All Forum Posts by: Nate Maier

@Account Closed Bring some donuts with you when you go.  I've found that when you leave them with the desk staff things get processed faster.

Good Luck and Please share if you are successful!

Hey @Vick Galu

This is a somewhat good place to start.  Otherwise drive around and call some yard signs so you know that you're getting someone who is actually doing deals.

The average agent on Oahu only participates in 2 transactions a year.  So if you are looking for a realtor to work with personally ask them about deals they've done so you know you're talking to someone who isn't just blowing smoke.

Another good way might be to stop by some open houses.

I am a realtor on Oahu and I do and have done a bit in Ewa.  Feel free to reach out & check out my profile for some of my background.

I am with Hawaii Real Estate Team.  We are a full service brokerage that works on common sense commissions.  We charge 3-3.5% total commission to list a property (1% to us and 2-2.5% to buyer's agents depending on the property).  When we work with buyers we share our buyer's agent commission with them 50/50 in the form of a 50% buyer's rebate.  This means that if a buyer buys a 600K house with us where the sellers are offering out a 3% buyer's agent rebate our buyer would get 50% of the 18K commission, or 9K as a credit at closing.

Let me know if you have any questions I can answer right away.

Best,

Nate

Aloha @Keith Cordeiro

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your goals and all the new knowledge.  It is a nice feeling when you realize there is more to life than working a 9-5 for the next 35+ years.

Best!

Nate

Hey @Raffy Pasion

As others have mentioned its going to be a bit hard to make that amount work well on an out of state investment.

In addition to finding it and making sure its not in a war zone, make sure to consider that:

1. You'll be a small fish for the property manager, they'll have other clients with more properties that will be at the top of their list.
2. Your PM will know you are out of state and there is greater potential for fraud issues there
3. Anytime you want to visit your properties your going to spend 2 days traveling and $1000+ in airfare, hotel and rental car (This could alone could eat up half a year of profits and kill your returns)

I think in this situation you would be better looking at doing JV deals on Oahu or an outer Island. Or looking at some leasehold properties that you could potentially buy with your cash by yourself that cash flow on Oahu. Even though our market is hot there are still deal out there. It also might be worth investing in a RE private placement fund depending on your risk tolerance.

Just out of curiosity want bank is doing your HELOC on a non owner occupied rental property?

Best of luck!

Nate

Hey @Luke Babich,

Congrats on the recent purchase.  Just my 2 cents but I would go with a  split A/C system.  They are pretty common out here in Hawaii as many of the older homes, and some of the newer, weren't built for A/C so retrofitting in a central A/C system isn't worth the hassle.  Overall I've only heard positive things about them.  They are also nice as they allow your tenants to have "zones" depending on how many indoor units you put in, which can help reduce energy bills.  Just pitch it to prospective tenants as a "Green" living space!  

Going through that floor would not be fun, so I'm guessing any bids you get done to have a central A/C system put in wil be on the higher end.

Good Luck!

Nate

Hey @Kameron Fontenot,

I am a a RE investor with experience in Wisconsin and Hawaii (feel free to check out my profile for more info).  Although I'm not local to you feel free to call or text me for advice or questions.  It is against forum rules to post contact info but that can also be found on my profile.

As for finding a local mentor, which is probably the best option for you as they will know more about the ins and outs of your market, I would really recommend contacting someone in your area who is doing deals and asking them how you can help them. Maybe its bird dogging deals, driving for dollars, doing a quick analysis for them, helping put up bandit signs, or supervising a renovation, all these tasks can provide value to a potential mentor and will allow you to gain experience without putting any money in right away. As you demonstrate your value over time you'll be in a good position to ask questions about why they are doing what they are doing. You'll also learn a lot from just being in the business and thinking about it on a daily basis. You don't necessarily need a formal "Coach" to learn. Once you get confident this would also be a good person to ask to do a JV with for your first few deals.

You should look for for this person at your current REIA meeting or by checking other groups that can be found through sites like meetup.com. When I first started I even called a few of the bandit sign numbers to ask those people about their business. However you find them make sure you vette your potential mentor to make sure they actually know what they are doing! It might be best to first invite them out for coffee or a lunch so that you can get a feel of their track record, and if you'd be a good potential match for them before offering to do the grunt work.

I like to think with Real Estate you get out what you put in.  So the more you can do to help others the more you will learn.

Good Luck!

Hey @EDWARD M.

I'd look for a combination of all those things personally.

My ideal deal in this situation would be a duplex, triplex, or fourplex that is a bit neglected mostly cosmetically and is half vacant with rents preferably below market. This can be bought at a discount due to the above mentioned issues using a traditional conforming loan, hopefully 80% or less of FMV. I like this because it has some tenants that can provide immediate cash flow so I can renovate units as I have time and funds and ultimately it gives me more options for it. I would move into the vacant unit and live in it while renovating it. Put in new floors, kitchens, bathrooms, and make it nice. Through not renewing leases, natural turnover, or swapping units I would move through the units one by one updating them and making the units nice so they rent quick and rent at market rents or above. Once all the units are done you'll have a nice cash flowing asset that you bought at a discount and can now sell at a premium if you wish, or you can collect rents and know that you're place is nice and will rent quickly if you ever have vacancies.

Ultimately your goal in this is to buy something at a discount and bring it back to market or slightly above.  Properties that are 10-15% above rest of the market sell slower and are less desirable than homes that are at market prices.  The majority of your equity and initial gain should come from a wise purchase more than an ability to dispose of it at a premium.  I make a lot of offers at prices I like and go with those that stick.

As for metrics to look for I would want something that would have positive cash flow if I moved out of the units and used it solely as rental. The stronger those numbers are the better. Since you're living in half initially I would worry less about DSCR and more about what the bottom line numbers are after you move out (for example 5K a year positive cash flow) and your number while your living in it (make sure you can afford it). You should analyze it like a BRRR deal and maybe consider that strategy to allow you to take advantage of the rising market.

Feel free to tag me or reach out for any follow up questions.

Good luck!!!

Nate

Hey @Jacob Resendez!

Welcome to the community and RE investing!  It can be a very rewarding experience and you'll get out of it what you put into it.

To start out with I'd recommend talking about your shared goals and what you are both looking to achieve. Are you looking for passive cash flow and appreciation potential available in buy and hold rentals? Do you want a quick return on your cash and more management responsibilities that can be found through more active investments like flipping or wholesaling? Are you just looking for a place to park cash and achieve a decent return like via a REIT or RE investment fund?

Once you determine what your goals are and what path you want to go down  the best way to get started is just to constantly evaluate deals.  Make or find spreadsheets to model what you think potential investments would look like and use & update them constantly.  Get familiar with the numbers and your strategy so that when you see deals you know right away if it has potential for you or not.  Really get to know your chosen niche and market area.  For me this was a 6 month process of plugging numbers into a buy and hold spreadsheet I made.  Once you know deals and what you can expect you'll know when a good one comes along. Along the way you'll also have seen a few other deals happen and you've read a bunch more on BP and other resources about best practices for your investment method.

Take that good deal down and constantly be evaluating what you could have done and what you can do better.  Eventually after you do a few you won't have to rely on your spreadsheets as much because you'll know the numbers off the top of your head.  At this point you'll have massive value to people like your boss.  All the knowledge and research you put in finding & evaluating deals initially is the value that you can provide right now.  As you and your knowledge become more value you can change the splits and returns because your experience and track record is more valuable so your expertise is worth more.

Keep going and keep us updated!  Share your wins and losses so others can learn from your experience just like you have done.  

Aloha @Bryson Paulo,

Welcome back home.  I am a full time real estate agent on Oahu and I'd be more than happy to sit down with you for a cup of coffee to chat about real estate and your goals.  I am an investor myself (check out my profile for details) so I have more than a bit of first hand experience of looking for good deals!  My brokerage, Hawaii Real Estate Team, is a little unique as well because we split our commissions with our buyers 50/50, this can often greatly reduce your closing costs and allow you to bring less money to the table.

Feel free to call or text me (see profile for number) or PM me and we can chat more.

Mahalo,

Nate

Hello!

The BP community has been very helpful over my first few years of investing in Milwaukee so I am hoping I can get lucky again here. My girlfriend and I have 4 rental properties in WI and will be moving to Oahu in August as she is pursuing her master’s degree and maybe phd at UH-Manoa. We would like to continue investing in HI and are looking to do either a live in flip or purchase a multifamily building and live in one unit while renting out and potentially remodeling the rest. Ideally I’d like to stay within 10-20 minutes of the campus. I’ve been looking at houses quite a bit and know the price ranges somewhat, we are looking for a complete fixer upper. I’ve had less luck finding multifamiles. Any input on our situation would be greatly appreciated. Our cash position is pretty strong but our income is lacking right now as I am still looking for a job, any help on that front would be really helpful as well. I am an economist by trade but real estate entrepreneur by passion.

Any help on where to look, who to contact, leads on properties, or just to chat is all appreciated

Feel free to respond here or pm me

Thank you!

Nate