All Forum Posts by: Morris Cohen

When I said $30,000- I meant the properties that can be bought and sold for $30k per unit. I have found that those deals don’t meet the $500/unit rule and I ended up paying for it. It happens in the Midwest in D class neighborhoods. 

On a side note, my mortgage team is bi-coastal (NY and LA), so I do a lot of west coast lending as well. If you are still pricing this deal out, I’d love the chance to see if I can compete. PM me if you want to talk more. 

Without knowing more about you and where you live it’s hard to say, but I assume you’re in NYC since you own a co-op. If that’s the case, a 2-4 family is a great investment. That was how I got started in investing back in 2013 and after a few years experiencing being a landlord things began to snowball and I was able to grow my portfolio. I was able to cash out and buy another 3 unit as well as take on some out state projects. If you are in NYC, I would just advice you not to buy a place that has tenants in place. You need to properly vet them because if you make the wrong decision in NYC it is VERY tough to evict. If you have a tenant not paying rent that can create a financial hardship, so my advice would be 1) the more units preferably 4 units the better so if one tenant stops paying you have a couple of others ones still paying the rent while the situation gets resolved, 2) make sure to have a few months of payments in your accounts post-closing  and 3) make sure you understand that closing costs outside of Co-op in NYC are really expensive. Good luck!!

It depends on your definition of cash flow. I always suggest your property have at least $500 in residual income after mortgage taxes insurance and property management. So for example if your rent is $1,000 per month you don’t want those expenses to add up to more than $500, so you have $500 left over for repairs and cap ex. This ensures that you will almost always have cash flor and can build up a decent size reserve for cap ex and helps you avoid those $30,000 in D class neighborhoods. I would use the same formula when exploring cash out so you don’t end up over-leveraged. 

When you come to list the property, you can list it for rent and for sale at the same time and price it according to what you prefer. So if you prefer to rent it, price it for rent aggressively and price it high for sale and see what happens (and vice versa). I don’t think you necessarily need to chose now. As long as you are buying a good deal, those details can get figured out later on. 

I have done both flips and BRRRRs. Both are possible, but I find that if you are doing a BRRRR you are best off only financing the property once. The fees for getting the loan tend to be expensive and will significantly cut into your profits/equity.

I know someone that can fund a deal that quickly. Please pm so we can discuss

There are definitely lenders that will do 100% purchase and 100% rehab, but they want a low ARV and experience. They will all want to see money in the bank because they need to know you have the funds to fill the gap (they only pay for completed work, so you will likely need to front at least some money) and they need to make sure you can make the monthly payments. Feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to talk through it with you And give you some suggestions.

Is your co-op your primary residence? If not, it’s going to be very difficult to get cash out. There are lenders, but the rates will be high. If your coop is your primary, your only option may be to refinance your first mortgage and take cash out. A 2nd mortgage on a coop is difficult to obtain because there is no collateral to hold (the first bank is holding the stock and lease and there is only one of them as opposed to real property where the lender receives a deed of trust). If you really want to go with a home equity, the only lender that may consider it would be the lender that owns your first mortgage since they already have the collateral. I’d check with them to see if they would do a home equity on a coop, but if not your only option would be to take cash out, which I don’t think is a bad option. Rates are low now and closing costs on a coop are usually pretty cheap (around $3,500). Feel free to PM me if you want to talk more specifics. 

That being said, it comes down to the numbers. If the property is positive cash flow not only in its ability to cover its own mortgage, but to cover the difference in additional payment from your cash out refinance on your primary and then some it’s a win win. It’s all about finding the right opportunity. 

I definitely will should I get the information I am looking for. I got an introduction to a different developer who does prefab. We will see what info I get. 

Thanks Kerry!