All Forum Posts by: Matt Ridenour

Thanks everybody for the thoughtful replies.  I'll dig in to these after work today.

Ok, here's the situation.  I own a 3/2 free and clear in an up and coming hipster market.  I had a tenant buyer in the place but he defaulted on the taxes. The only debt I have on the property is the 30k I had to pay in taxes, plus about 7k in rehab costs once he leaves (2 weeks.)  The rehab is paint and carpet plus a bit of landscaping so not much at all.  

The market is super hot still and I know I could get top dollar for it as a sale.  (About 220-230k.  Don't laugh, it's not San Francisco or New York!  :)  Rent should be around $2k per month but a range of 1800-2100 is what I'm looking at. Taxes are pretty high at 9k non homestead.  

Would you:

A. Sell the property and use the funds to reinvest elsewhere

B. Rent the property and take out a heloc to fund more brrrrs

C. Rent the property and take out a 30 year fixed

I'm looking for a mix of cash flow and portfolio growth.  I've got 4 years left in my w2 job before I retire.  

Any thoughts would be welcomed!

Hello Bigger Pockets stratosphere!

A quick question for you all. I bought a small piece of land about 5 years ago to accompany a rental house that I thought I might sell as a single family dwelling at some point.  The land creates the perfect back yard for my house and was deemed not buildable by the city, which made it very cheap to buy.  ($4,000). 

Now all of the sudden the zoning has changed and I can build up to 4 units on the property as town homes or apartment units. Score! 

My market is Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Michigan, which is a smaller market, but high value with UM ruling the economy.  This land is in a small but up and coming hipster market called Depot Town in Ypsilanti.  Many Ann Arborites are scooping up houses in Ypsi because the prices over there are off the charts.

What I'm asking is for advice.  I've never developed before, only brrrr.  Where to get started honing in on the best bang for my buck on this kind of project?  Architect?  Local developer?  Hmmmm.  Any thoughts would be appreciated!

@Charles Ulrich great intro. I hope to catch up with you soon. @Zachary Metler and a few others are working on getting together soon over in Ypsi.  Will stay in touch!

I think let's shoot for next weekend.  I already booked myself up for Friday.  I can do either day. How about we shoot for next Friday at Sticks at 6:30.  If something else works better I'm flexible.  I'll keep both days open. 

@Zachary Metler, @Nathan DeJonge, @Keri Middaugh it's a plan!  Anyone else local?  Keri probably has about 100 people.  :)

My wife is out of town this weekend, but I'd be up for next weekend. Either Friday or Saturday would work for me.

@Nathan

@Nathan DeJonge my place is on Park St.  It's nice to see things heating up in Depot Town.  Such a cool, down to earth spot.  Sounds like we need to get a few people together here.  We should meet up at Sticks and talk about some real estate plans.  

@Keri Middaugh thanks for turning me on to bigger pockets!  @Chris Seveney P&I payments up to date.  Taxes were not escrowed.  :(

1 block walk to Sidetrack Joshua.  Great spot.  My wife and I built it in 97.  I'm meeting with my realtor and an attorney Thursday.  I'll keep you in the loop.  Are you investing in Ypsi, or all over?

Hi Zachary.  It's actually in depot town in Ypsi.  I just say Ann Arbor because nobody else knows ypsi.  We should get together and chat.  I am just gearing up to get back in the game.  I have some leg work to do to get a good estimate of work to be done on the house.  I will say that I value the cash I'd get from a wholesale, but I'm also fully capable of retailing it.  My background is construction and project management so I'm aware of what I have and what it needs.  

Nice to hear from a local.  :)