All Forum Posts by: Phat Vi

@Tuan Huynh It has been five months since your original post. Have you found your properties and which city did you end up investing in? Did you hire a PM to manage your MTR properties?

I am investing in Fresno and I'm interested in the MTR market as well.

Thanks,

Phat

I am in the process of doing 1031 exchange for a 13 to 15 units MF in Fresno, CA. The inventory in the MLS is fairly dry for this type of property. My agent is reaching out to his clients and peers for potential properties. What else can I do to look for off-listing property? Thanks,

@Kelly Nolan  Is there anything holding you back from selling your current apartment? If you live there more than 3 years, you can sell it without paying the capital gains. If the answer is a 'NO', then you can buy your rarely appeared home and sell the old apartment at the same time. I did this trick with my lender last year.

After selling your apartment, it is up to you to put the 'gain' into your new home mortgage and refinance it to bring it down to '$4,500 / month' or invest in a rental property for additional passive income. Sorry to challenge your thoughts in the last minute.  

@Danny Hinkle What were your approaches to her? Maybe, she may take it from a different angle when she feels assurance about REI.

In my situation, my wife hesitated at the beginning when I brought up the investment in REI; however, I slowly build up her confidents day by day by:

1. Showing her your vision of this investment. In our case, we are looking toward building our wealth and eventually replace W2 with rental income in the future.

2. Showing her your plan on how to achieve your vision. Same with other investors, we started at goal and worked backward. This can be 1, 2, or 3+ properties a year depending on your financial situation and your goal.

3. Showing her your numbers. This shows her that you have done your due diligence on working through the number, and it is not a heat of the moment.

4. Lol. Whenever you have a chance, let her listening to BP podcasts. It can be in the car, at home, etc... The REI conversations will unconsciously absorbed into her head. Try to initiate few discussions during this activities.

5. Attend local REI meetups. I did this one last. I need to make sure she had some ideas what people talk about during the meetup so she didn't feel like an outcast. My goal of this activity was to validate our strategy and formula in the deal analysis. After 2 REI meetups, she was on board and we bought our first 4plex few months after that. Good luck and hopefully we will hear some good news from you soon.

@William Wenger I was in your shoes few years ago when starting buying my first rental as well. I bought my first rental based on the cash flow analysis. That property performed really well as now as it has beaten my patted number. It is very difficult to predict the cycle. In my non-pro opinion, you can solve it by asking yourself these following questions:

1. How long do you plan to keep it? If it is a long term investment, I don't think real estate cycle will make an impact to your investment. 

2. Have you included everything in your expense portion of the cash flow analysis: property tax, insurance, replacing roof, AC, water heater, etc...? If you still have a good positive cash flow after paying your mortgage, then the property should perform fine.

3. Have you considered what is the current tenant's situation? Turn over may cost you an arm or a leg until the unit is stable. Are you okay with it? 

If you say 'YES' to all of these questions, I think it is time to pull the trigger. Big disclaimer, this is not a financial advise. I just share my thought processes. It is up to you to make the final call. Good luck.

@Allen Lopez It seems like there are good recommendations from other's members. 

I just want to make a minor comment on your second paragraph "I can get a company to do everything in 5 days for $6k, or I can do it all my self in about a month. This means that I would potentially lose $3k in rent (2 months 1 for rehab, 1 for listing). Would you do the work yourself or would you get the property rented as soon as possible?".

When I bought my primary home, my wife and I did all the of these works " painting inside and out, resurfacing the cabinet, etc..." It took me and my wife 3 hours every night in weekdays and 12 hours in weekends for a full month to finish them. It was around 156 hrs to finish the project. So if you factored in your labor cost, just say that your and your family time's worth $15/hr. It is 156 hrs * $15 /hrs = $2,340 on top of your potential lose $3k in rent. 

hope this helps solidifying your final decision.

@Jim Lee

Hi Jim,

I am still investing in Fresno. Currently looking for a 14 or 15-unit apartment.

@Krishna Chava : Thanks for the cautions, Krishna. I will make sure to interview the property thoroughly. Do you mind to PM the name of the property manager so I can put him or her on my watch list?

@Jason Jones: Thanks Jason. I will check out the Butler Property Mgmt. Please rest assure, I will mention that you recommended me.

@Tim Koger: Thanks Tim. I saw these two Property Mgmts. during my research.  Renter's warehouse is fairly pricy thought.

Does anyone have any experience with Tom's Property Mgmt?

http://www.tomspm.com/

Hi Folks,

Do you happen to know a good and reliable PM around McKinney Texas? Please let me know as I plan to purchase my second rental property (SFR) in McKinney Texas.

Thanks,

Phat

@Brandon Hall @Stephen Chittenden

Thanks so much for the information. I have a follow up question on both scenarios:

1) assume that I need either a 1098 or 1099 from the seller. How does an average Joe (seller) know that they need to send out this form? Am I supposed to ask them every year?

2) assume that the seller is not required to issue 1098 or 1099 form to buyer. How do I document the interest that I paid during the tax return time?

Thanks,

Phat