All Forum Posts by: Michael S.

Agree with @Jason Grey - not aware of any "national" Turnkey providers in Huntsville whatsoever. Honestly, I just don't think the city is big enough (yet) for a big turnkey provider. Also, the competition for SFH in Huntsville/Madison is so strong that the margins would be really small right now for a turnkey.

I'll throw out a couple ideas, but ultimately it depends on your long term interests and goals.

-Hire someone to manage the properties full time and then spend your time adding units to the portfolio to cash flow enough to offset the property management expense while increasing your portfolio

-If debt reduction is your focus, pick 3 to 5 of your properties that have the best locations, renovate them, and then flip them - use the proceeds to pay off the ARMs you have;  once your debt burden is comfortable, revisit option 1 above

As someone who has LLCs and has loans through the LLCs, here's my two cents:

1. NEVER take the loan out in your own name, and then transfer it to the LLC. Why? Because any potential asset protection provided by the LLC has been pierced by this maneuver. Start the LLC with your own money, then have the LLC reimburse you for the start-up costs. After that, absolutely all major expenses (loans, repairs, etc) must be made directly by the LLC through the LLC business account or credit card. Otherwise, any potential legal protection by the LLC could/will be compromised.

2. All our LLC loans are essentially non-conforming mortgages. The bank that has lent us the money can not sell the loan as a standard mortgage. The loans are made to the LLC, not us as individuals. The funds at closing come only from the LLC. My recommendation is to talk with any bank(s) you have pre-existing relationships with about loans through your LLC for real estate. Some banks will not be interested; others will jump at the opportunity. You can get rates that are significantly better than hard money, but slightly worse than a standard 30 year fixed mortgage.

That is going to be a C or D neighborhood depending on the exact location.  

I can't answer the other questions about the area simply because we do not look at any properties in that location whatsoever.    

Small condos are few and far between in Huntsville; you may need to look elsewhere if you are absolutely determined to go with a condo as your REI option.

@Chase C.  Here's some interesting data for you to consider regarding zillow.  I have tracked our property acquisitions on zillow over time - roughly 1/3 of them show an accurate acquisition price/date, 1/3 show no data in regards to our acquisition (just shows the property is "off market" in perpetuity), and 1/3 show the previous sold price on the property for the transaction that pre-dates our acquisition (aka we bought it in 2017, zillow still shows the property selling in 2015 at that transaction price).  

So what this shows you is zillow's data scatter can be significant, and don't assume it is up to date whatsoever.  

You can still finds deals on the MLS in Huntsville for SFH - however, they are few and far between, usually are gone within 48 hours of listing, and are all in multiple offer situations in less than 24 hours. Very tough market for out of state folks as such. Recently saw a great rental property a month ago - within 24 hours, it had 7 offers on it (we lost out despite going over asking price).

Don't believe every "success" story you read on this site.

Looking for the easy way out is not the road to long term success.

@Joe Villeneuve  Sorry, I should have qualified that better - it's because we don't do any flips - we are buy and hold only model right now.  The cash flow from the buy and hold properties would take forever to accumulate for the next purchase obviously. 

To those that said people are "irresponsible" to invest while carrying student loans. . .first of all, who are you to judge how people manage their student loan burden?  Second of all, how is someone who has a credit card balance/debt, car loan balance/debt, or excessive spending on disposable goods "more responsible" than those who invest despite carrying a  student loan debt?

For the individual who called student loans "bad debt" - most financial planners will not classify it as bad debt whatsoever if it leads to a higher paying employment opportunity short term and long term.  If you have student debt that achieved you no further career success, sure, I could see where this is bad debt.  Bad debt by financial planner definition is credit card balances, car loans, or personal loans for disposable/depreciating items (furniture, vacations, etc).   Student debt is not a "one size fits all" category.  

Now, if you are using the actual student loans to invest in real estate - sure, not only is that irresponsible, but it is also fraud.  But if you used your student loans to solely pay for undergrad or grad school, and you are paying your loans down on time and appropriately, then why criticize someone for investing disposable income on real estate, which likely  has a better return potential than your student loan interest rate?