All Forum Posts by: Matt Leber

@Chace Fraser in Brevard County Fl I usually see B neighborhood deals at 0.8-0.9% and C/C- deals can be 1.0-1.4%. I have a mix of B/C in the portfolio but was fortunate to buy into some of the B neighborhoods when ratios were above 1.0% a few years ago.

In Jacksonville we hold some C- multifamily that do almost 1.9% but definitely in a rougher neighborhood and more turnover involved.

@Fedor Volkov I am $50/unit for the ones that have upside. Figured $50 won’t make anyone move and I have been right this far as all have renewed. I have one house where the tenants have been struggling through Covid times so I turned them MTM and won’t be raising them as long as they continue to pay and communicate.

@Danielle Champagne how to beat the fear and just go for it? My advice is to buy something that won’t bankrupt you even if worst case happens. For example, if you have $1000 per month extra discretionary income after all your normal living expenses, buy something that cash flows if occupied or that only costs you $500-750 per month if it’s vacant. That way you can float the costs even if you can’t rent it out or flip it as quickly as you thought.

@Raul Gil-Azamar Lenders will look at your past 2 years of taxes for existing properties generating income (or losses). Some lenders may be able to include a rent appraisal for the new property you are purchasing which will determine fair market rent or 75% FMR on the property and add it to your income to help offset the debt you are adding with your new purchase. This is what I have been told by a lender I have worked with in the past.

@Albert Howard no hard money. Used day job savings and cash flow kickoff from the other rentals I had producing.

@Frank Paternoster I live in Orlando but invest in buy and hold small multifamily rentals in west Jacksonville and single family rentals in Brevard County (Melbourne, Cocoa Pt St John). We’ve been able to do pretty well in those areas with cash flowing rentals. Let me know if you have any questions I can help with!

@Lauren E. We have some duplexes in 32210. The numbers rock on paper at almost 2x rent to price ratio but they’ve had their share of turnover which brings the investment back down to earth a little bit. Still good income properties, glad we have them as part of our portfolio. I would buy in that area again.

@Michael DiMeo welcome to Brevard. I don’t live in Brevard but I’m close by in East Orlando. I invest in Brevard and Jacksonville and have done both multifamily and some single family. I think you’ll find the multifamily market over there is highly competitive and not much inventory, so if you have trouble finding a deal, don’t be afraid to consider househacking a single family by the bedroom to your engineer buddies...just another option. You can keep it when you move on to the next one and you won’t have to overpay to live in a neighborhood where you don’t want to be. Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions!

@Mario Cuartas some suggestions would be to add tile or low cost durable flooring, if you have hanging lights, replace with dome lights, replace unnecessary ceiling fans with dome lights, do not provide unnecessary appliances (let tenants bring them), supply a full year of air filters if you have central HVAC, if you have window units even better, have a standard paint color you use for all the rentals so touch up is easy, etc.

@Mario Cuartas I self manage them. But I bought them knowing that the margin is there to hire a property manager if at any point I feel like it becomes to much of a burden. I wouldn’t buy one that I was forced to self manage in order to make the numbers work. My advice if you self manage is to look for properties that are simple, small, and tenant-proof them as much as humanly possible.

If you go with property management, some PMs may be unwilling to take them. But some PMs will specialize in managing low income. Just will need to call around.