All Forum Posts by: Ryan Slicer

BP community,

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on best practices when it comes to screening tenets along with any software you use.

We are renting out a SFR 3 bed, 2 bath in a stable neighborhood in Cincinnati if that context is helpful.

Thanks for the responses...this is a mixed use commercial building in downtown Westwood (which I know very well). It is currently 2 storefronts and completely unoccupied. The current owner purchased the property with the intention of opening a little health food store but never got around to it. I don't have exact specs but it looks to me like each side is approx. 500-700 SF. 

The initiative to restore Westwood began in 2010 and is just now finally catching fire. Several businesses have invested and things are happening weekly, it seems. 

This looks to be a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something big and ride it to the top. However, I know that I am emotional about this deal because its in my own town and I want to see these storefronts fill up with great owners/tenants. I'm doing my best to look at this objectively as strictly business and that's the reason I'm reaching out on the forum. I need other investors to clue me into the best practices used in making a good/profitable decision. 

BP community,

Background:

A few things to note before I get into this thing. I have been quiet on the forums, but have listened to most podcast episodes, I belong to meetups etc...I live in an up-and-coming, somewhat urban, Cincinnati neighborhood of about 30,000 residence. We have made some solid connections here and have invested in this area only as our vision is to have a positive impact on the community here through real estate. On this journey, my wife has become a real estate agent and has focused her attention on the area as well.

Situation:

A few months ago, I cold-called the local head of city council because I found out he owned a commercial building nearby (which piqued my interest) and we met for a beer, chatted about the possibilities and then things went radio silent. Earlier this week, he texted me asking if I was still interested and we met at the property to walk through. We got to talking and because of his insight on city council, he knows of several other developments slated for the next year or so which will ideally take our town from "up-and-coming" to "the cool part of town". Why does he want to sell?? He now has 5 kids, a full time job and other investments. He seems to care more about who the property goes to, ensuring that the buyer has the same aspirations for the development of the town, as opposed to price. 

My plan is to buy & hold, fix it up because it's a wreck and rent to tenants who want to have the best interest of our town in mind.  

Question: 

This has been long-winded, I know. But I felt it important to lay ALL of this out because its a little cumbersome. 

My question for you all is:

What questions should I be asking at this point? We have only walked the property once and texted a couple times. He knows I am interested but that's all. 

What are some good resources when it comes to due diligence in this area? I don't want to buy it and get burned with something I have never heard of.  

What am I missing? 

Thanks for any feedback!

@James Gates

Congrats on your success here and thank you for sharing your experience! I currently fix/flip and plan to move in this direction.

If you were to do it all over...what would you do differently and what do you wish you would have known before diving in?

Good advice all around! Thanks for the responses, everyone.

@Justin Windham If my investor is using Solo 401k money to fund a fix/flip deal then it sounds pretty straight forward as long as he sees a return on the money invested.

@Dmitriy Fomichenko Ok I see. He is planning to invest in our fix & flip and not rental. So it sounds like that could be considered a “business”.

@Justin Windham so by him investing in real estate under an LLC, he is able to consider that a personal business. Should we open up an LLC together for this property?

@Justin Windham really great insight...so I my stepfather and I don’t need to find a custodian? Am i interpreting this right? It almost sounds too good to be true. What are our next steps in accessing his 401k?

@Dmitriy Fomichenko thanks for the info and the link! I will listen to this tomorrow.