All Forum Posts by: Matt Leber

@Chris Butler yes, as with most multifamilies you should put aside more than the typical 5% for vacancy when running your numbers. We like to use 8-10% on ours just to err on the conservative side. If you find that the units fill right away, you can adjust going forward.

@Chris Butler your turnover will naturally be higher in 1/1s because tenants can grow out of the units and are generally less settled down. They are a more mobile/transient crowd. But not necessarily a bad thing. If you have a good location then you will be raising the rent with each turnover. We have 2/1s in Jacksonville and we expect to have higher turnover on them than our 3/2 single family homes.

@Timothy Ortiz I don’t see an issue with it if your tenant is one you like living there and you are interested in keeping. It’s not something you must do. I personally have not done it for a tenant.

True story, my father in law has rentals too and had the same request from one of his tenants. He installed the cameras. A few weeks later he got a call from the tenant complaining that someone had vandalized (pooped) in the middle of her driveway. He watched the recording, turns out a wild horse came strolling right down the middle of her suburban street at 2am and laid one smack dab in the middle of her driveway. You might see some interesting things!

@Andrew Wells this is one of the strategies @Brandon Turner mentions pretty often on the podcast. Turning a sunroom (or extra space) from a “hidden bedroom” into an under-air space that can either be another bedroom, or in your case an expansion of the master and kitchen. I vaguely remember the podcast awhile back mentioning being able to do this type of rehab for under $10k, sometimes as little as $5-6k if you have the right contractor. I have never done it myself, so someone please check me on that. Obviously the cost will depend on the specifics of your property, and you may have some extra renovation to the expanded kitchen involved. Good luck!

@Katie Souder it’s basically a guaranteed portion of the rent as long as they maintain their section 8 status. The tenants should, in theory, be incentivized to be on good behavior to keep their eligibility. You will have a mandatory section 8 inspection each year. The inspections can be good for keeping the units up to a quality standard. Screen tenants thoroughly, of course.

@Brooks McLean pick some criteria for what types of properties you would like to invest in and find a realtor to set you up with some automatic alerts of properties that fit your criteria when they come on the market. Pick a few each day (or each week) and run the numbers on them. This will queue you in to what neighborhoods in your market that do better than others and help you be able to quickly analyze a property when you are ready to buy. Might help you pull he trigger quicker when you are starting to make offers. You will also have lots of practice and be more confident in your analysis.

@Rob Ko I think most areas of winter park would be A/B. Good schools there and lots of development, money and high end establishments. Rents are high.

Celebration is also mostly A/B. The best part of Celebration is you are by Disney. You will always have lots of potential tenants and rents are high. Lots of growth and development around Disney.

Kissimmee I am not as familiar with in terms of neighborhood rating. But if I were to invest in Kissimmee I would probably target the 34744 zip code, north of East Lake Toho. I have driven through those neighborhoods and would say they are B/B+. This area is pretty close to Lake Nona and the Medical City. Tavistock is investing a ton of money into the development of Lake Nona. A mega town center is being built there as well as an Orlando sports district. Lots of high paying medical jobs. There is also an Amazon fulfillment center there, which is good for jobs. My wife and I reside in Lake Nona.

It's not easy finding a property cheap enough in any of these 3 markets to be cash flow positive, even with the high rents. If you see one on the MLS, you will need to act quickly, as competition will surely be high. Maybe finding something off market would be your best bet at a good deal.

@Rob Ko that’s convenient. I like all three of those sub-markets. The problem is finding something cash flowing is hard right now. Not impossible, but hard. Are you looking to see if those are B areas?

@Joseph Beilke welcome! We are located in Orange County but invest in buy and hold rentals in Brevard and Duval Counties. Your area falls in our target market as well. My wife and I love to catch a few waves in New Smyrna and visit St Augustine from time to time. Anyway, good luck with your goals!

@Rob Ko to be the most accurate you’ll have to go in person. However, you can probably get a ballpark idea by checking crime, rents, and home size, age, values relative to other areas in the same region. Google street view the property and click down the street. Maybe look for commercial vehicles, they may be a sign of a working class neighborhood. Nothing is going to be better than visiting in person or talking to someone with boots on the ground there.