All Forum Posts by: Scott Brewster

@Jeannette Henderson I definitely will! It looks like we’re going to try and push at least to mid size multi family. I mean, if a killer deal comes up for a duplex of course I’m not going to pass up on it BUT I’d ideally like to shoot higher. If we can grab a 4-8plex we’re jumping :)

@Mike Dymski She IS my boots on ground haha. It's not that we're having a big argument about it, it's just that we're both at different points in our lives and have different levels of risk we're willing to take! I suppose you're correct about the asset class being the easy part, I just know we're starting with a lot more than most do and don't want to be spinning our tires in duplexes if we could realistically be getting 8 plexes for about the same work is all. 

@Simon W. If you're talking like the small shops on the ground floor and residential living on the top floor I was just talking about that today. I'm just not sure how many of those are in my market. Going to have to do some research!

@Matt M. you're right and I do live in a very democratic state. Now it comes to the issue of following the investors rules of "buy when everyone hates it, sell when everyone loves it"

@Simon W. What do you mean by that?? I'm curious to all options!

@Account Closed Thank you! I haven't considered the AZ market yet but I will keep you in mind if we want to push that far south. Trying to see what's around us first! (Eastern WA).

@Israel Garavito Thank you a ton for this break down! That's definitely an awesome breakdown I was hoping for. Commercial is fascinating to me and it makes me nervous but in a good way. The one draw back I have atm is that I'm currently living in the middle east. I think my business partner will do great at forming relationships back home but I wish I could be there to do it as well. But I most likely wont be able to get the loan if I moved home. I appreciate that great write up! It helped a ton. I'll probably shoot for an 8plex if possible. Idk if I want to use up my entire HELOC on the first deal BUT it's there and we're both willing to work for it!

Hey everyone I've got a question!

My business partner and I are having a slight disagreement about what to jump into first. We have access to a $250,000 HELOC and $65,000 cash on hand we are willing to invest.

I have owned two residential rentals in the past and have managed them both myself, I am at a point in my life where I do not want to do that again.

Our first deal together will be her first deal.

We have both been studying real estate investing all year long and plan on pushing for our first deal as of January next year so our finances will be aligned.

I am leaning more towards a quad plex minimum or to even attempt to push into commercial size rentals instead or even try and find a small strip mall since I've read multiple places that commercial is a lot more beneficial and it's easier to manage businesses rather than tenants (but with the right property management I suppose neither of those points matter)

She would rather start smaller, still multifamily but a duplex or triplex max due to simplicity and to get our feet wet first.

All in all I'm not too worried about starting smaller BUT would like to see what you guys would do if you had the same finance options that we do.

I'd appreciate any advice or feedback! Just wanna see what your thoughts are! Thanks a ton!

-Scott

@Evan Keturakat Thank you! I'm hoping to make some big moves early next year and push into multi family investments!

@Robert Kincaid I hear you brother! I was researching Spokane in 2016 while planning my move there and by 2018 the housing prices were astronomical! That's exactly why I jumped on this property. She needed a lot of work but there was no where else I'd ever find a 2800sqft home for less than 250k again! I'm going to start a mailing campaign next year to see if I can find some off market deals, the market in Spokane is absolutely on fire right now and I wish it would slow down!

@Carter Bastian Thank you! Good luck man! The market is insane right now and I'm having trouble finding homes at market value that can rent with cash flow since wages in Spokane are still lower than average it's going to be difficult unless you get a killer off market deal. Keep me posted I'd love to see what you get into!

@John Stewart Thank you! I was watching this market for 2 years before I was able to move to Spokane and was very nervous when I finally made the move and realized that prices have gone up so much, I'm glad I found this house for so low. The seller was a big pain in the *** BUT I got it! haha.

@Teagan Brown Thank you! It was one of the hardest purchases I've had to date but it was worth it. Picked up a job out of the country for the time being and did pay it off! Still funding the full remodel though. My next plan is to attempt a remote flip or BRRRR while I'm overseas. I figure if I can complete one deal from here, that there is no reason for me to be here anymore!

@Ramon E Alvarez I could say she was pretty motivated! She was the original owner of the house and I later discovered she paid 15,000$ for the property the year it was built in 1958. Mind you this was in 2010/11 so houses were still relatively cheap. I bought it at market value but because of the recession I’d say I got quite a deal lol.

Congrats on your duplex! I've been following the MLS in Norfolk this entire year and you're not joking, prices are high and the houses do not last long.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Spokane.

Purchase price: $203,000
Cash invested: $115,000

Had a couple investment houses, but this is my first investment home. I sold both properties in VA and paid for almost have of this up front and remodeled it with the rest of my savings.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I moved to the West coast because I saw that Spokane county was exploding with real estate prices. I started to get discouraged because it was getting impossible to find a decent priced home in my price range of 215k or less. The market was extremely competitive so I had to act quickly.

I wanted a home that I was going to pay off so that I had the freedom to retire young once I figured out how to get some passive income going. I love this area and absolutely love this house so I am making it how I want it. It's my corporate office and my safe haven for when I need to get away from everything else. Next is to learn how to get some wholesaling down and transition back home so I don't have to live out of the country anymore just to make a decent wage as a mechanic.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I scoured MLS for weeks when I moved to Spokane and saw a handful of properties that I actually wanted. This house was in terrible shape on the inside but it was all cosmetic. The owners and renters never gave a damn about this house but I saw its potential so I made a very competitive offer myself. I paid asking price of 205,000 and I'll cover my own closing costs. Even with the perfect sell like that the seller was still extremely difficult to deal with.

How did you finance this deal?

VA loan, sold both of my investment properties in Virginia and combined with my savings before I got out of the Navy was able to pay for almost half of this house in cash.

How did you add value to the deal?

There was a ton of work that needed to get done on this house so that the VA appraiser would approve, the seller was NOT happy but I was able to knock 2,000$ off the asking price. The seller was a royal pain in my behind but I got what I wanted.

What was the outcome?

I closed on the house in late August and with my full time 50 hour a week job had to commute an hour in either direction from where I was living to where I was working and this house but was able to get the bottom floor gutted and renovated in about 3 weeks flat. I was on a tight time line because I picked up a job out of the country and needed to get at least the bottom floor livable. I now currently have a friend watching the house for me while I work out of the country. Thank god for him.

I've since paid off the house entirely and I'm still working out of the country to fund the rest of the remodel. The house is already appraised over 300k and I've only owned it for 2 years. Just astounding how the market out west is. 

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Biggest challenge for me was the seller and my time crunch. I offered the seller asking price AND to pay my own closing costs. He made me jump through hoops, missed appointments, ignored our calls, and even left the state on the day of closing. This guy was a real piece of work.

On top of that the biggest challenge was funding to get the bottom floor livable in just a few weeks. I dumped so much money into the down payment that I only had so much left to work with before I left the country.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes I did, pm me for details. She was a lot of fun to work with and was very supportive through all the difficult things the seller was causing.

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $93,000
Cash invested: $23,250
Sale price: $98,700

Nice 2B 2b condo I bought for the cashflow and easily rented area. It worked for a while but I will never buy a condo again in the future. HOAs are terrible to deal with.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

It was a turn key condo and I was able to get it for a decent price. It was cashflow positive 200$ every month while I managed it myself.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Friend of mine is a realtor MLS

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional investment property loan 25% down (saved up because I house hacked my own home at the time)

How did you add value to the deal?

I managed it myself and just had to clean the inside up a bit, add some cabinet hardware, and replace some older lights and this was a very easily rented condo.

What was the outcome?

I kept it for 3 years and never once had it vacant for more than a month. The cashflow was positive but every time I turned around the HOA wanted more and more money from me. It was absolutely ridiculous. I really like all 3 renters that I had and was able to help each of them move into their own homes after my condo.

Hindsight I may have kept it because the cashflow was pretty good I was just tired of the HOA and could have had this paid off by now.

I basically broke even after the 3 years I owned this after the few issues I had and all the times the HOA shook me down for money. I was happy to sell it because I was able to get the original down payment back out of it and didn't really lose any money near the end so I was able to pay for half of my current home in cash which really helped me in the long run.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I will never buy a property with an HOA again. They are complete con artists and will ALWAYS find ways for owners to pay for their bills.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I did, pm me for details, she's a great friend of mine and actually helped me sell both properties while I was moving across the country.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $134,500
Sale price: $190,000

First property purchased while stationed in Norfolk with my VA loan. Renovated it and house hacked it had 4 rooms rented out the entire 8 years I lived in Norfolk. Saved a ton of money and made some good capital gains after 8 years!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The market was still very low from the 2008 recession and I had a killer opportunity to utilize my first time home buyers program + a VA Loan so I just had to jump.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Hindsight I probably could have got a better deal on it but the market was so low and slow at that time I didn't really think about it. No money down and got a lot of money back through Obama's first time home buyers package to stimulate the Real Estate economy.

How did you finance this deal?

VA Loan 0% down

How did you add value to the deal?

Over the 8 years I lived in it I rented each room out so my Navy friends were happy because they were saving housing allowance money while I was happy because I didn't have any bills.

What was the outcome?

Stayed here for 8 years and sold it to my roommate who wanted to start a family and I wanted to move to the West Coast so it worked out quite nicely.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Lessons learned, don't ask a realtor to help you if you found a buyer yourself. That costed a lot of money but I was so busy transferring out of the military and organizing my move to the West coast that I didn't want to deal with it. $12,000 laziness decision.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I did and she is still a great friend of mine, very motivated and knows the area well. PM me for her info.