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All Forum Posts by: Travis Beehler

Travis Beehler has started 17 posts and replied 300 times.

Post: LLC or buy in your own name.

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144
Originally posted by @Account Closed:

One other thing - banks don't typically lend to LLCs. In case that's a consideration for you.

 Hi Melanie,

Has that always been the case for you? I have an LLC, and banks are more than willing to lend to me in every state I've invested in. Of course, I could be the rare exception to the rule and just never experienced that.

Post: Extra mortgage payment or keep the cash?

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144
Originally posted by @Joe Villeneuve:
Originally posted by @Travis Beehler:
Originally posted by @Joe Villeneuve:

Buy and FEFI

 Dumb question, what's FEFI?  Is that just a typo for refi?  I can't find anything with my Google skills on that. :)  Thanks!

 yes

 Ah ok.  I thought that might be the case, but was thinking "WTF is FEFI??"  :)

Post: Extra mortgage payment or keep the cash?

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144
Originally posted by @Joe Villeneuve:

Buy and FEFI

 Dumb question, what's FEFI?  Is that just a typo for refi?  I can't find anything with my Google skills on that. :)  Thanks!

Post: I quit my job today

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144

You jerk!  You're right where I want to be!  I'm super jealous!  HA!  Seriously though, Congratulations!!  I have the exact goal you're now doing.  Being financially able to not worry about a job.  Although, I'll likely keep working just because it keeps me busy and I like the place I work at. :)

Post: Tracking Rental Property income and finances

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144

Definitely set up an LLC. It'll protect you legally from people suing your personal assets. Now for tracking expenses, I have a business account as my main LLC account, and for each property I have, I have a sub account. Each property has it's own sub account, so it makes it very easy to just look at bank statements and see expenses and rents.

So, for example,

Main account:

--Sub Account for Rental 1

--Sub Account for Rental 2

--Sub Account for Rental 3

So, if I want to see anything related to rental 3, I just go onto my bank's website and look at the bank statements.  I would also recommend you use either Mint or Quicken for other things you may want to know.  Hope that helps!

Post: Should I sell?

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144
Originally posted by @Jerry W.:

@Travis Beehler, I am not an expert but here is my take on it.  Your first rental has gone up in value $66K in three years.  Unless you expect the market to drop why sale a property gaining over 20K in value a year?  Are you going to make that kind of appreciation in the market where you bought rental two and three?  Next you have just bought your last 2 rentals in the last few months.  Why not let them run for a year and see how they perform before you put all of your eggs in one market?  Are you managing those yourself or using a property manager?  You are netting $250 per month on unit one but only $142 in unit three so why not look at getting rid of unit 3 instead?  Anyway good luck whichever way you go.

 Hi Jerry,

I probably should have mentioned, I bought the first rental as a short sale in the absolute bottom of the market implosion here in 2011.  The only reason it went back up in value is because the market recovered.  Honestly, I don't think I'll see that kind of deal in my lifetime again, unless there's some kind of catastrophic market implosion again (Although seeing Congress screwing up lately with regards to laws passed recently, that may actually happen)

If rental one WAS gaining 20k a year, every year, then you bet, I'd keep it in a heart beat.  In the second market, appreciation will basically be nil.  I have no anticipation of there being much movement one way or the other.  This will be strictly what I can get out of it for monthly cash flow.  

Also, I just bought rental 3, and because of the little things that have added up to it, I will likely jettison that one as soon as is feasible.  Thank you though for your thoughts!  I appreciate it!

Travis

Post: Should I sell?

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144
Originally posted by @Chris L.:

Travis,

My general rule of thumb is that I am always willing to well at the right price.  How do I determine the right price?  Let me put this another way, I sell when I have a better place to put my assets.

You have already done the cash flow and have determined that you can make a better return by selling #1 and reinvesting.

I think you have already answered your own question and just need a little nudge.

Good luck

Chris

 Hey Chris,

I think you're right.  I was leaning heavily towards selling, but wanted to make sure I was making the right choice. :)  Thanks!

Post: Should I sell?

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144

Hi all!

Love the forums, and the openess of everyone on here.

So, here's my situation.

I have a full time job, making $75k a year.  Rock solid job, good benefits, blah, blah.

I currently own 3 rentals.

Rental one:  A few miles from my house, bought in 2011 for $110k, put 20% down, rents out for $995 a month, netting $250 a month.  Refinanced it when the market took off, pulled $40k out, now currently owe $125k, rents for $1020 a month, netting me around $45 a month.  Currently worth $176k.

Rental two:  In another state, listed for $45k, bought for $40k.  Put $10k down plus closing costs, in September.  Tenant moved in on December 5th, first rental check will arrive first week of January.  Rents for $795 a month, netting $366 a month.

Rental three:  In another state, bought for $57k, put down $14,250 plus closing costs in November.  Tenant moving in next week, should get first check around mid January.  This place had much higher costs than I anticipated, so netting $142 a month.  This one was a learning experience of what questions to ask. :)

So, the question is:  Should I sell the first rental, take my roughly $50k, and buy 3-4 more places in the other state, and pull in significantly more rental income?  I don't anticipate these places growing in terms of value, just in raw monthly rental income.

Rental two was the gold standard for what I'm looking for, so I'm going to keep my eyes on that style of place, as well as rent vs. price ratios.

If I were to find another place like Rental Two, which there are lots of them around, I would be going from $45 a month, to around $1098 to $1464 a month.  Depending on if I get 3 rentals or 4.

Rental One will likely have growth of around 3-4% per year in property value.

Thanks everyone for your input!

Post: How often do you raise the rent on Tenants?

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144

I try to avoid raising rents on tenant if they are making me a profit, are taking care of the property, and they are paying their rent in full and on time every month.

For example, I have one tenant who's been in my first rental for 3 years now, and I've only raised his rent $25 per month on a $995 place.  That was only because I was making $250 a month profit on him, but I had property taxes AND insurance raise up by around $40 a month two years in a row.  I ate the first year's $40 a month, but the second time, I decided to eat only partially.  

The tenant is paying for the mortgage, taxes, property management, AND putting a decent amount of money in my pocket every month.  So, why would I risk him moving out by raising his rents?

Post: 70K cash to spend. What would you do? Go.

Travis BeehlerPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Posts 308
  • Votes 144
Originally posted by @Matt Devincenzo:
SFR rental property. Depending on how I chose to pursue it I would get between 5-7 properties over the next 12-18 months. My reason being my current goal is to build cash flow to make myself "employment proof". It is also what I am currently focused on and have a positive track record with. Once I have more properties I will be switching to more notes and private lending, which I understand as well but have not yet done just due to my personal financial goals and situation.

Hi Matt,

I'm fairly new to the rental business. I've got 1 positive cash flow property, and $40k in cash. So, could you explain how you'd get 5-7 properties in the next 12-18 months in detail? I'd LOVE to be able to do that, but coming up with the 20% down payment seems to be my biggest issue. So, after I pick up 2-3 properties with my $40k (I found a nice rental market that would allow me to do that), what would be my next steps?

Thanks in advance!