All Forum Posts by: Robert Saunders

You might consider renting to parents who need a place to stay on move-in/out day or big game day. We provided summer and study abroad storage and shipping and the amount of parents looking for a place to stay near campus after moving their student is huge! Parents are often overlooked when it comes to needing a place to stay after a long day of traffic, schlepping boxes, moving and un/packing. Rooms can be made available to parents the week before finals, the week of finals, and the week after finals. Don’t forget some may need accommodations for summer sessions. It’s high stress time for students. You might also consider medical Schools. Students attending these campuses move around a lot and need accommodations. The collegiate market is wide open on catering accommodations. Connect with housing offices that are open to helping you market your off-campus accommodations. After you’ve gotten established in your business consider building relationships with international offices and consider attending a conference for housing directors. It’s called ACUHOi (Association of College University Housing Officers International). They have conferences all over the U.S. in different regions. Check them out!

P.S. Connect with alumni and parent clubs to get well networked and be the go to person for a place to stay near campus. Network with other property owners when you don’t have a accommodations. You never know when you’ll need them and vice cersa.

You might check into buying a multifamily while you’re still working and have a W2 in Las Vegas. This way you’ll qualify for a 30 year mortgage. Once in NC move into one of the units and let the tenants pay the mortgage. ALSO! Look into the tax benefits of having a Cost Segregation study done on the rental to take advantage of Bonus Depreciation. President Trump did this program under the Jobs Act in 2017. Bonus Depreciation allows you to accelerate depreciated property over 5 years rather than 27.5 years. 2022 is the last year to MAXIMIZE Bonus Depreciation. In 2023 20% is lost. In 2024 another 20% goes away until it zeros out in 2026 unless Congress votes to continue the program. The money you save in taxes can be used to invest in additional property. BiggerPockets has some good videos on Cost Segregation but here’s one I found easy to understand. wishing you much success!

Robert

Hello.

We have an opportunity to purchase 4/4plex off-campus student housing adjacent to a large vacant lot. The lot has plenty of room to add more apartments as we see fit. Should opportunity arise we can purchase another off-campus location. What’s your take on buying existing apartments and adding on vs. purchasing an existing location?

Thank you,

Robert

Hello everyone.

I have done a lot of reading about business method patents. Our real estate business process might be eligible for a business method patent. Since an idea cannot be patented software for it can. An example of this is AirBNB. They have well over 150 software patents and growing but nothing on the idea of renting someone’s home for a vacation spot can be patented.
if anyone knows of an excellent patent attorney, state doesn’t matter, specializing in these type of patents please reply with information.

Sincerely,

Robert 

Great feedback guys. We’re looking for off-campus housing around college/universities  and renting beds and not rooms. We work with campuses providing summer and study abroad storage and shipping. Campuses we work with rent beds but recently have moved to single rooms due to Covid. As mentioned previously we plan, where possible, to rent beds and double income. We also plan to monetize space often overlooked by Investors and apartment managers. Potential income is an additional $25-40K annually. Covid issues are top of our plans when considering rental issues. We talk with campuses frequently to learn what they’re doing to prepare for up coming Fall move in.

Brian please tell me more. 

Thanks for the replies. I have a potential 22 unit A & B class units. They are owned by a university and are a great investment. An HML will do 70% LTV. Our strategy is to purchase off-campus units and rent beds, not rooms. This is what public/private campuses are doing and we'll to be in step with campus housing. We also have strategies to monetize other space often overlooked by investors with units near campuses. Even in the midst of Covid campuses don't have enough housing space on-campus for students.

Often times I hear zero down to purchase Multi-Fam investments. After speaking to several lenders and private money lenders and reading multiple books I've learned this is a misleading message and almost lies. Lenders of various types will do anywhere from 60-70% LTV. This means I have to come up with the balance. When investing in CA $2M in a "B" class area is the norm. Does anyone have the same experience or what has been yours? What resources are you using? Please share.

A hard money lender stated they need property to be under “contract” before loan can be made to us. This is a buy & hold play for our first investment. Please share what is meant by under contract, and other questions we should ask hard money lenders. Thank you!

@David London you’ve had some good input. This is for future GC planning. Ask for at least 5 references. Call all 5 and ask them if they have references for the GC you want to hire. You will always get the best references from the GC so you have to dig deeper to get the scoop on them. Also make sure they are licensed, insured, and bonded. Call state licensing agencies to see if any complaints have been filed against them. If someone is injured on your property while working it could be trouble for you. Demand copies of their workman’s comp policy and GL. Get named as additional insured and get a copy of their policy. Call their insurance carrier to confirm policies are paid up. Trust but verify.

You might contact wegolook.com. They will go to the property and take pictures. This would put the GC on notice he is being watched. Several on this thread mention setting up cameras but it’s hard to get them to work if you don’t have electricity.

On another note. I’m looking to invest in off-campus university housing and would like to hear what you’re planning. Please send me a way to connect so we can chat more. I’m on the West Coast.