All Forum Posts by: Michael B.

@Chris C. For me, as a rule of thumb, every ~35k-40k that I invest at the moment, gets me around $800 - $900 Dollars in monthly net cash flow. So my ROI is around 27% unleveraged at the moment.

You can do way better than that in other US markets. Personally at the moment, I turn roughly 40k cash into $840 net cash flow each month and you can do that too if you move out of your comfort zone. Also, there is no need to make those made up percentage deductions for capex, vacancy etc. You can't live off the cash flow of one property anyways. 

Think easier.... Don't tap into the cash flow AT ALL until you have covered 140% of all your expenses in buy and hold real estate. After you have reached this number, you use CREDIT to pay for any repairs that come up and pay off that credit with your 40% surplus income each month. There is no need to sit on mountains of cash as long as used credit is backed by asset income. Remember credit lines are your friend and cash should be turned into more assets and not just sit around. 

You can't do buy and hold real estate small. You will need multiple assets. One won't cut it. 

Maybe I'm missing something but to reconfirm.... 15 units for a total value of $900k and your total monthly net CF will be $918,75 Dollars per month???? If that's the case then it's a horrible deal. Don't do it! You can do WAY better than that!

I'm just in the process of selling 5 of my properties for 400k to a realtor friend of mine. All of my properties are rented out and the total NET cash flow is $3850 per month.

Welcome to the forums! Shoot me a PM if you have any questions!

How many deals have you done? I think the closings costs sound WAY high with 4k. Insurance should also be more in the $70-$80 per month area for this kind of property. 

I also noticed that you put all kinds of deductions in % numbers on your cash flow. I don't think this is a good practice because you actually don't know these numbers. You can't do real estate small. If this is the only property that you will ever buy to rent it out, you will have to observe it without tapping into the cash flow for the next two years. Then you will get a feel for the asset's expenses. 

It looks like an OK deal to me especially for a novice investor. However, I wouldn't touch the CF until you scaled up enough to have reached 140% of all personal monthly expenses. Then, I also wouldn't be sitting on a mountain of money for capex,repairs, vacancy etc. If work comes up then you have 40% each month extra to pay off a credit line that covers the expenses. 

Don't think too much about the reserves right now. Just don't touch ANY of your asset's CF until you have a good sized portfolio. 

Buy and hold doesn't work with one rental alone.

Did you try the online tax system? Most counties have all the information that you will need in there. It usually shows if the property is a REO and which bank is the owner. Or it will tell you the current owner. Did you check your local REO listings? Might also be worth it to talk to the neighbors. They possibly know the former owner who would be able to help you with your investigation.

It's very common for insurance companies to ask for these self inspections. That's why I moved away from Statefarm who asked me to complete something similar last year right around Christmas time.  They ended up cancelling insurance and I ended up being without any insurance for about 2 weeks. StateFarm was not a good neighbor hahaha. Try Allstate (for your first 4 properties) and then American Mordern Insurance. They don't require your to jump through all those hoops. 

When it comes to your question, I don't think it is overstepping your tenant's privacy as long as they were notified of what's going to happen and why. Just let your property management company handle this kind of stuff! They know how to deal with your tenants! 

Check out American Modern Insurance. They have a lot of short term insurance packages. They just insured one of my properties in the rehab phase for 3 months. I paid $120 Dollars.

I don't invest in Milwaukee but I am an out of state investor as well. I invest in Michigan. I live in Ventura county. Maybe we can meet up sometime and talk business? My midwest properties are doing very well and I'm sure yours will do! 

Daniel, there are plenty of lenders that will give you a hypothek (cash of refi) on your property if you own it free and clear. Try InterhypAG. All they need is your american tax returns but they even finance up to 120% (fullprice + closing cost) at the moment. Where are you based out of? For buy and hold there are better areas than Berlin. Berlin is great for big developments at the moment.