All Forum Posts by: Matt Faix

@Julieanne Zenz If you're looking for a calculated method to determine the number of years to hold, you'll want to figure out your Internal Rate of Return on the property and take into account the time value of money. Cash flow received today is worth it's face value, however you would need to discount the cashflow at a certain rate for future years plus the proceeds from the sale. 

Once you do this, you can model different scenarios for selling in different years (taking into consideration rent increases, expense increases, capex, appreciation, and debt paydown) to determine when you have the best IRR.

@Bill Regan If the car loan and low student load debt are all you have outstanding, I'd say leave them alone unless the interest is high. Then maybe consider paying them off. Otherwise that's not bad. They'll look at your personal financial statement as well as income (debt to income ratio), so as long as you have enough assets/income to offset your debts and the new mortgage, you should have no problem qualifying. 

@Jonathan Perez Since it's already written in her lease, I would just give her a call or let her know the next time you see her that this is her responsibility. No need to send a letter. We had this happen with an inherited tenant a few years ago in a duplex, where the past owner was giving the one tenant a discount for cutting the grass, even though it was stated in the lease that he was responsible. In cases like this we always fall back to what is agreed upon in writing, so we had him start paying the full amount of rent and continue cutting the grass. 

Check the lease about charging it back to the tenant, usually there is a clause under lawn care that if they neglect these responsibilities you can cut it or designate a lawn care company to cut it, then charge the tenants for the work. 

@Latoyia Roberts You'll find that when you go to meetups or REI events, that it's fairly easy to meet people (everyone is there to network which makes it a little easier to approach strangers). If you want to build your team, networking events are a must as Bob said. However, making business connections vs building lasting relationships are two very different things. To find true a mentor, you should focus on building strong/lasting relationships and look for someone that you would like to model. This definitely takes longer, but if you can find ways to help them, add value, and show them that you're willing to put in the work - you'll find someone that will be a good fit and will help you get to the next level. Best of luck!

@Nia Wingard Check out the book "What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow... And 36 Other Key Financial Measures" by Frank Gallinelli. It's a fantastic resource for learning how to run numbers and evaluate deals. 

Is there any risk to proposing cash for keys in writing? Or left in a voice mail? Not sure if this would impact any eviction filings, or if it should stay off the record/in person? We are in a situation where the tenant is completely unresponsive and has not paid this months rent. We've already posted notice and plan to file for eviction on Friday but figure it's at least worth one more attempt. Thanks for any help.

@Jack Macioce for the wall outlets not being grounded, you can install a GFCI breaker in your panel instead of replacing each receptacle. This will ground the entire circuit and is fairly inexpensive.  

@Luke Petrozza Under the Property Tab - Select Equity(%) and enter 100%, or select 'Last Market Sale Date' and enter anything older than 15 years (or 30). This one isn't a guarantee, since people may still have loans on the property, or may have refinanced, but it will help narrow your search down.  

For Non-Owner Occupied - Select this under the Options Tab

@Luke Petrozza check out listsource.com - You can create lists of properties based on any criteria available in public records. 

@Joshua Ross you can certainly have the tenants responsible for lawn and snow, though if you have a multi-unit property you will likely need to factor these into your expenses. Every property is different, so in some cases you might cover the utilities and other expenses, while on other properties the tenants might cover the majority of things. The key is knowing the splits ahead of time and running your numbers accordingly. It also helps to get all of the actual numbers from the current owner. If you can get actual expenses, you'll be in a much better position to evaluate the deal and make an offer.