All Forum Posts by: Travis Beehler

I know a guy who might be able to help.  PM me and I'll get you his info.  He's a property manager, but also has his realtor's license and I trust him implicitly.

 Exactly.  It's hard work...at first.  Now that I've got a nice feel for how things should go, it's a LOT easier.  I'm always in learning mode, and open to new ideas, but signing final mortgage documents on my first rental was mentally tough.  It hit me as "Wow, this is really real now, and I'm a real estate investor".  I did some reflection on the drive home from the title company's office, and ultimately was glad with my decision once I got home.  It's just easy to coast along and not take risks.  But in the end, you'll be happy that you did.

Ah ok perfect! I plan on talking to my CPA about this as well. I was just curious if I could have the LLC pay my future mortgage or pick up a shiny new Tesla. :)

 Yeah, you can ignore them.  What I've found is that once people start finding out that you're doing well, either they want to invest with you (which is fine, but they don't get dollar for dollar equal footing with me.  They didn't do the research and hard work), or they have their hand out wanting money from you (loans, gifts, etc.)

My father's side of the family is the worst.  There's a handful of responsible adults, but there's a bigger than average amount of sponges who constantly ask me for money.  So, be aware that might be coming up with you down the way.

Hi all!

I have a few rentals at the moment all under my LLC. Everything is humming along nicely, and the extra cash is going straight into the commercial bank account I have set up for each property every month.

We've all talked about growing, making it big, etc, but what happens tax/legal wise when you withdraw that cash and buy something for yourself personally?

For example, let's say I own 50 properties and I'm pulling in $15k per month net.  Can I use that cash to say go buy a car, pay my personal mortgage, etc?

Ultimately, my goal is to have around $40-$60k per month net, and retire (about 10 years from now according to my calculations.)  I'd like to upgrade my primary residence to a much bigger place outside of the city.  There's no way I'd be able to afford it on my salary alone, so was curious what you all thought?

Thanks in advance!

 I was in the same spot as you with a bank I'm talking to at the moment.  Every bank I've spoken to about this 5/20 type of deal has said that if my payments are in full and on time every month (easy enough to do with the types of deals I'm doing), then they will be happy to do another loan with it being 5/15, and keep going until the loan is paid off.  I think this more has to do with the fact banks got burned by the economy a few years back, and don't want to make the same mistakes.  They'd rather have a "reset" every 5 years, adjust the rate as well if necessary, and know that you are a solid borrower.

Anyone have any experiences out there with this kind of 5/20 deal being re-upped?  I'd be happy to hear your experiences.  I doubt multiple banks would lie to me about this, but wanted to verify that they were telling the truth. :)

 Couldn't have said it better myself.  Tyrone is absolutely correct, especially the part about being discouraged.  I've been told "no" more times than I care to count, lost deals to someone who swoops in with an all cash deal, been told I don't know what I'm doing and how I'll lose it all (they were basing that on their father's experiences with real estate, not what I had done and researched)., etc.  Just keep moving forward, take every "bad" thing that comes your way as a learning experience, and you'll do just fine.

Good luck!

 Agreed.  My friend's father used to own apartment buildings, and would do all the PM work himself.  He had all sorts of headaches from crappy tenants.  Get a good PM (I have one as well), and they are worth every penny.  Not only can they get the job done for you, but they are also a good person to ask for advice for in terms of the area.  What area's to avoid, what rents are looking like these days, etc.

 Hey Joe,

Quick question, how many places do you currently have?  I'm just starting out, but I like your strategy here and might use it when I get to a much higher number of units.  Thanks!

I found my property managers (plural), by asking hard questions.  My first guy I was a bit naive and didn't ask many questions.  He's turning out to not be that great.  The second one I have returns my calls on time, points me in the direction I want to go because he knows my goals, tells me what areas to avoid, and has been well worth the money I've paid him.

I'd say ask some questions that might be difficult for a shady person to answer, but easy for an honest one.  For example, I asked "If I have a problem after hours, who can I call"?  My not so great property manager said "Oh, there's an after hours number you can call that you can leave a message with and we'll get back to you".  I tried calling that one to see response times, and it was hours.  Not good if there's a leak.

The good one I asked the same question and he gave me the after hours number, which a live person answered, his cell number (which I will never call unless there's an absolute emergency that only he can fix), and a number of other ways.

The difference is night and day with property managers.  I don't expect them to fall all over themselves to kiss my ***, but at least be available within a reasonable amount of time.

Hope that helps!