Skip to content
×
Pro Members Get
Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
ANNUAL Save 54%
$32.50 /mo
$390 billed annualy
MONTHLY
$69 /mo
billed monthly
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
×
Try Pro Features for Free
Start your 7 day free trial. Pick markets, find deals, analyze and manage properties.
All Forum Categories
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

All Forum Posts by: Ryan D.

Ryan D. has started 8 posts and replied 92 times.

Post: Buying land in Hawaii and putting small short term rentals on it

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81
Originally posted by @Paul Winchell:

Aloha Micah,

I live on the big island and at one point looked into doing something like this so let me share some findings with you.

First, @Ryan D. is correct about both the land and STVR rules.  

While it is still possible to find land in the 15-30k range, there are only a few areas on the island that this is possible.  In the Puna area there are many jungle lots that can be had in that range.  For the sake of this discussion I will lump Volcano in with Puna as it will have many of the same problems, but is generally more visitor-friendly.  And in Ocean view near the southern tip of the island there are also many lots to be had with or without utility hookups.  They sit on a giant lava field and are a long ways from everywhere else, which is why the land is so cheap.  

You will generally have a harder time drawing visitors to these areas, as they are distant from the more developed parts of the island and the micro-climates in these areas are less desirable (either dense rain forest or windy and barren lava fields).

And as mentioned, those areas have a bit of a reputation for being less safe, particularly for visitors (higher levels of drug use, theft, intolerance of tourists, etc.)  There are safe neighborhoods in these areas though, so if you decide to move forward be sure to do your research.  A bit like investing in a place like Detroit -- make sure you talk to someone with inside knowledge to know which neighborhoods are safe, and which are not.

The link that he sent is a good overview on STVR permitting in Hawaii, but in short, on the big island the only way to legally run a STVR is to purchase a house that has been grandfathered in already with the non-conforming use permit or to buy land that is resort zoned (generally much more expensive and harder to find).  There are quite a few people who are still running unpermitted STVRs illegally on the island, but the county and state have been cracking down hard and you can expect to pay some hefty fines if caught. 

If after all this you still want to try your luck, then you should also consider that building materials and labor costs are much higher here than on the mainland.  And in order to be insurable (an absolute must if you are going to rent it out), the tiny house would need to be built on a foundation under county building codes (which are NOT friendly to tiny houses) or to be certified as an RV by the RVIA or NOAH.  Either way, you are going to be hard pressed to get a unit nice enough to draw in visitors for the price points you described above.

I hate to be a buzzkill but I want you to know just what you're getting into before spending your hard-earned money.

Best of luck!

--Paul

Nailed it. Adding to your research on how to legally operate a STVR on the Big Island - it is my understanding that if your property is Ag zoned, you can legally have multiple structures on it if you are conducting some form of agriculture and if it is your primary residence, you can then do what you are talking about Micah. Somewhat of a grey area but to the best of my understanding, it is legal to do so.

Post: Buying land in Hawaii and putting small short term rentals on it

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81

Is your 15-30k estimate for buying the land or for acquisition & building? If you're talking about the full project, yes you're underestimating building and labor costs on the island unless you are doing the work yourself. Even then, you're still underestimating building costs unless we're talking tents. Also, for the land cost, you're pretty much only looking in Puna at that price range. That comes with its own set of challenges due to the area not being the safest.

As for short-term rentals, Hawaii cracked down on them about a year ago and introduced a bill outlining how STR needs to be registered and approved. Read more about it here: - https://blog.turnkeyvr.com/a-guide-to-hawaiis-short-term-rental-regulations/

Post: House-hacking in poor neighborhoods-Philadelphia Multifamily

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81

A decent amount of investors I know are buying in that area due to cash flows being in excess of 2% and for Section 8 rentals. I won't be buying with them though. I'd bank on at least a 10-15 year hold for that area. I'd much rather buy in N. Kensington where there is already a big presence of commercial speculators and prices are similar to Nicetown. N. Kensington is drug "dangerous", Nicetown is on another level of dangerous. 6 cops were just shot there in August and pretty much the entire Philly police department took over Nicetown for a couple of days. Listen to your gut.

Post: BRRRR Deal - What's missing from these numbers

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81

@Ley Nezifort I think you nailed every carrying cost/holding cost that most forget about during the acquisition and rehab part of your Pro-forma. Will you be doing 6 units by right? If not, I'd say your soft cost of $1,000 is far too low. Architectural drawings, L&I permit fees & a zoning attorney if a variance is needed for this type of build will be 15-20k on average. With or without variance you'll need to submit plans to L&I for permits so I'd put in 10k for architects & permitting fees on the low end. Rent & refi are lacking important details like interest rate, accurate property management fees, rents varying by unit size/build-out, etc. I'm surprised your lender doesn't want debt coverage ratio in your Pro-forma.

If I had to guess I'd say your ARV is too high considering you're probably in a fringe neighborhood. Is this up in the pocket near Huntingdon station? Or somewhere in near Norris square? Luckily for you is at 6 units you'll be able to sway an appraiser your way given the lack of comps and high rent roll. Either way looks like you have plenty of room to guide down to a more reasonable ARV unless you found a unicorn somewhere near Fishtown worth 1.35m once stabilized. Best of luck.

Post: What Would You Do in this Situation?

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81

@Vincent Gurko I'm a vet myself, Philly area native and am in a similar situation except I purchased my first property for cash that I'm currently rehabbing to BRRRR for short-term rental. My question would be why are you working for a GC doing what I'm assuming is grunt work for $15-$20/hr when you have access to a VA loan and 40k saved? Do your own grunt work on your own property that you buy with virtually no money down and earn a much higher hourly $ rate via the equity you create in your own property. Either keep the GC grunt job while doing your own rehab outside of work or get the loan, use all the leverage the VA can give you then use the 40k savings to live off of while you rehab your property. You have the world at your feet thanks to the hard work you've put in to save that 40k and through your service. Take advantage of it brother!

Post: Does the Philadelphia market have more room to grow?

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81

Really depends on your intended use, time horizon, and price range. If you're looking for rentals that meet the 1% rule? Good luck. You're anywhere from 3-15 years too late for most of those areas if we're talking true borders for those neighborhoods. If you're looking for flips? Sure, there are still good deals available in some of those areas. If you're like most and looking for cash flow plus some appreciation, I'd point you towards neighborhoods next to Fishtown - Kensington & Norris Square and next to Point Breeze - Newbold, West Passyunk & Grays Ferry. 

Post: Investing in Philadelphia Rougher Neighborhoods

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81
Originally posted by @Kerry B.:

We're interested in the Kensington/Frankford area, but our property manager and agent has conflicting views. Manager thinks Frankford will change first and then Kensington 10 years from now. Realtor thinks the complete opposite. What worries me about Kensington is the drug infestation and how hard our manager is telling us it is to find decent tenants in Kensington...thoughts??

This is somewhat old advice as 3-4 years ago people thought Frankford, which has a nice cluster of high-income homeowners on its west side and a much nicer housing supply, would revitalize prior to Kensington, North of Lehigh Ave, the area plagued with the open-air heroin market. North Kensington has a lot more going for it currently than Frankford. It's closer to Fishtown/Center City and has a lot more investment flowing into it. I love Frankford as I'm 7 generations to that area but the sad reality is N. Kensington is blocking it from the path of appreciation and a lot of N. Kensington's problems are being forced into Juniata & Fkd. Look up Shift Capital to see the work they are doing in Harrowgate. My mentor who has been buying in the lower NE for two decades now is only buying north of Lehigh for rentals. He only does flips in Fishtown/E. Kensington/Olde Richmond area.

Buy N. Kensington east of Kensington Ave. or anywhere in Harrowgate for cash flow now and appreciation over the next few years. Or find a nice block on the western side of Frankford then prepare to hold for 8-10 years minimum. Either one if bought correctly will work, you just need to understand the time horizon with both areas. Best of luck!

Post: Converting 3 family to 4 family home Philadelphia

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81

This is hard to say without the address but if its zoned RM-1, for the first 1440sqft of your lot size you're required to have a minimum of 360sqft lot per unit. So 1440/360 = 4 units permitted. So if your lot size is equal to greater than 1440sqft, you're able to do 4 units by right. If your lot is bigger than 1440sqft, it can support 4+ units. For the 5th unit and beyond the minimum lot size increases to 480sqft per unit. I believe once you hit 4 units you are considered commercial so you'll need to have a separate electric meter for the building. 

Post: How much is enough? What is your FREEDOM number to quit W2?

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81

It's a question of how badly you want freedom and how comfortable you want to be while free. @Steve Vaughan is a prime example of that. Freedom from the W2 far outweighed a more comfortable retirement so much he moved to a double-wide in a trailer park. I would agree with @Jay Hinrichs the arbitrary 10k/month seems to be the default answer. For us, we're on the leaner side of things and are looking for 3k/month passively through residual income and a couple of rentals. We're about 75% of the way there!

Post: Looking for agent to complete paperwork in Phildelphia

Ryan D.Posted
  • Developer
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Posts 100
  • Votes 81
Originally posted by @Shreyas Desai:

Hello,

I am new to these forums, so please forgive if this is not in the spirit of the forums. I have a property in Greater Philadelphia area and it is currently rented out. The renter has agreed to purchase the property for $360K. I am not based in Philadelphia so need to do the agreement over docusign/dotloop. Has anyone done this before? Who should I approach for this and what is the typical cost for something like this?

Regards,

-S

Shreyas, congrats on the sale! This should be pretty straightforward and if this was me personally, I would not pay to use an agent. They'll probably want a % of the sale or if they're really looking to help you they will just have you cover their broker fees/insurance fee to complete the sale. If I had to guess the amount to cover insurance/broker fees would be around 1-1.5% of the sale on the low end. The whole process would be setting up the title company/closing date, using PA's standard AOS via DocuSign, and retaining the deposit through the title company's escrow. I've done this a handful of times now for properties I've purchased/sold and usually takes around 4-5 hours of work including attending the closing. If you aren't interested in setting it up and would prefer to pay someone find a local investor/wholesaler to do it for an affordable price or pay more and find a real estate attorney or lastly use an agent who will cost the most.