All Forum Posts by: Ryan Mahoney

@Matthew Konkel - I invest in a small college town of about 25,000. I rent by the room and do give 9 month leases. Honestly it gives me an advantage over others in town in typically require 12 month leases. I can charge more per month and it works out in the end. This allows me to a couple options over the summer.

If vacant I can make small repairs and updates.

I often get students who are looking for summer housing if they have a job or something else which requires them to stay in town (especially those who live in college housing and are forced out in the summer)

I will sometimes get students who decide they don’t want to take the time to move their stuff out so they will just pay rent over the summer and not even use the property just so they can keep their stuff in their room.

It provides me the opportunity to suggest a 2 year lease with the option to move out and not pay rent for the summer months. I have got several students who view this as a good deal.

In the end it is a little more work but it does get me in my properties more often to maintain them and allows me more options to increase my rental income over what would be the norm for my area.

Good luck to you!

@Lisa Mathews welcome! I grew up in Lincoln and worked there for 15 years. Live and invest in Hastings, NE now.

@Ric Mittleider - I 100% agree.  Sorry if i gave the impression I was comparing markets.  It looks like your original post was about the Seattle market and I saw you mentioned you invested in Nebraska - so my mistake on giving information on the Nebraska market.  

@Louie Masters - I just got a 2/1 with 2 more non conforming in the basement for 83k right next to the college. Will add egress windows and put a 2nd bathroom in the basement. There are some that meet your criteria that pop up but most need at least some medium level of renovation. 

@Austin Steed I run my numbers based on current property tax rates. I forecast future tax valuation increases higher than standard as there is usually a small increase in rates. I am doing 300% value add but I do see what you are saying if you were to do that on a project.

@Ric Mittleider I am seeing 9-11%. I invest in Hastings, Nebraska - a small college town. I have been very selective in my purchases and done some forced appreciation so the norm may be a little lower. I would say my properties are C-C+ that are B’s when I am done.

@Taija Walkowiak - What a great find. Way to be relentless in tracking down the owner and getting the deal done.

Congrats Hayden!  House hacking is a great way to save a lot on money fast.  I'm currently on the lookout for ideally a 4-plex potentially in Lincoln.  If you see anything that actually is a decent investment let me know!  Hit me up if you want any details on my criteria.  

@Curtis Curley - I would look for either a single family you could get for 20-30k down and rehab for 10-15k or less. Then you can rent it out and refinance it down the road to pull your original money out. This is called the BRRRR method (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat). You could also look to buy a duplex, triplex, or 4 pled using your 50k (keep at least 5-10k in reserve for emergencies) that cash flows at least $200 a door. Say you are able to get a duplex, that would give you $400 a month or $4800 a year if you save all the cash flow. After 3-4 more years you could get another property and build from there. If you are able to save from your income you can buy even faster. You can also try house hacking (buy a multi family and live in one side/unit and rent the others.). This can reduce your house or rent payment to zero which is money you can save towards buying more properties. Combine some of all of these strategies for increased cash flow and savings. You most likely wont be able to make 5k a month off of your 50k but you can get a good start and buy building an inventory of 20 doors or so over time you can get there.

@Douglas Krejdl - Did they fulfill their lease? Were they paid through the final month where the husband moved out? Do you have any language in the lease about loss/forfeiture of the security deposit?

If the house was clean and I damaged and rent was paid up I would err on the side of returning the security deposit due to the death of one of the tenants.