All Forum Posts by: Austin S.

I am fairly new to the rental business and am trying to put systems into place, even though I only have 2 single family units currently. The only advertising I do is put ads out on Craigslist. I have one property coming vacant on June 1st and put out an ad towards the end of April. I have so far had over 20 email inquiries for the property, with more trickling in each day. This seems like a lot to me but maybe it is standard.

My question is do I show the property to all 20 prospects and then have them fill out an application if they like the place or do I have them fill out an application and spend the non-refundable fee before they even know if they like the place?

The first option would take up a lot of my time I feel like with the possibility of the application revealing they wouldn't have qualified in the first place. The second option would possibly significantly reduce the pool of prospects, as I would guess many wouldn't pay the fee without seeing if the house is something they would like to live in.

Thanks for any suggestions by those with successful systems in place!

@Tony H. I am in a smaller area in the northeast corner of Colorado. There probably aren't 20 to buy at one time but they are out there.

@Sharad M. The first property I bought appraised at $61k after repairs which allowed me to refinance at 75% LTV and pull all of my cash back out so I am in this one with none of my own cash. Of course, you know the cash on cash return there! The one I am closing on next week has an as-is appraisal of $44k. After a new roof and maybe some new floor coverings I would guess ARV might be above $50k. With both of these being buy and holds though, I am more looking at the cash flows instead of ARVs.

@Douglas B. I am by far not a specialist. My first buy and hold was April 2013 that I purchased for $32,300. It was a HUD property. I put $12k into it so I was right around the $44k mark. Rented it in no time for $700 per month. Closing on another property this coming week for $36,600 that doesn't need any work before a tenant can move in (eventually will replace roof this spring or summer) and it will rent for $600 per month. I am in a small market in a town of about 15k people but the rent to purchase ratios can be pretty decent if you look hard and long enough.

welcome @Jordan Kissick , I am a bit east of you in Sterling (northeastern corner) but come up your way often for investor meetings. If you want, message me your email address and I will forward you the meetup information for the group.

I have it on the calendar @Mark Ferguson ... Thanks and look forward to meeting some other investors from the area.

Evening for me as well.

wow! Seems like there is definitely some more things to learn about with multi family properties. Thanks everybody. I will start researching more about the above areas you mentioned.

@Dave Savage

@Joel Owens

@Daniel Dietz

I would be interested too @Mark Ferguson ... I am out in Sterling so if I could make it work it would be worthwhile I think.

There is a triplex listed in my market area for $79,000. It is currently empty and previous owner occupied one of the units while renting the other 2 units for $900 combined. Listing agent is estimating the owner-occupied unit could rent for $450, bringing total gross rent to $1,350 per month. I only have one single family rental property currently. Are there specific things to look for when looking at multi family properties versus single families?