All Forum Posts by: Michael Glunk

@Alan Brown totally agree on a good property manager.

I have used At Your Service for property management in Whitefish for the past 15 years and have been happy with them. Addie Brown is the owner and is great to work with.

Apparently you aren't allow to ask people to direct message you on BP.  I didn't realize this, my apologies. I figured I would share this with everyone as per Bills message they prefer everything to be transparent. Sorry Bill. 

Feel free to post any question to me here Nathan.

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Thanks for the thoughts Victor and Matt. I spoke with them about a re-route, direct bore and only closing half the road and using flagmen since the sewer line is in the middle (slightly offset in my favor towards my side of the road, but they didn't bite on any of these. I like the off hours idea and potentially the night time option. I will ask about this, although I am guessing they will say since it is in a residential area that it would be a nuisance. Never hurts to ask. 

I am doing a modular build in the mountains of Colorado. As background, I subdivided my lot into tow lots and during this process which occurred last year also informed the town that I would be building one home on each of the lots the following year. That time is now and I am currently in the process of my build. My modular homes are complete and waiting for a foundation. This is almost done. Yet my issues is this...

Despite informing the town of my intentions last year, obtaining building permits, and even obtaining a utility access permit to cut into the road for my electrical, the city is now coming to me and saying that I can't cut into the road to access utilities for my homes until they are done with a bridge project that is causing traffic to be routed past my property. They refuse to reroute the traffic and instead are requiring me to wait until they are done. Here's the issue. This is in a mountain town. Winters come quick. The standard cut off time for utility road cuts is October 15th. They are telling me they won't let me do anything until October 21st. I am working on trying to get this in writing. e.g. some sort of waiver that states they will let me cut during this time even though it is after their standard October 15th deadline and that I can use something like a recycled asphalt upon completion as a road fix until spring as the hot plant will more than likely be closed by this point in time.

So my question...

- Anyone have any idea of any recourse for a situation like this? 

- Am I completely at their mercy?

I am hoping that I can get some sort of assurance from them regarding my ability to cut after the standard October 15th deadline but being a planner, I want to figure out any options I have now.

Any thoughts/ideas welcomed! Thank you in advance.

Michael

Matt,

Unless you need the money, I would continue on letting it be a cash cow. I guess it comes down to your strategy. Mine is to increase my monthly cashflow. Seems like you have a decent property that can give you some headaches due to tenants but that you have enough equity and cash flow in to weather most market fluctuations. 

With that said, if you don't want to hold it long term, then I would sell it now and move on. I am from Center Valley, PA originally and if you are investing in the Easton area, I know it fairly well. I'd sell it if you don't plan to hold it for at least the next 5+ years.

Mike

Hi Stephen,

I just noticed your post and see that no one has responded to it yet. I hope that hasn't deterred you from continuing your interest in real estate investment. It's kind of a broad question, but I will try to tackle it. As noted in many of the BP podcasts, while your market may be expensive, there are often markets close to yours that offer opportunities at a more "affordable" price. Affordability is obviously a relative term so you need to figure out what that means for you.

There are many ways to start. e.g. If you don't have a family or are open to delayed gratification, you could purchase a house hack and rent out rooms to others who will help pay your mortgage. Or buy a multifamily outside your preferred area, but in an area that works for your life and also provides investment opportunity. You could also look out of state or to other portions of MT and just make sure you factor in a property management fee when analysis properties. Net net, there is always a way to make a deal work, it just depends on how bad you want it. 

"If you aren't taking action to achieve your goal, you don't really want it." I heard this quote the other day and I think it speaks  volumes. 

So again, I don't know your financial situation, but there are many creative ways to solve this if you really want it. Now if your question is in relation to the market conditions and if they will continue to grow etc. That's the million dollar question. But one that doesn't really matter if you buy right. What I mean by this is buying a property that offers enough room in equity, cash flow, etc. to the point that you can still be positioned correctly regardless of market fluctuations. This sometimes means it might take longer to find a deal, but they are possible to find. 

I'm guessing you live outside Whitefish somewhere given your reference to being outside a resort town. I actually own a property in Whitefish and yes it's a tough marketing. Property values are high compared to the potential rents. But again, as previously mentioned, there are other options especially if you look outside of Whitefish.

Best,

Michael

Great tip @JD Martin, I didn't realize you could have a master meter connection point and install and/or abandon submeters when/where relevant. I will connect with my local utility companies on this approach. 

Cheers!

Mike

I have a question, which I have yet to find an answer to in the forums. Although I'm sure after writing that statement, someone will share a link to a forum thread that I have yet to discover. (If you find this, please share!)

I am preparing to build a duplex and would like to build basement apartments (ADUs) on each side. So from a rental perspective, it's 4 units. My initial thought and gut says to separately meter everything, as every time I buy a multi-family property, I separately meter it if this isn't already done. 

The reason for this slight hesitation is that I always look at multiple exit strategies. This property is located in a resort area of Colorado. While my primary plan is to long term rent these units (minus keeping one for my family to use.) I may at some point sell one side off if market dynamics shift in a way that would make more sense for me to sell versus hold. 

Thinking about this from a potential purchaser perspective, purchasing a property that has the main two levels metered separately from the basement could be a positive to someone with an investment mindset...but someone that just wants a vacation property and wants to use the whole property might find this annoying to have two separate bills. (NOTE: The buyer base for this area could be another investor, but more than likely it would be someone looking for a ski/2nd home.)

While I can't account for everyone and am currently of the mindset that I will meter all "units" (pending any influential feedback here in the forums), I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on pro's and con's to metering everything into 4 units or just metering each legal side (into 2 units) and splitting the upper and lower utility payments based on some other criteria (e.g. square footage). Also note, the metering of water/sewer/etc. costs $15,000 per unit.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Mike

Welcome to BP Theodore! Yes, Whitefish is a very beautiful place. I live in Colorado, but have a rental in downtown Whitefish. In fact I'm headed up to Whitefish at the end of July for a family trip and to visit my property.

My primary focus is in small multifamily, but happy to share what I can if you have any specific questions. Affordable housing is a definite need in the Whitefish area.

Best,

Mike

Glad it worked out and congratulations on making the deal work!