All Forum Posts by: RJ Davies

@Chris B. There is, or more accurately was, and android app. I'm writing this post in it now. The last thing I had read said they had pulled it from the app stores for a redesign, but that has been a while ago.

Hey guys and gals,
I'm looking for some unbiased input on what to do next. Here's the cliff notes to get you up to speed.
-Purchased a duplex in 2015 to house Jack
-Slowly(quickly?) Discovered that I don't like doing a lot of the things a landlord does and have problems with being emotionally detached about the business.
-Property has appreciated significantly thanks to SLC being hot.

I'm now 4 years into this. The idea has been suggested and pushed by friends (who aren't real estate investors) about cashing out. I'm not interested in that, but am interested in a pivot of sorts in my strategy.

The idea that has formulated in my head would be to sell the property I have, and use the proceeds to purchase 2, or more, properties in Logan, to be managed by a property management company. This should solve my personal hang ups about being a landlord, but still allow me to invest long term. The downside would be that I would have to devote more of my income to my own housing, but the income from the 2 new properties would offset that, and would allow me to put money together to grow my portfolio.

I have gone as far as running a property or two through the calculators here on BP with some guesstimates on the high end for expenses. It would be close to cash flowing with the MLS price and rents listed.

I guess what I'm really asking here is this:
Is this a viable strategy?
If you were in my position, would you do it?
What am I missing?

Is there a good mortgage calculator out there that I could use to figure out the difference in costs between paying PMI at my current rate, versus dropping PMI, but having to pay an increased interest rate?

Hi Levi!

I'm not able to attend REIA meetings due to other obligations, but I have a house hack a few miles south of Liberty Park atm. You may want to consider something in SSL. Its near enough to Sugarhouse, downtown, etc, and prices there are still somewhat reasonable.

Hello fellow REI junkies!

I've been approached by a local house buying company (read: flipper) about them purchasing my duplex. They haven't come forward with an offer as of yet, but seem intent to do so. This has me trying figure out what an acceptable number to me would be to sell. So, I'd like to pose the question to you.

How do you figure what what sale price would be acceptable for you to part with a property?

Due to my application for a HELOC on the property and the required home valuation report, I have a good idea what it would fetch on the market. It should also be said that my original plan was to buy and hold this property for 10+ years. I currently live in one side of this (read: house hack). I can provide numbers, if needed, but am looking to see if my way of thinking on this makes sense before making any decision.

TIA!

R.J.

I used Mike Vielstich with Chapman Richards when I purchased my duplex and highly recommend him.

I only have 1 property right now, 5 minutes away from Sugarhouse, so take this with all appropriate grains of salt.

If you're looking on the MLS as your only source, then no. The numbers I have run on some of the properties I have seen don't make sense. I think the smart money for these areas is finding off market deals. My neighbor sold his run down house off market to a flipping company (really kicking myself for not realizing in time to buy it) for $175k. My best estimate is that with major repairs to the property in the area of $75k, they could sell for close to $300k, seeing as how we had a recently rehabbed house across the street from us sell for just shy of that price.

Originally posted by @Daniel Howard:

@William Hochstedler

Thank you for the clarification. I wasn't aware of the second type (at the courthouse). I am looking for the first type (REO properties). Do you know of a good place to start looking for agents?

I would recommend working with Mike Vielstich as a realtor. He's a realtor as well as investor, and has done a lot of flips using REO properties. He helped me purchase my first duplex as well. Send me a message if you would like his contact information.

I was recently talking with my mentor about his goals for investing when he mentioned that if a multifamily property he owned appreciated by a certain percentage, he would sell, and take the money to use for another project. This comment took me by surprise, as most of the discussion I've seen around buy and holds has been to hold them for the long term (5+ years) with no mention of a threshold for selling to use the gains on the next property. I started thinking about what I would consider to be a good number to begin thinking seriously about this, and have generally been stumped. The number he put forward (30%) makes sense when you aren't living in the property, but since I am house hacking mine currently, that would throw a wrench in the mix. Also, with the way the market is here right now, part of me thinks that the realized gain I would receive when selling would be negated, so to speak, but the high price of the market currently. I'm in no hurry to act either way right now, but thought that this would be a good thing for me to figure out as part of a business plan. What are your thoughts?

@Kevin Hunter I had forgotten about the podcasts. Thank you for reminding me. I went back 6 months and downloaded anything that looked even remotely interesting to me. The first two that I listened to have me wondering if there isn't a better way to use the equity I have built up. Time for some more homework!