All Forum Posts by: Matt Holmer

Thanks Jerry

Hello all-

In the past, i've done a brrrr to recover most of the funds for a cash purchase and rehab.  My question is, are there any hurdles doing a cash out refi when the property was originally purchased with conventional financing? I know there will be a 6-12 month seasoning period, anything else?

For example:

$50,000 purchase price ($10,000 down payment, 30 year fixed)

$2,000 closing cost

$25,000 rehab

Total cash needed $37,000.00

ARV: $100,00.00

At this point, after the rehab, renting and seasoning, can I do a cash out refi of 75% of the ARV to get most of my money back out of the deal?

@Roy N.

Where do you order something like that?  Big box is probably out, but does SW or BM have that?

CLIFF NOTES:  What is the best/cost effective paint for concrete basement flooring in rental?

Hello All-

For an unfinished basement in a rental property, I've seen a lot of recommendations to paint the walls white and flooring gray.  This brightens up the area and makes it slightly more welcoming.  My question is, what type of paint is everyone using?

For the walls, it is pretty straight forward.  Either a dry-lok type product if moisture is an issue or regular paint suitable for concrete.

The flooring is something I am running into problems with.  I've seen products specifically for concrete floors (1 or 2 part epoxy) at the big box stores.  However, they seem to get poor reviews, are expensive, and I'm not sure how well they would do with moisture.  Is there something better?

Thank you for the time!

The time value of money was the biggest mistake I made on my first rehab and rental.  Things like trim, painting and tile are relatively easy for anyone that is somewhat handy.  However, due to time limitations due to my day job, a 2 week project ended up taking several months.  When I finally realized that I was losing more money letting it sit empty then I would paying somebody, I hired it out and it was rented 2 weeks later.

Plumbing and electrical (aside from very minor stuff) I will always hire out.  But now, unless I'm going to take 2 weeks off work to make time for the property, I am going to hire out most things.  

@Kevin Hunter

I am not licensed in your jurisdiction, so this should not be considered legal advise.

Whether or not an LLC would offer protection is always going to be case by case basis. If you are going to perform the property management personally (like I do), the LLC might not shield you from personal liability for issues you directly contributed to.

For example, a tenant might sue the LLC as the owner, but also you personally because you were the person who was allegedly negligent in failing to fix something (i.e. slippery sidewalk, loose stair rail, etc.).

Now, if you have partners, and LLC is a must for tax purposes. If you continue to grow and eventually turn the properties over to management, then an LLC is a great idea. Regardless, I carry adequate liability insurance (approximately $2 million per property).

Kevin Hunter Filing the actually paperwork is pretty easy. An attorney will probably be able to help you draft the operating agreement, which can help long term. Are you currently managing the properties yourself? I don't see much case law in my jurisdictions, a LLC for self managed properties probably won't do much good.

I am considering switching to Rentalutions for the next property.  Based on their website, it seems there are two advantages to cozy.  First, it can sydnidcate to more websites such as craigslist and zillow.  Second, there is a maintenance request portable as well.  Of course the negative is related to the monthly fee.  $25 for two units is pricey compared to cozy which is free.  

Decisions decisions 

@Katie Harlow

Are there any plans for future integration with zillow, craigslist, etc.?  It would be nice to have a all in one solution since I'm already using cozy.co for rent collection. 

I currently self manage a small portfolio and use Cozy.co for rent collection. I have a new property about to go on the market for rent along with another one that will soon be vacant.  I typically list these properties on Zillow, Trulia, Craiglist, etc.

I know that if I list on Zillow, it will syndicate across the Zillow platform.  Craiglist is separate. According to a blog post, Cozy.co will syndicate to realtor.com in the near future.  As the portfolio grows, it is a pain to manually enter listings on each of these sites.

My question, is there a online property management software that will not only do tenant screening and rent collection, but will syndicate listings across multiple platforms?  I would love to post on one website and have it show up everywhere. I think Buildium does this, but at $60/month it does not make sense at this time.

Thank you for any input!