All Forum Posts by: Matt Lennander

Hey All - 

Would anyone be willing to share a short term rental agreement with me? I've been searching online and there are a ton of fillable PDF's, but none where I can edit the text other than the fields they give. I have a solid rental lease, but have never done short term. I've been having a hard time renting a property lately and thought I would try VRBO. Thanks in advance!

If you have enough equity in your first property you can use that towards a down payment on the second. If you're planning to house hack the second property, you may be able to use a conventional loan with as little as 5% down. Where you might run in to problems is if your income can't support both properties, without first signing a lease for the unit you are in at your current place. If you can get a signed lease for your unit, the right bank will then be willing to use that as qualifying income. The other thing you might run in to is that a lot of banks want two years of landlord experience. So you could look at a commercial or conventional loan with 20-25% down, partnering with someone financially, or make friends with a portfolio lender. 

I recently acquired my second property but ended up being in my first one for two years, and am actually still there. The conventional loan I got was solely based on the income of the property and my having the 20% down payment and two years landlord experience. A little over 7% interest too, but the property still cash flows really well. Good luck!

Hey All,

I currently own a four-plex and about to refi out of my FHA. Not sure if I'll be able to pull anything out or get a HELOC, but I met with a guy who owns five rentals with a business partner. They want out of four of them. Here's the skinny:

Bought in 2003-2005 at top of the market. Don't know purchase prices, but they owe approximately $180k on each. They think that the homes have appreciate up in the $225k range, but I haven't seen any of them and they mentioned some work needs to be done on each one. I don't necessarily want to buy them at top retail either. They don't NEED out (aka not your typical motivated seller) but they do want to sell, preferably without a realtor to avoid paying commissions.

They're willing to get creative as I'm a young entrepreneur without a lot of cash and am looking to purchase one, if not all four. I don't think that RIGHT NOW I can get traditional financing, and I don't have the connections for private lenders. I've been researching Subject To, Lease Option, Rent to Own, and Contract for Deed. I don't know the mortgage details but I've been told that because they don't have 100% equity, Contract for Deed is out. I don't know enough about creative financing strategies to try and make this work but I'm determined to buy at least one. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Xcel Energy is selling vacant lots in my area and I looked in to buying one, but they want about $117k for just the land to build on. I talked with a home builder and you would about break even after building and selling (at least the way the market is right now). 

My question is, how do I evaluate the land and negotiate with the selling agent? This is a bit beyond me at this point, so I don't know if I'll try but wanted to get the opinions of all you smart investors. 

I agree with @Ryan Schroeder. You do have to protect yourself (and your business) by doing what's best for you. Of course you want a good relationship with your tenants and be willing to work with them, but if they find a house they want to purchase then you can look at sub-leasing to someone else, provided they pass your screening criteria. But the current tenants should know that they'll still be liable for rent until you're able to sublease. 

If you want them to stay you could do a lease for any period of time (8 months, 9 months) whenever they would be looking to buy and keep rent where it's at. If they leave, they likely won't be able to find somewhere that will allow them lease than a one year lease, maybe six months. You're not limited to 6 or 12 months, or month-to-month. That would be a way to work with them and then you can fill their unit next spring/summer. 

Lots of good info. This is why I love the BP forums!

Welcome to BP Kyle. From all I've read and heard about wholesaling, my opinion is know a few buyers and find out what they're looking for first. That's semi playing it safe. You could go find a good deal and then put it out there for buyers to come but it depends on your personality and what type of risk you're willing to take on. A lot of newer investors want to do wholesaling but few are successful at it. Take your time to make sure you've got a good system in place, but also don't get caught up in analysis paralysis, make sure you take action!

I'm re-reading the ABC's of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy, (not John ;-) for a second time. It's a VERY good book @Account Closed. I'm also realizing how important goals are and need to focus in on that more. I heard a BP podcast somewhere in the 170's that referenced a non-profit goal setting company and I've been trying to find it just to see what else I can learn from them. I think my next goal is buying Gary Keller's book!

I mean you could always take a nice weekend trip for $500 and still have $27,000 to invest in a new property ;-)

I agree with Brian, but I never count on market appreciation. Forced appreciation is great when you're able to make it happen. Cashflow is always a good strategy. 

@Casey Andersen I know a broker who offered to hold my license (if I get it) and he would charge $300-400 per transaction on any sales instead of a monthly rate. If you want his information send me a PM.

Thanks @David Moore I'm searching too. If I come across anyone I'll let you know!