All Forum Posts by: Robert Wodogaza

@Scott Trench, Put down 25% and obtained a conventional loan at 4.35%.  Had been preparing to jump into the market when a friend who rehabs homes told us about a 3 family he had just fully renovated for great money.  We jumped in and never looked back.  

@Account Closed, Anthony is right, things around here have been tough the last few years.  The climate is stale and there have not been any great attempts to address the poor business climate or outrageous taxes.  The other issue has been the quality and quantity of what is available in RI.  Weather your a flipper, wholesaler, buy & hold investor, there is not much out there as the housing stock is very low and what is out there is overpriced and usually not in great condition.  

There are still deals to be had, but they are few and far between and you have to do a lot more work to find them.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

@Evan Smeenge,  with multi unit properties your cash flow depends on many things, debt service, insurance, taxes, repair coast, management cost, utility cost, just to name a few.  You really need to do good Due Diligence and a thorough Property Analysis to determine if it is a good deal and what the financial performance of the property is.  You also need to take assessment of YOUR goals.  What is it that you are trying to achieve?  And how fast do you want to get there, be realistic.  It's great to have BIG goals, as long as you know how to get what you need to do it.  Take 2 of my properties for an example, they are in Pawtucket, RI and they bring in around $195.00 Net a month per door free and clear.  If I keep throwing extra money against the mortgage on both properties then I will have them both paid off in about 10 years and have a monthly Net Cash Flow from both properties of $3,750 per month from just these 2 properties, that's $45,000/Year free and clear.  When you start to play with the numbers you see very quickly the possibilities that can evolve with a good strategy and smart investment.  Not to mention that both of these properties have appreciated 23% in just the last 3 years alone.

There are also many Non-Tangible benefits in it as well if you do it as a business. I have an LLC and can take many right offs that I would not otherwise be able to take if I owned the properties under my own name. There are also big advantages to defer liability to the LLC instead of me personally should a bad claim arise. We do live in a sue happy society. I agree with @Anthony Thompson and @Brian White, it is a get rich slowly business unless you have a lot of money and time to throw at it right from the start.

Hope this helps.  

Regards,

Rob

Hi Bob, didn't expect to run into you on here.  Great to hear from you.  I would love to talk to you about investing in the multi's, you can also call me anytime or message me here or on FB.

Hope you and the family had a great Thanksgiving.

Rob

@Cody Zimmer, I do not know much about the Birmingham area.  I have just started looking in Atlanta, GA as well as Charleston, SC.   Both areas seem to be up and coming in recent years and are great cities to live and work in.

If I take it further I will keep you posted as to my progress and what I find out in my Due Diligence.

@Cody Zimmer, it's become difficult here in the Rhode Island area as the housing stock is very poor and very overpriced.  There are still deals out there but it takes a lot of leg work to find them.  I have been exploring other markets outside of my area as well.  There are a lot of very hot markets around the US where the prices are still great and money can be made.  I am a "Buy & Hold" guy and invest in multi-families and larger apartment buildings.  I am seeing a lot of opportunities for these types of products in the South.

Good luck with your search and as always, due good Due Diligence. 

Rob

@James Lanier, Freddie Mac offers a fairly new program where they will lend up to 70% of ARV on a single family rehab. It's similar to a 203K. You do not necessarily need 20% down, you can put down less, but there are advantages in the program to putting 20% down. You have to own it for at least 90 days before you can sell it, but that is usually not a problem for a flip. Message me for contact info.

@Cody Zimmer , Welcome to BP and to real estate investing. BP is a great start to learning about REI. Immerse yourself in everything on this site and learn as much as you can. BP will provide you with so many resources and great advice to help you make an educated decision. I highly suggest reading everything you can get your hands on regarding REI.

You had mentioned having limited funds and it limiting your ability to invest. The only thing that will limit your ability is not knowing all of the creative financing strategies there are out there to obtain properties with little to no money. You really need to get creative and network. They may be harder to find and require more leg work to get done, but you can still find deals out there that will spare your funds a bit and rely on other peoples money, which is really the name of the game in this business. There are some great podcasts where other REI talk about how they did deals when having almost no money, they are great to listen to and gain insight from.

As far as the area you are in.  I am in the same situation out here on the North East Coast. it is one of the most expensive places in the US to live, but we still find deals where the numbers work, it just takes a little longer.

I wish you much sucess.

Rob 

@Dan Kaiser, you can jump online and print a copy of the State Fire Codes which will explain what is required for the different types of residential and commercial dwellings in the state.  they changed drastically after the Station nightclub Fire.

Sorry you had to leave the meeting so soon last night, there are many opportunities to meet people like me and @Anthony Thompson, as well as many others that will prove to be a priceless resource to you in this business.

I would also start to research the various ways to buy a home/Multi with little to no money of your own.  There are so many strategies out there that make it possible.  Some are harder than others to pull off, but with a little hard work it can certainly happen.  

Look forward to meeting you at the next meeting.

Rob

@Dan Kaiser, there are many great areas around Providence where you will find safe, nice neighborhoods with many multi-families, but right now we are finding the market in RI to be running slightly overpriced on most properties. My properties have increased around 26% in appreciation in just the last 2 years alone, that is fantastic for me, but also bad since I want to buy more properties. There are still deals out there, but you will have to really look hard for them and even start marketing to certain areas to turn up potential sellers who have not listed yet or may just be kicking around the idea of selling. Most of the stuff around RI currently on MLS is overpriced and needs a lot of work. That's not to say you cannot make the numbers work for you, but it's a little harder right now.

I suggest going to the local Real Estate Investors Club meetings. We meet on the third Thursday of each month in Warwick, in fact we just had our meeting last night. Here you will meet many people in the same business looking to move properties. There are Wholesalers, Flippers, REO representatives,real estate agents, hard money lenders, contractors, as well as many other professionals in this field. One of the best ways to find property, if not the best way, is to NETWORK.

I personally like certain areas of North Providence, Cranston, Johnston, Pawtucket, Lincoln, Cumberland, Smithfield, Rumford, East Providence and Warwick. You can jump on line and find crime statistics on each of these towns and or talk to the local police in each town to find out what areas to stay away from.

Hope this helps you.

Rob