All Forum Posts by: Ray Hage

Listen, simply put, if you are at least kind of smart and hardworking, you will be able to succeed. I bought my first duplex and had ZERO idea of what I was doing. I thought it would be pretty easy and boy was I wrong. I really screwed up on a few levels and ending have to evict one tenants and remodel the unit... It seems that at least you know you have a lot to learn and you are on here seeking advice so that's a good start. Your best bet is to continue going to local real estate networking events and speak with landlords and investors. If you find later that you're not so good at dealing with tenants, handymen, etc. you can always hire a PM and that'll make your life easier

It can make the lower level tenant miserable of noise especially. Do you know if it is concrete in between? If it is , there won't be much noise in between. You also might find it harder to rent out as some prospective tenants might shy away from it. Personally, I wouldn't live somewhere where I have people living above me as I am sensitive to noise. 

Another thing to consider if an overflowing toilet or pipe breaking occurs on the top unit, both units will be affected so that's something to consider. If the deal makes good sense financially, I think it should still be worth these risks.

Quote from @Meaghan Lugo:

@Ray Hage I hear you. The interest rates are tough. It’s in Lauderdale Lakes area. 

 Oh ok yea not the best over there. If you want to put it on the market at some point, I'd be happy to help. I am mainly an investor but also a realtor/lender as well. If you plan to put it on the market, I would say better to do it sooner rather than later. I have a few clients that have asked me about buying investment condos and I generally tell them to not consider it vs a house/multifamily

It is definitely better to do it with permits. Lot of risks associated if you do it without, especially if it is done wrong. Now for example, if there was a half-bathroom already there and you just want to put new shower tiles, toilet, vanity, etc. that's one thing (you could probably get away without doing a permit). If you are adding a bathroom from scratch, ALWAYS get a permit! 

Right now, I have a friend who is considering adding a half bath to his first floor by removing a closet w/o a permit and I am really trying to convince him not to. I gave him the same warning I gave you so I hope he will listen.

Quote from @Esther Concepcion:

Hello,

I am an entrepreneur having issues qualifying for a conventional loan. After doing research I learned of the DSCR loan. My question is, if I acquire a property via a DSCR loan on my own, does my spouse have any ownership? My purpose for of starting a rental portfolio is create an inheritance for my children who are not biologically his. We do not have children together. Nor do we have a prenuptial agreement. Florida

In Florida, without a will or post-nuptial agreement, I believe the surviving spouse receives 100% of the assets. So first thing's first, speak with a good lawyer about creating a post-nuptial agreement regarding each other's assets that are considered "shared" and those that will go to your children. If you will be using a DSCR loan, property will be owned by your LLC but if you're the only person on there, he would have some right (or could claim) to that property upon your death or divorce.
I understand the situation as my wife has 2 sons and some of her assets will go to them. We had discussed this before marriage and at some point we will also need a post nuptial agreement when she begins acquiring assets that will go to her sons (and I am totally encouraging about it!)

Hi there @Meaghan Lugo, I'd probably lean towards selling it based on all the info you have given but @Joe Morello makes a good point. There are a lot of condos on the market right now and I expect there to be a lot more in the near future. So you could try selling now and see how much you can get (and if it is worth it to you). If you can rent it out for only $1000, I don't think the numbers will make much sense especially if you will need to finance it. Even at 7%, I feel the numbers to be a bit tight. Which area/city is the condo in? 

Quote from @Brandon Schaar:

• Hello!
• My name is Brandon Schaar and I am based in Deerfield Beach which is 15 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale. I plan to invest in real estate in this area. My goals with BiggerPockets is to learn about real estate investing and network, my wife and I would like to purchase our first house in the next 6 months. I first got interested in real estate investing from reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. 

Hey Brandon, I am just down a bit south of in Fort Lauderdale. What time of property are you considering? (House hack, primary, duplex, etc). Deerfield is great. I like Pompano as well

Quote from @Kiefer Cheney:

Quote from @Ray Hage:

If you only have one rental property, why do you bother with the payment software? I would understand if you had many units but for 1 rental property, I think it would just be easier for them to pay through Zelle, Cashapp, Venmo, etc. I have several tenants and still don't use software

 But wouldn't it be easier if you had a software to keep track of everything? if I only used zelle right now it would be completely fine but doesn't it get annoying when you have multiple rents to keep track of?

 It's not really a lot of work to keep track of everything especially for one unit. I keep track of everything in Excel and it's not that much work imo. However, I also do like doing the analysis on my properties so I suppose it is "fun" for me, at least as much as fun as a computer-based task could be.

Congrats on your first deal! If you can do well in this market, you should be able to get more good deals done when things get a little easier for buyers/investors!

If you only have one rental property, why do you bother with the payment software? I would understand if you had many units but for 1 rental property, I think it would just be easier for them to pay through Zelle, Cashapp, Venmo, etc. I have several tenants and still don't use software