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All Forum Posts by: Matt Alvino

Matt Alvino has started 5 posts and replied 9 times.

Hello all,

I have a 4-family property on a very small block. Only 5 houses on the entire block. The neighbor across the street is a single-family home, but the house is set back all the way on the alley. So they have a big exposed front yard that borders the alley access and has a tall chain-link fence around the entire yard. There is a lot going on in that yard. Kid stuff (i.e. trampoline, playsets) as well as random storage, that would typically be found in a backyard. It's not a full on junkyard, but its close and definitely not a pleasant view.

A potential tenant recently backed out of the process after seeing the neighbor's yard. My question(s), what is the best means to handle this?

- A conversation with the homeowner (possible renter)? This feels like the right thing to do, but curious if this opens up issues if it doesn't go well.

- A letter to the homeowner?

- Go straight to the city to lodge a complaint? 

-Something else?

Thank you.

Post: My Second Deal Details

Matt AlvinoPosted
  • Posts 9
  • Votes 10

TL:DR - picked up my second 4-family. Purchase price $120k, with maybe $40k in repairs/capex the first year. Looking to get rents to $600/mo and cashflow over $400/mo.

Hey all. This post won't be as organized as my first deal post (https://www.biggerpockets.com/...), but excited to have closed on my second deal. 

I started the year doing another 90 day Bigger Pockets Challenge, this was successful for my first deal, but if you all remember the craziness the year started with, the second attempt was unsuccessful. After the 90 days had run their course I kept an eye on the market, but definitely not as closely. However, as that challenge was ending I found investor agent @Alicia Sierra after reading a comment she left on another post that sounded very helpful. She sync'd me up with her partner Jessica Loose and Jessica kept an eye out for me. For like 7 months... 

Well, a 4-family hit the market for $150k in a C-level neighborhood that Jessica sent my way. We knew it needed a roof and likely a new lateral line. Rents in the area can easily get $600/mo so I assessed the deal and could offer $128k. Which was promptly declined for another. That fell threw. And then another. That also fell through. And then it finally fell to me. We negotiated to $130k and got it under contract. I think the other deals fell through because the property does need some work and the three current tenants do not speak English (Vietnamese and French speakers), two of which didn't even have leases... Did a walk through with my property manager, Peter MacKercher, and when he said "$130k feels right for this," it gave me a ton of confidence that I had at least assessed the deal pretty well.

This was an "As-is" listing, but the inspection came back with a lot. We expected a lot, so it wasn't a shock, but we needed to negotiate a bit more. After reassessing, we countered at $117k, they countered back at $120k and I figured it wasn't worth arguing over 3k at this point. 

Day of closing, Tuesday Oct 11th, my Closing Disclosure changed 4 times... arguments over the prorated rents and utilities with the sellers and the title company apparently got heated... 

And now, the deal details.

Purchase price: $120,000

Convention 30-year loan @ 7% with 25% down ($30,000)

Planning $40,000 in repairs the first year or two (roof, lateral, kitchen/bath updates) and possible another $40,000 over the next 10 (more updates, HVAC replacements).

Targeting ~$450/mo in positive cashflow after all units turnover and updates are made (~7% CoC ROI). ~$250/mo in cashflow off the bat.

I also am fairly confident that this property is on the "path of progress" and could see over $700/mo in cashflow in 5-ish years. This may also mean it might be a bit of a "slow burn BRRR" and I can pull some money out to finance a future deal.

Want to thank my agent again, Jessica Loose. She put in a lot of work and had tons of patience to see this though. Highly recommend her to anyone needing an active agent that finds deals and brings them to you.



Pictures are a little hard to tell sometimes, but is the driveway even really needed? It doesn't appear to be going to a garage, so it feels more like a parking pad. I know you can't tell the inspector "we promise not to use it," but would it be cheaper to just demo it outright? Can you just cover it with sod...? (mostly joking)

Hey Lewis. I'm in StL City and looking in C-ish neighborhoods right now due to how crazy prices have gotten. Places like Bevo, Dutchtown, Marine Villa, Mount Pleasant, Carondelet, and Patch. However, some of these areas can be very block to block so I find myself driving properties to ensure there is not more than a couple vacant properties in a 2 block radius.

If you are more of an upscale investor, Shaw is where everyone seems to be. St. Louis Hills, Southampton, and Northampton are the next tier down, but the prices versus rents simply don't make sense based on my numbers.

Happy to give you some more deets Orvil. Got the property for $249,900 (which was about 10k over asking, used an escalator clause to get here). Based on my formula (8.3% vacancy, 10% repair, 5% CapEx, 10% prop mgmt, plus mortgage/prop tax/insurance and utilizes), I came up with $400+ in monthly cashflow and ~8% CoC ROI. Now, I predicted rents of $700/month per unit, median in this area is ~$750. After the offer and getting the rent rolls, I learned that all the units were currently rented for $550 and the units are in very good condition. One unit is vacant, another tenant is leaving end of May. So I can raise rents on two units to market immediately. On paper, the deal takes a big hit with the below market rent, but once it gets to market, it hits my numbers and makes me happy. Especially for a first deal. Just going for a single right...?

Hey Leigh,

Yes, found the deal on the MLS and it's in STL. I had assessed about 60 deals to that point and then two hit the market the same day that made sense.

Looking off-market may be my next challenge. Wanted to get in to the game on this first one and get some experience.

Hey everyone, 

Closed on my first investment property just shy of a week ago. A big part of my success, besides the podcast, was committing to the 90 Day Challenge. I started on Jan 28th after a Brandon Webinar, made my first offer on Mar 31st (~63 days later), and closed on May 4th (~96 days later). I wanted to attach the spreadsheet I created to track my journey, but realizing now I can't actually attach a file... So this post is a lot less epic than I planned... However, I will copy the table in here, this will likely be hard to read, but hopefully helpful to some...

Any day where I do not have notes is a day where I either assessed deals or researched rents. I plan to make some sort of a checklist out of the other notes I kept along the way. Here is the table of my journey:

DayDateStart TimeEnd Time
11/28/20215:55 PM6:15 PM
21/29/2021
31/30/20218:00 AM8:15 AM
41/31/20213:00 PM3:15 PM
52/1/20216:15 PM6:30 PM
62/2/20215:50 PM6:20 PMEmailed two loan officers asking if they could give me an idea on the interest rate I can get (heard nothing back)
72/3/2021
82/4/20217:20 PM7:35 PM
92/5/202110:20 PM10:35 PM
102/6/20217:25 AM7:40 AM
112/7/20219:20 PM9:35 PM
122/8/20214:20 PM4:35 PM
132/9/20217:20 PM7:35 PM
142/10/20217:00 PM9:15 PMAttended the Feb StL Real Estate Investor Meetup
152/11/202112:25 PM12:40 PMScheduled time with Peter MacKercher at StL Mogul and filled out his questionairre.
162/12/2021
172/13/20219:10 AM9:25 AM
182/14/20216:20 PM6:35 PM
192/15/20214:30 PM4:45 PMChatted w/ Peter MacKercher from StL Mogul Real Estate
202/16/20214:30 PM4:45 PMReached out to Peter's loan officer and researched Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development group regarding their tenant screening process
212/17/20217:30 PM7:45 PMFilled out my loan application
222/18/20217:05 PM7:20 PMSigned off documents on new umbrella policy for primary home
232/19/202112:30 PM12:45 PMProvided Chet more info on goals and investigated the docs he needs
242/20/202111:10 AM11:25 AMReviewed pre-approval, reached out to Chet and team with questions and thanks, emailed Peter asking next step and some questions on other things to consider right now
252/21/2021
262/22/20217:00 PM7:15 PM
272/23/20217:20 PM7:35 PMGot back to Tyson with Mogul (agent) and reached out to Eric Brand from Shelter Insurance, researched the type of lawyer I would need for writing a lease (Real Estate lawyer)
282/24/20214:45 PM5:00 PMSpoke with Tyson about what I am looking for
292/25/20218:15 PM8:30 PM
302/26/2021
312/27/20217:00 AM7:15 AM
322/28/2021
333/1/20214:25 PM4:40 PMSpoke with Eric Brand from Shelter Insurance
343/2/20215:55 PM6:10 PMUpdated spreadsheet with insurance info from Eric Brand and reached out to Tyson on advice on making low offers
353/3/20216:05 PM6:20 PM
363/4/20216:55 PM7:10 PM
373/5/20217:40 PM7:55 PM
383/6/2021
393/7/2021
403/8/20216:30 PM6:45 PM
413/9/20218:35 PM8:50 PM
423/10/20217:00 PM8:00 PMAttended the Mar StL Real Estate Investor Meetup
433/11/20217:30 PM7:45 PMSent Tyson a list of properties to try and walk through. Added some lines to my spreadsheet to just show general targets based on rent levels
443/12/2021
453/13/20215:10 PM5:25 PM
463/14/20212:00 PM3:30 PMLooked at two properties today. One on Arkansas and one on Flad
473/15/20212:40 PM2:55 PMShared my deal spreadsheet with Tyson and sent him an email explaining the details. Also read the MO Agreement of Sale
483/16/2021Stone Cold Day
493/17/202112:45 PM1:00 PMEmailed Tyson about the property on Dunnica that looks promising
503/18/2021
513/19/20217:50 PM8:05 PMSent Tyson an email about getting in to Dunnica and a house he sent over on California
523/20/20218:05 AM8:20 AM
533/21/20212:00 PM3:30 PMVisited 3400 Dunnica and two properties on Califormia
543/22/20217:45 PM8:00 PMAdded a 10 year cash flow and CoC ROI column to my spreadsheet
553/23/20217:05 PM7:20 PM
563/24/2021
573/25/20215:00 PM7:30 PMStL REI Happy Hour
583/26/20216:05 PM6:20 PMFilled out most of a loan application with Flat Branch, but then got nervous I was actually applying for a loan as opposed to a getting a pre-approval
593/27/2021
603/28/202111:00 AM11:15 AMWalked through my spreadsheet with Tyson
613/29/20217:50 PM8:05 PMSpoke with Jacob Day from Flat Branch lending and confirmed the application was just a pre-approval so I submitted. Also added columns to my spreadsheet that show cash flow & ROI with Rent and CapEx are excluded
623/30/20217:55 PM8:10 PMMessaged Tyson about two properties that the deals made sense and we put an offer together for both.
633/31/202111:15 AM11:30 AMPut in offers on two properties (Oleatha and Osceola) and visited the Oleatha property
644/1/20217:30 PM7:45 PMOleatha offer accepted. spoke with Jacob at Flat Branch and filled out disclosure form for F&B
654/2/20217:35 PM7:50 PMAll kinds of **** happened today... got quote from Jacob that beat F&B, signed off. Told F&B the sitch. Did a deep dive of multiple scenarios for Oleatha and know the key is raising rents to $700/unit
664/3/20219:20 AM9:35 AMSubmitted bid requests and called two tree services to inspect the large tree in back of Oleatha for health. Davey Tree service is going at ~10 AM Tuesday
674/4/202111:45 AM12:00 PMTook earnest money to Elite Title, Lauren paid it, and paid for tomorrow property inspection ($775)
684/5/20218:30 AM8:45 AMUploaded mortgage statement, W2 and paycheck stubs for mortgage.
694/6/202110:00 AM2:00 PMInspection at Oleatha, all went well. Almost too well...
704/7/20217:50 AM8:05 AMFilled out title company buyer form and then realized I cant sign it, so then decided to walk down to the office and sign... Emailed Eric with Shelter to let him know the address so he can quote me insurance. Sent over other loan related forms to Flat Branch.
714/8/20212:30 PM2:45 PMSpoke with Tyson about the inspection, due to how good it was, we are going to simply ask for the lateral line cabled. Also spoke with Eric and he sent over an insurance quote that I then provided to Flat Branch
724/9/20213:00 PM3:15 PMSent an updated mortgage statement to Flat Branch as well as connected my NWM account to AccountChek. Then I emailed financial advisor Rob on how to get the closing funds in a liquid account.
734/10/2021
744/11/2021
754/12/20214:45 PM5:00 PMReached out to Peter @ Mogul to start process for setting up property management, ran a Rent-o-Meter for Oleatha to get its take on rents nearby
764/13/20217:05 PM7:20 PMPeter is going to send me a contract for PM on 5/3, reviewed his team of contacts to determine if I should reach out to any of them and then got overwhelmed by the three types of lawyers... prepared questions for tomorrow's MeetUp, some about lawyers...
774/14/20217:00 PM8:45 PMAttended the Apr StL Real Estate Investor Meetup
784/15/20217:05 PM7:20 PMEmailed Jacob at Flat Branch to ask if getting a new credit card for real estate would impact my loan approval at this time. Also researched the difference between business and personal credit cards.
794/16/20216:55 PM7:10 PMSpoke to Jacob and he said it would be better not to try and get a new credit card right now because it could raise questions, but it likely would not cause me to lose my loan. I am opting not to pursue one.
804/17/2021
814/18/2021
824/19/20219:25 AM9:40 AMLet Chelsea at Flat Branch know that funds had been transferred to my closing account and emailed Peter asking for a representative example of a property mgmt contract. Took a call from Credit Plus to confirm my home mortgage
834/20/2021Provided Flat Branch confirmation of trades made to closing account
844/21/20216:00 PM7:30 PMBigger Pockets webinar "How to become a real estate millionaire"
854/22/2021
864/23/2021
874/24/2021
884/25/2021
894/26/2021
904/27/20218:10 PM8:25 PMReached out to Tyson to get an idea on closing time. Reviewed final disclosure doc for mortgage. Got appraisal on Google drive.
This is where the challenge stopped, but I wanted to keep taking notes
4/28/20217:55 PMSent email to the title company to get the closing time scheduled
4/29/2021Confirmed closing at 11 AM on May 4th at the title company
4/30/2021
5/1/202111:15 AMGot cashier's check for closing
5/2/2021
5/3/2021Tyson confirmed Oleatha passed occupancy checks
5/4/2021Met at title company for closing, collected keys from vacant unit, applied for AMEX Blue card
5/5/2021Began providing checklist items to property management, changed electric/gas in to my name for vacant unit, priced out new fridge/range for vacant unit
5/6/2021Provided more checklist items to property management, setup new checking account at local credit union, met with property manager and asked all my questions
5/7/2021Sent paperwork to City Water to have service transfered, literally have to fill out a form that is a photocopy of another form... this is why St. Louis cant have nice things...
5/8/2021Dropped keys off at Oleatha for Property Mgmt
5/9/2021Mothers Day and was not allowed to work at the property...
5/10/2021Organized all the files associated with the Oleatha purchase in my inbox and Google drive

My goal is to show other newbies out there that taking this big first step is possible and the 90 Day Challenge really helped me stay committed to making progress every day. Keep the faith and something good will happen.

Hey all,

Just closed on my first deal and want to replace the fridge and stove in a vacant unit. The fridge is especially beat up and currently standard white. This building is probably a low B or high C grade. So I don't want to overbuy, however, I do want to get rents up and justify that as well. 

My question to you all, what would you go with?

  • White again due to its affordability and the class of property?
  • Stainless steel due to it being in demand (at least I think it is)? 
  • Slate due to it being like stainless, but not as hard to keep clean?

Thank you

Post: Different Types of Lawyers

Matt AlvinoPosted
  • Posts 9
  • Votes 10

Hey all,

I am new to the game and waiting to close on my first deal. While I anxious await, I am trying to get educated on items that I need to account for going forward. One of those items is to start a relationship with a lawyer for likely future needs. However, I am learning that there are at least three types of lawyers you may need as an investor. My question is, of these three types of lawyers, what are they typically used for:

- General lawyer (what's general stuff...?)

- Real estate lawyer (I am in Missouri so I don't have to have one for deals, but may for other reasons)

- Eviction lawyer (may be self-explanatory, but maybe not...)

Thank you