All Forum Posts by: Mike Crouse

my friend is trying to help his mother (79) get started investing in real estate for the passive income.  He's pursuing something called Lifestyles Unlimited for her. I'm not at all sold on this.  Seems way too easy.  She has 50K available to start with.  I suggested that maybe she start as a hard money lender but I'm curious if anyone has any outside the box ideas.  Thanks in advance.

@Gerard Aliberti I’m somewhere between an amateur & a pro but I’d say the answer lies in the calendar. If you’re cash flowing above ALL expenses then a 100 or two a month per is probably ok. Don’t forget, real estate pays off in more ways than just cash flow. The longer you do this you will learn to make it run more & more on processes you put in place & then it takes on its own inertia & it won’t be so daunting a prospect. By the time you get to that point all that crap has sorted itself out & you wonder why you ever worried.

May I solicit a phone call from a member?  My question is vastly more complex than I could explain here. I need advice from an expert in how to structure a deal that could easily windup in foreclosure if I can't rescue this house beforehand.  This involves one deceased family member, a widow with dementia & a step daughter that got caught in the crossfire. I think some good could be salvaged from it all & I'd like to help the widow & step daughter but this is above anything I'm currently savvy enough to structure.  Thank you in advance.  Apologies is this sort of thing isn't permitted.

I feel like I can accurately evaluate BRRRR or flip projects. How do you accurately value an apartment complex. I'm looking at a 34 unit in OKC with a cap rate of 8%. asking price is 1.8,000,000. Evenly split between 2/1 & 1/1 units with only a single 3 bed. I'm not actually going to buy this, I just have no idea to even determine if it constitutes any kind of a good deal. Can't ever buy an apartment if I don't know what I'm doing. Thanks in advance.

@Jonathan R McLaughlin

Thank you for the veteran advice.

Thank you Chris.  I figured it had to be more complicated than that.

Our college age daughter is looking at a house hack that she can rent out to other young women as opposed to living on campus. I can analyze a BRRRR or flip with relative confidence but I never analyzed a house hack because its not something I will ever do. I have not seen a hacking tool on the analysis side of BP. Even if there is one I haven't had great luck with the ones for BRRRRing or flipping. How do I look at this & not ride myself into a box canyon. The two rooms she could rent out will likely cover the mortgage & theres a great chance to add another bedroom & bathroom to this existing 3/2/2. Thanks to any & all for your advice.

@Dave Poeppelmeier. Thanks for the article. The Mrs & I are in exactly the same boat. I spent 35 years in the automotive business (14 as an owner of a successful shop). She’s getting her license hopefully next month. I just left what I hope will be my last job. Your right the law of attraction is a real thing. I see it often in our RE business since I went full time RE.

@Steve Vaughan thanks. The part that confuses me the most from a brrrr standpoint is, how/why do you put 25% down on a house your intend to refi ASAP. Is that possible? How is it done? Hard money? LOC. My line of credit is through my bank. They've handle my personal & biz stuff for years. It's secured against stocks so none of my property is mortgaged. My personal residence is also paid for. I thought you had to buy the house outright or with money borrowed from someone other than who was going to refi it. Again, thank you for your time & Happy Thanksgiving.

@Mark H. Porter I’ve been focusing on getting a solid education over the last 6 months. I’ve been blessed & have a line of credit of 250k at my disposal. Also have to older lower value rentals 70k each in Okc that are paid for. Your comment about how the original posted was sitting on 1,000,000.00 in buying power is the concept that has eluded me the most stubbornly. Can you please elaborate? How is this multiplied to maximum effect? Thanks in advance.