All Forum Posts by: Mark Douglas Hukill Jr.

I am a new owner of a 3-plex and I am trying to figure out what to do with the basement. There are two points of entry into the basement: one is a door that leads outside, and the other is through a door that leads to the front unit. Currently only the front unit tenant accessing the basement. The basement has the water heater, furnace, and a washing machine (I will be installing a dryer).

I am debating on turning the basement into a community laundry room. I see that there could be some issues with it, but it will allow me to raise the rent a bit for each unit. I believe I will make see more income if I raise the rent on all 3 units instead of just the front one for having access. 

Does anyone have any experience or advice with community laundry rooms?

Do you think it has to be a business account or would it work if I opened a personal checking account and just only used that for the property purposes?

I am going to be closing on a 3-plex with a VA loan in the next two weeks or so. I think opening a new bank account to receive the rental income is what I am going to do. I would like to make it a business account, however since it is a VA loan, I cannot acquire it with an LLC until I refinance it to a conventional loan. Would I still be able to open a business account even though I don't technically have an LLC? Or should I just open a new personal checking account?

I am currently under contract for my very first property. It is a 3-plex that I am getting for a good price. I just had the inspection done yesterday and am happy that there are no serious underlying issues with the roof or the foundation. Besides some minor electrical issues that my friend who is a certified electrician is going to fix, it looks like I am going to be replacing the water heater and doing something about the heating system.

The inspector advised getting a new water heater because it is really old (around 20 years) and I think it is a good idea. The heating system requires some maintenance because it is a little bit older and one of the rooms do not have a source of heat. The inspector advised on adding a radiator to the room. I think I am going to go that route with it.

My question is do you think that the seller will go for it if I ask if he can fix these issues before we close on the house? Is it too much to ask to replace the water heater and service the heating system? All of the other issues I can afford to fix up no problem. I just do not want to have to replace these appliances myself.

I am about to go through with using a VA loan to finance a 3-plex. I am going to do some renovations to it and I am thinking about possibly refinancing after owning it for a while, maybe a year or two. The reason being I might want to use the VA loan on a different house once I have some equity on this current one.

Has anyone tried to refinance a VA loan with a conventional loan? If so please let me know how hard it was and how long you needed to wait. Thanks

Hello all,

I am an overseas contractor for the U.S. Government and obviously out of the country for the next year or so. Since I have been out here I have really started to dig deep into real estate investing. I have been listening to the Bigger Pockets Podcasts, reading books, and checking out multiple markets. I am currently looking to buy houses that need a little rehab and then rent them out. I feel that I have found a few potential deals and am very eager to make offers. I know that investing in areas you don't live in brings challenges; however, that is the type of investor I would want to be even if I was back in the U.S. 

I have a cell phone that can call any number back in the states as well as access to WiFi 24/7. I would always be able to stay in contact with my agent, PM, and contractor. I am just wondering if anyone has attempted to invest in properties while they are in a different country. Is it even possible, and if so what challenges did you run into? I really want to start my portfolio sooner than later so any advice would be wonderful. Thanks!