All Forum Posts by: Sergio Toledo

@Andrew Einsmann thanks for the advice.

My experience was positive to go for the section 8 voucher.

The process was very smooth and straight forward. The inspection also was very friendly, I had some observations during the 1st inspection but all passed after making corrections.

Tenant moved mid-May and this month auto-pay from HOC kicked in.

Per my experience Laurel and Glen Burnie, but honestly the surrounding area of fort mead is nice and hot and prices are booming.  

Thanks for your advice.  I listed the property and already have a few prospects, all of them with the voucher.  

I called hocmc and they provided all the information needed by email.

Hi, I own a property in Montgomery County, MD and it has been rented for the last 5 years.

Given the current situation, I had decided to re-list and go for Section 8 tenants only.

I am looking for advice from other section 8 landlords in Montgomery Co. MD:

Do I need to apply first to the housing department and then find a section 8 tenant? or the other way around?

How is the inspection?  What is usually observed while inspected?  I understand some counties are stricter than others.

Is there a cap on the rent amount?

Where do I apply? and do you know how long is the process?  Any links would be appreciated.

Best regards,

Sergio

Welcome Turon. House hacking is a good start. Start doing your numbers, budget, etc and see how much you can afford and what you can buy and plan your strategy. Talk to your realtor about this and ask him for advice as well. Join a meetup as well, you’ll find plenty of advise from other investors. Good luck!!

@Juan Rodriguez the numbers are real. Just post an ad in Craigslist for a room at $600 and you’ll see how many calls you will get.

I usually use rentometer and works fine for me.

Also your agent should be an investor himself/herself since they can give you first hand advise.

Gaithersburg is a nice area, though you need to make sure parking is available for all your tenants as I’m some areas there’s limited parking.

@Juan Rodriguez congratulations on your plan. It’s totally doable.

You can rent upstairs easily for $1500 assuming is a 3 bedroom an you have everything you need in the basement.

Also if you can rent upstairs by room and you would get much more since you can rent each room for at least $600 easily. There’s plenty of single people looking for rooms to rent that never cook and only get home to sleep and shower.

@Justin Verrillo it all depends on how much equity you have on you primary residence.  You can shop rates around to see if the numbers make sense.  Usually on a heloc they might loan you up to 90% though the interest rate would be higher.

I replaced my mortgage with a HELOC, taking up to 80% of the value of my property and use the equity to invest. The closing costs are much better than conventional loan. Shop around. good luck.

Hi, my name is Sergio and although I've been reading and listening biggerpockets frequently I had never introduced myself, so here I am!!!

I live in Rockville, MD and been investing in Maryland, primarily in Montgomery County and Prince Georges County for the past 3 years.  Currently my portfolio is of 2 rental units, plus the rental of two bedrooms in the basement.  

The rentals are located in Gaithersburg and Laurel, both cashflows and have very good tenants that took really good care of the property. 

Last year I also did a couple flips (one in PG and the other one in Baltimore County) with a partner though we did well on one and not so well on the other one, but it was a good experience and we learned a lot.

Currently I am looking for my third rental, It has been hard to find something that cashflows (given the good combination of financing and good deal) in the area but not impossible, and I am positive that will find something soon, hopefully the lending works well.

I'll be happy to meet other investors in the area and share experiences with other counties that I haven't tried like Howard County, Anne Arundel, Washington, Baltimore (for rental), etc.

Feel free to reach me if I can answer any questions or if I can be of any help as well.

Best,

Sergio

PS: I love both podcasts though The Money Show has impacted me a lot on many ways.