All Forum Posts by: Qulia Brunson

I don’t have anything creative to offer but just keep going! Don’t stop doing what you’ve been doing and keep going! Stay educated, continue to educate your clients, continue to market yourself, don’t watch the news, study the market daily if not weekly, connect with trusted lenders who can keep you informed and offer creative financing options for your clients.

I’m licensed in SC and can help with this. Feel free to send a pm.

I own duplexes in St Louis and Milwaukee that we're purchased for under $100k. Cash flow is good but this is relative to the area of course and the condition of the property. I researched other areas like Detroit, several cities in Ohio, Indianapolis, and Kentucky. May explore these areas more for my next purchase but these are also good areas for duplexes (and SFR) for under $100k

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $116,999
Cash invested: $17,779

Long term buy and hold with tenants in place and minimum repairs needed.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

This was a partnership deal where I syndicated with a newer investor in exchange for my experience and expertise. The investor was local to this area and wanted a multifamily property that already had tenants in place to lessen the vacancy rate.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We used a local realtor to assist with the contract and negotiations. We negotiated the purchase price and seller repairs, since they were initially planning to sell as-is.

How did you finance this deal?

We financed with a conventional 30 year mortgage with 20% down.

How did you add value to the deal?

I analyzed each potential property that my investor partner was interested in by determining the IRR, cap rate and monthly cash flow.

What was the outcome?

We secured the property for less than asking price, seller agreed to make some minor repairs, increased rents by $100 since they were under market rates, and acquired a reasonable property manager.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We had some challenges with the insurance company and property manager. Originally the insurance company did a full inspection and determined that more repairs were needed cover the property. The original property manager had a great rate but wasnt responsive after a few attempts. This caused us to do more research and ultimately decided to use a different insurance company and PM. Lesson learned-have more than one company to interview.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

We worked with a realtor, lender and property manager all local to the area.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $55,000
Cash invested: $60,000

My goal was to acquire a multifamily property without ever seeing it. My focus was the numbers, as long as I could make more than 10% return I was satisfied. This property is a 2 unit multifamily in a class C area with low to average rent costs depending on the condition of the properties.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Multifamily properties are always more attractive because you are getting two for the price of one. This area has low purchase prices with average rent rates. I was attracted to this deal specifically because of the cash on cash return (20%) and cap rate (21.96%). If I hold this property for 20 years I could see 22.52% return per year and hopefully cash out with some value appreciation.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found this deal online and used a local agent to help with the contract and negotiations. I negotiated it with all contingencies to protect myself and my deposit in case of any undisclosed material facts about the property. We also negotiated $5000 off of the asking price.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash.

How did you add value to the deal?

I suggested the negotiated price, lesser deposit amount and additional contingencies to protect during the due diligence periods

What was the outcome?

I acquired the property and had to invest a small amount of $5000 to get it up to code and move in ready. Currently have two tenants with rent totals $1450 and a $150 property management fee.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I would start marketing it for rent as soon as its purchased next time. The repairs took about a month then it took another two months to secure tenants. That vacancy period could have been avoided if the marketed started sooner.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes a local realtor and contractor assisted me with securing this proeprty.

Hi Oleg, Welcome to Biggerpockets! I am a agent here in the Charlotte area as well! I started off as an investor and decided to go all in about 2 years ago. Im currently aware of a few multi-family/multi-unit deals that are currently available in Charlotte, and some are fully occupied. Depending on what you are looking for these could be gems. Id be glad to speak with you and discuss the Charlotte market, feel free to message me at anytime!

I love open houses! My only issue with open houses is safety. Every city or every town may not have safety issues but you can never be too sure these days. I try to take precaution no matter what neighborhood I'm in.

Other than that open houses are efficient for realtors as this helps build your database. Everyone that comes to the open house is not going to like the house but this is your chance to capture their information and get permission to build a professional relationship with them.

Great, info here! This helps people put the process together when they are on the outside looking in. It can be a frustrating process when no one ever explains it. I recently posted a blog post on tackling the mortgage process and educating the clients on which documents the processor usually requests. Check it out on my website or at the link here:

https://virtualrealestateblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/tackling-the-mortgage-process/

 Yes they really do!! The original account manager really hyped up the expectations but I got a call a couple of weeks ago from a new account manager (probably had something to do with the Zillow merger) who explained everything more realistically. He said only one of his agents has received a listing within the first two months of using the service. He also gave me a clear picture of what the seller sees when your ad is displayed. Which is an ad that asks if they'd like to be contacted about their current property value. According to him agents can convert these property value inquires when the value they provide is higher than the value Trulia provides. Obviously this may not always be the case and some people may truly only need the property value and have no intention to sale, but it is good to educate them on the fact that Trulia/Zillow is not always accurate. 

Hi Colin,

I havent received any listings from Trulia yet but I still have the leads on my marketing campaign. They receive my newsletter each month, which is targeted towards sellers and I plan to update them on their current home value every two months.  I've done a few open houses and I agree this is a great way to gain leads. An agent in my office actually gained a listing from an open house! Lets continue to keep each other updated, everything may not work in every market but its good to hear what people are doing!