm at that point where I could decide that I have enough, and pull back, or decide to go forward and achieve more or anything in between.  And, I started at your age exactly.   My birthday is in September, and my first multifamily investment was August 2012 (I was 32).  Interesting and useless facts. ;)   Best wishes on your journey and on getting your wife to join you in achieving financial freedom!!!