All Forum Posts by: Robert Bodmer

@Robert C. I've worked with SECU for awhile and I need to get away from them. By far the worst bank I've ever delt with

Hello BP, I currently have a property in Baltimore City where some of the tenants on the lease have left and one is remaining. The tenants that are leaving are claiming it is a toxic situation (Have not claimed domestic abuse yet). They (2 out of the three 3 on the lease) want off the lease. The third that is staying claims he has nowhere to go and also says that he will not be paying the full rent since everyone signed. He also claimed he is looking for other places to go but I have a feeling he is going to stay as long as possible paying 1/3 of the rent. 

I know all parties are still responsible for the rent payment and if I were to evict, it would be all three. But right now we can't even evict and if we could it wouldn't be that much of an incentive for the two that have left since they already have another home. I've attempted a cash for keys like scenario where I upfront the security deposit back so that the one tenant will vacate but he is not budging. 

What options do I have here? 

Hi @Ryan Ingram,  my real estate investing plan revolves around option contracts. I like the benefits of pushing most repairs to the tenants as well as the extra cash flow. Also, I want to try to help people get into homeownership who typically wouldn't qualify. 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Halethorpe.

Purchase price: $121,000

Purchase Price: 121K
Rehab: 15k
Holding Costs: 5K
Appraised: 200k
Monthly cash flow: $350

Overall, I'm very happy with this deal. It took about 2.5 months to rehab I did a lot of work and subcontracted out a few items. Currently leased by an option contract with an option price of 200K and monthly rent of 1,600. With the appraised value I was able to wrap in all closing costs and take out about 2k. This project gets me excited for the next one!

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

This deal interested me because it looked like a quick rehab and something I could do mostly on my own.

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

I found it on the MLS. Only able to negotiate down $300. it was a foreclosure

How did you finance this deal?

Private money then refinanced using a 30 year

How did you add value to the deal?

Renovation

What was the outcome?

50K in equity
$350 positive cash flow

@Peter Fenning Thank you!. 

@Keving Zolea I plan to get about 1300 or so for the house I am in right now so It should cash flow very well!

Hey BP!

I'm at the end of my first BRRRR and am very excited to share my details. A little bit of background it's a property with two separate houses on it one of which is a tiny little 600 square foot house and the main house is about 1,600 square feet. They are separately metered which was very important to me. I spent about 4 months rehabing it mostly because I did almost all the work myself. The numbers work out to the following:

Purchase price: $140,000

Rehab: $20,000

Appraised Value: $210,000

Rental: $950 per month for a 1 bed 1 bath!

I was able to cover pretty much all of my private money loans and ended up with about $1,200 in the deal. My mortgage is about 1,110 so tenants cover almost all of it and it was a great first property to get my feet wet. The only problem.... now i want another one ASAP!

Hi Charles, 

What are your reasons for not liking LLCs? What are your forms of asset protection? I wanted to discuss it with an attorney because I have heard of going through Wyoming for anonymity but I have also heard that it does not always work. I wanted to check with a professional to see if it is worth my time.

For the lease option, I plan to use them as an exit method, not a purchase. I want to try to help the community and help increase homeownership and better the community. In addition to making more in rent should my tenant choose to not exercise their option. I'm not planning on doing the lease-option sandwich more of a BRRRR to a lease-option.

I appreciate the advice!

Hey BiggerPockets!

Does anyone know a good Real Estate attorney in the Baltimore, MD area that can assist me with setting up an LLC as well as drafting a few documents? I'm going to be doing a lease-option strategy so the more experience they have with that they better.

Thank you, 

Thank you all for the advice I truly appreciate it. Joe Norman, I have considered Baltimore County, Baltimore City fits my price range a little better but I've been looking at some areas outside as well. Right now I'm thinking the North Eastern side seems like it might be a good fit. If I can get similar deals in the county I would prefer that over the City due to less regulations. 

Brya Freeland, I am in the Morrell Park area. Like much of Baltimore, it's very block to block and I am in a good neighborhood but not too far away is a bad one. Proximity to my day job also factored into where I chose though. Baltimore does fit my criteria.  

Hi BP, I need some help deciding where I go from here. 

A little background: I am about to finish my first house hack in Baltimore City (Pending refi) and really enjoyed the process of screening tenants and handling the nuances of being the property manager. Sure, it's still early and only one tenant but I feel as if I would be good at being a PM because I am overly organized and highly systemized with what I do. (Already have standard operating procedures book even though I just have 1 tenant) 

The struggle is where I go from here. I wouldn't mind being a PM, but I'm also not enticed to stay in the area. Baltimore City makes it difficult for being a landlord and the city does not have good overall statistics when I look at trends. That being said, there are numerous deals, cash flow is good, and I already have a decent network. Also, wanting to be a PM means I should stay around where I live. 

When looking at data, it appears that the best area around me for the price point I want to work with and the general market is Lancaster, PA. This area isn't too far (Hour and a half) but would still make being a PM significantly more difficult. On top of traveling for showings, I would need to rebuild my network there, learn all the tenant/landlord laws and deals don't seem to be as prevalent as in Baltimore. But Lancaster does have significantly less strict landlord laws than Baltimore. 

Looking for some advice on where to go. Stay in the area I know and be a PM or follow the data and attempt to be a PM at a distance?