All Forum Posts by: Rob Kulp

Hi @Tim Lindstrom, thanks for the reply!  How soon can you typically do a cash out refi and how much will banks let you cash out?  I would assume there's a seasoning period, right? 

Hi everyone,

If you had $50k in cash to use to buy rental properties, how would you use it?  The area I'll be investing in has homes that can be bought for $25k on up.  Would you choose to buy one or two houses outright have no mortgage, or use that $50k to buy 4 or 5 houses with mortgages.

I know I'm not giving a ton a details, and I'm not adding in closing costs and commissions and all that... I just would like to hear some different opinions in general.  I'd love to hear any of your own real life examples of what you've done in similar situations.

And yes, I'm asking this because I have a friend that actually has $50k and wants to eventually get into rentals but is scared to take the first step and very unsure of how to go about it.  I'm just trying to help gather advice for him.   And no, I am not the friend.

Thanks!

That's awesome, Dawn! Very inspiring.  What rules do you go by when you're considering a property?  Seems like you have some very strict guidelines for what you'll spend :)

I live in Northern Indiana where housing is pretty cheap, but 16k and hardly any repairs...that's huge win.

I'm really glad to hear that renting is going so well for so many of you.  I'm sure there are plenty of tough times ahead but I'm really excited to get more rental units!  

@Marcia Maynard, you're right, I'd like to find a mentor to help me along the way.  This site has already helped me meet some really knowledgeable and experienced people.

Thanks for the encouragement and advice, everyone!  @Dawn Anastasi and @Sharad M. , you two were able to make the move so quickly and leave your day jobs.  What was the strategy you used?  Buy a fixer, remodel, refi, and repeat?  

@Dean Letfus and @Arlan Potter I'm glad to hear it actually gets easier with the more houses you own (over 10, that is)

Thanks for the story @Shawn Dandridge. You know you love it when you get your butt kicked right out of the gate but it doesn't stop you from moving forward.  That's kinda what happened to me on my first flip.

I own one rental property now, with plans to add more in the future.  So far it's been a little bumpy, but I'm learning.  I'd like to hear from those of you that own a bunch of rentals (my definition of a bunch would be over 10).  Are you glad you got into the rental business?  Wish you hadn't?  Were you able to quit your day job?  At what point did the scales tip from being able to manage them yourself to needing to hire people to help?

Let's hear the good, the bad, and the ugly...

Renters, feel free to chime in with stories of terrible landlords.

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

@Doug W.  That's a great idea about searching the records.  I'll have to see if my county has an online database.

Thanks @Jason Richardson , I think I checked out that site during my miserable evening trying to educate myself on permits haha.  The link for Elkhart is broken so I'm going to have to call the city or see if they have another site with permit info.

@Justin Escajeda , Like you said, "case by case basis".  I can't imagine pulling a permit to replace a toilet or a sink.  I'll look further into the whole process before I get my next flip.

I've spent a good (bad) part of this evening reading about the nightmares that can result from not pulling permits, crazy inspectors, pulling permits and opening a can of worms etc...

My question is...how long to do you keep those permits that you've pulled?  If you're doing a flip do you keep them forever in case an owner somewhere down the road has an issue and discovers a problem with something you did and tries to come back on you?  

If you have rentals I'm sure you're keeping all paperwork anyway for as long as you own the property.

I'm near South Bend, IN and I did remodeling for a company for a number of years but I never had to deal with permits so I don't know much about them.  I'm trying to learn about them now so I don't get blasted when I do my next flip.

I'm sure there's a list out there of what specific things require a permit and what does not.

FYI...if you ever want to bum yourself out, spend an evening reading about permits and building codes.

Those were some really good questions and answers.  I've been wondering and trying to figure out some of those same things.  @Hattie Dizmond do you ever wholesale REO's?  I've heard them described as "low hanging fruit".  I know the EMD is typically higher and you can't assign an REO.  So that means you have to do a simultaneous closing, right?  

Thanks guys, I'm excited to be here!