All Forum Posts by: Spencer Smith

I tried QBO and Xero years ago and QBO would not allow automated transfer of data from AppFolio (my PMs software) to QBO; so, I have used Xero since then and been happy with it. And I found QBO to be awful and not intuitive at all...and I'm a CPA to boot.

How are you syncing AppFolio data to Xero? I'm trying to get setup with Xero but can't figure out the syncing.

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@Douglas Krofcheck I'll bite on your offer to be tagged down the road :)

How has this scaled and worked out for you? Do you still have multiple email addresses and/or domains for each property? What does your structure look like?

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Quote from @Jeff Nash:

I have not used either as a CPA but just reached out to demo and discuss. I’ll let you know what I think for what it’s worth.

Any update? What'd you think?

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Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Raymore.

Purchase price: $330,000

Contributors:
Laura Marks

I'm an out-of-state investor who has been investing in the midwest for over 4-years. I have some properties in Indianapolis but started looking at the Kansas City area as I wanted to break into the multifamily side of things with a 2-4 unit property. Indy just doesn't have the inventory and KC has much better inventory and more closely fit my location criteria.

I worked closely with Laura Marks to identify a duplex, offer, close, fix up, and get both sides rented above expectation.

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

This deal was found with the help of Laura Marks who was my Real Estate Agent. She found the property and after running the numbers on returns decided that I was interested in touring and learning more. Laura estimated we could get $1400/$1500 monthly which I used for my estimates. We ended up coming out 6% above expectations after getting it rented though. Laura took care of the negotiations, which were fairly quick (we came in over asking).

How did you finance this deal?

I financed the deal using a conventional mortgage, putting 25% down. We had a lender (Homestead Financial Mortgage) who offered a 14-day closing period.

How did you add value to the deal?

Did some basic repairs, flooring replacement, and appliance upgrades. We did not do any major work.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The previous properties that I had purchased were all turn-key, this was the first one where I took a more wholistic approach. As I was purchasing from out-of-state I relied heavily on Laura, my agent. After reading quite a few books on the process (highly recommend Long-Distance Real Estate Investing) it was clear how important a good team was. I took the time to build the team that worked well with me, and we are now all able to share in the profits together.

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

@Laura Marks was the quarterback of the team. She made everything happen and orchestrated everything from finding, closing, fixing, and getting tenants placed. I cannot recommend her enough for any investor looking at the KC real estate market.

Dave Suggs from Homestead Financial Mortgage was extremely quick and we were able to close within 14 days.

Courtney Anderson from Platinum Title was who I used for title and escrow.

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Highly recommend speaking to @Laura Marks!

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Kansas City, Missouri

Quote from @Mike D'Arrigo:

@Ali Mirabzadeh we have been heavily involved in both Indianapolis and Kansas City for about 10 years. I would say that you have done your due diligence on both markets. Both have strong economic and demographic trends and as you've noted, are very similar. As far as natural disasters, the Midwest in general is prone to tornado's however, they are pretty rare in the populated areas of Indianapolis and Kansas City. The last major tornado that cause any significant damage in Indy was over 30 years ago and about 20 years ago in KC. Hailstorms are fairly common so you'll want to be sure that your insurance policy covers hail damage. For small multi families, I strongly prefer Kansas City. Most of the multi families in Indy are in old, rough neighborhoods that perform well. I'd be happy to share more insights and experiences if you'd like to connect.

Mike gave me this same advice a few months ago and I found it to be very true. Very difficult to find a 2-4plex in Indy that isn't 80+ years old. KC area has much better inventory, in much better neighborhoods. I was just in the area last month and saw a neighborhood of duplexes being built! I ended up purchasing a duplex in the area.

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I'd recommend reaching out to @Laura Marks, I've been very pleased with her so far! 😄

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Kansas City, Missouri

Quote from @Jake Boyer:

Hey All, I've got a duplex where we've got a full height basement that we'd like to add two bedrooms and a bathroom to. The basements (one on each side) do have windows currently, but they wouldn't qualify for egress windows for bedrooms due to their height off the floor. Excavation and cutting into the foundation wall would not be cheap for the egress windows and we're up against it on the budget.

I'm not expecting this to be much of a cash out refi potential on this property so my main goal is to increase cashflow as much as possible. I'd like to use the basement as additional bedrooms and could still add the bathroom since there is existing plumbing already, but the expense of egress windows and getting someone to do it in a timely manner is damn near impossible. I could easily frame the walls up and add closets, electrical outlets and HVAC ducts. I see people using basement rooms as bedrooms that don't legally qualify all the time, so I'm wondering what the concerns/liabilities are? As a landlord, you wouldn't tell someone that they can't set up a bed and have a member of the family sleep in the basement, so does this create any liability for the property owner? Could I list it as a 4 bed duplex legally? Illegally? Any concern there? Cashflow as a 4/2 on each side would be so much stronger than as 2/1's but not enough to justify the expense to do it all above board. Open to any and all feedback, please!

I'm in a similar situation, duplex with bonus rooms downstairs. Curious if you got estimates on adding an egress window and how much that would cost per window?

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It's been 3 years since this amazing post was made. I wonder if we could somehow update it with the past 3 years of podcasts? There have been quite a few good books that have come out since this post.

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What is the difference in rates of these types of loans compared to conventional loans? +1%? +3%?

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Kansas City, Missouri

All Forum Posts by: Spencer Smith

Spencer Smith has started 1 posts and replied 18 times.

Post: Switching FROM Quickbooks to other accounting sofwares (Xero, Freshbooks)

Post: Custom Email Address For Each Unit?

Post: RentalHero vs REI Hub Software

Post: Purchased new duplex south of KC

Post: Kansas City Property Managers

Post: Out-of-state Multifamily Investment in KC vs Indianapolis?

Post: Looking for Recommendations for Property Management in KCMO

Post: Egress windows - Absolute requirement?

Post: Most Mentioned Books of ALL 312 BP Podcasts

Post: Looking for a Portfolio loan or similar