All Forum Posts by: Steven Tawresey

@Ryan Barone

Great news! I’ll try it out this afternoon.  

@John Leake

Hey John. I’ve been using rentredi for about a year now. Overall, I really like it, but there are definitely a few issues that I’ve reached out to the team to see if there’s a workaround.

The one I keep getting annoyed by is the inability to delete or move the status of pre-applications and applications. For example, when I send an application to someone, they don’t always fill it out. That person, who I never need to ever think of again, is now in my system forever. Which also makes it difficult to find a specific person that I’m actively trying to rent to.

Their software support is fairly responsive and courteous, but my feedback was not taken seriously.

The other thing I don’t like is that the tenant has to download the app to apply or prequalify. It creates a barrier to entry for people and i feel like I’ve lost potential tenants as a result.

Overall, I’d give it 3 1/2 stars.

@David M Trapani

Can you please explain ‘walk the note’ means?

@Alex Congrats on finding RE so early in you’re life. Time is a major advantage.

Since you just left the island, you still know a lot of people there. Leverage your connections and rack your brain for any houses you know need work, or have extra land. Let me know if you find something you think may work and I’ll walk you through the numbers.

Maybe we can find a way to partner. Thanks for reaching out.

Wondering if anyone is investing on Bainbridge Island, Washington. I grew up there and haven’t been back for about 18 years, but my wife and I are contemplating a move in the next year or two and I wanted to start reconnecting with like-minded locals.

I know it’s an expensive market with not many houses for sale, but I also know it’s an amazing place with lots of older folks probably needing to move out of their homes soon.

I believe there’s a lot of opportunity still to be had. Would love to chat with anyone who knows the market. Cheers.

Hi Ben. First of all, congrats on securing a value add 4-plex in Wash Park. I live in West Wash Park. Would love to connect and chat about your projects and goals.

As for your financing question, it seems you’re set on getting a conventional residential loan. Any reason for that other than better terms?

The reason I ask is two-fold. First, from a liability standpoint, I would recommend setting up a multi-member LLC specifically for the property. If it's done right, this will protect your personal assets and place the 4-plex in its own ‘business model.' You can take that model to local banks and shop for mortgages. If it's a good model, someone will lend to you.

Second, from a goal standpoint, you said you want to grow your portfolio, but if you're putting these in your personal name, you're going to run up against your debt to income threshold. Banks like to see a number less than 40% or so. The problem with rentals, is even when you cash flow, your mortgage and expenses get get divided by your income and your dti ends up really high. Depending on your ‘day job,' you may be able to do a few of these deals, but you will need to use LLC's sooner rather than later.

Good morning, BP. It's a quiet, snowy Tuesday morning here in Denver. My wife is at work, my son is at school, and I visited all my projects yesterday. I'm caught up on bills, I've updated my projections, I've looked at every property in the greater Denver area that's come on the market in the last week, and analyzed any resembling anything close to a deal. My fireplace is cranking, I'm listening to jazz standards, and I'm a pot of coffee deep. I plan on scraping crumbling, stained grout out of the base of my shower and replacing it with sealant this afternoon. But this morning, I don't have a plan. The draw of watching a movie is strong, but I know if I give in, I'll feel like I wasted my day. Tomorrow, my schedule is full again. But today is unprogrammed.

As a full time investor, what do you do when you have 'free time?' How much 'free time' do you allow yourself? Do you take entire days off?

Maybe I'll start learning Spanish. It would certainly help me communicate with sub contractors.  

Buen problema para tener!

Thanks @Matt M. for the advice over the years and setting an example of making the right choice, even though it was a difficult one.

Thanks @Joseph. Let me know if you need any help or advice on snagging your second rental!

I did it! I quit! I no longer spend my days working towards someone else's dream! I own my time and my future. I'm excited and terrified. My wife is just terrified. I'm a pretty humble person in real life, and I haven't seen anyone socially in 9 months, so I haven't had a chance to express my accomplishment to anyone. Besides, if I can't flaunt my accomplishment a little among my peers, then I won't get to flaunt it at all. So here's how and why I did it now. 

My transition away from 9-5 has been a long time coming; 12 years if I count from the first house I bought as an investment, 6 years if I count from my choice to change to a job that would help me leave the rat race. But despite all the planning and experience filling my sails, pointing my bow away from land and towards the horizon has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. 

A little background: I'm 36, married with a 4 year old son who has high medical bills, and a little lady due in March 2021. I make a good salary as an architect designing large apartment complexes for national developers. My wife makes a pretty good salary, but not enough to sustain our current lifestyle on it's own (not lavish, but not bare bones either). We have 6 doors that cash flow but not enough to make up the difference between her salary and what we spend. So why did I make the leap now?

Over the last 6 months, I found the final member of my team... a contractor I can trust. I've been toying with fix and flips and BRRRR's for 12 years and out of 12 projects or so, I have re-used a contractor once. I was never sure if I just had high standards because of my architecture background, or if indeed, my contractors were performing low quality work. One project a year was about all the energy I had time for when I was babysitting grown men and my 9-5 was really more like 7-6. But in March of 2020, I bought a place to BRRRR and the contractor I hired completed renovated the property on time and pretty close to budget. He had his crew there every day. He was decisive when necessary, but asked questions when it mattered. I refinanced quickly, pulled all but $15K out of the property and cash flow $400/mo.

Awesome! That was easy. Let's try that again! 

I bought another place in June and we flipped the house on time and close to budget. Quality was a little lower than before, but nothing we couldn't overcome together. 

2 deals in 6 months? Could this be it? Let's keep this ball rolling!

Found another property with great potential in an up and coming area of Denver Metro that I am really hot on. Big project though... "Hey contractor, think you can take this one on? Yes? Done." Closed in September. Start 16 week reno (almost done).

Contractor says he has 2 crews... hmmm. 

Back in June, my realtor brought me an off market property and I negotiated an owner carry with the seller as long as he got his dead-beat daughter out of the property. Since I was in no hurry, as we were already working on a project, I was patient until the daughter left. Took 4 months but we closed in October. Bam, 2 projects at once. Start 12 week reno (almost done).

How long can I keep doing this and still work my 9-5? 

Turns out, not long. In October after I closed the second deal, I decided to negotiate a 3 month leave of absence to give me time stretch my wings a bit. This is where I pointed my bow to the horizon but made sure I could still see land. Once I did though, the wind starting to blow stronger and the boat started building speed. My realtor brings me another off market deal. Easy reno with $50K profit... but all my money is allotted for at this point on the 2 projects above. I can't take it on, can I?

Remember Rich Dad, Poor Dad and start thinking, how can I afford this?

Find and negotiate OPM loan to make up difference between hard money loan and required down payment / renovation cost. And just like that, I have the next project in the queue. 

So here we are in December, I have 2 projects finishing up their renovation and planning to go to market in mid January on both of them. Each of those projects are projected to make $100K+! The next project is a 5 week renovation, so by March of 2021, I'll have tripled my annual salary from my 9-5. I can no longer see the horizon, but my sails are full and the ocean seems to be smooth ahead. And if you say there's a storm coming, I'll say bring it on. 

My goal is for 10 projects in 2021 and to keep 2-3 of them that make the most sense as BRRRs. 

As I said in my opening paragraph, I'm extremely excited but also terrified. My wife more so. But, I made the leap, trusting the process and myself. Whoop! 

Bigger Pockets has been invaluable along the way. And now that I have a bit more time, I'm looking forward to diving into the community further and get to know some of you better. 

Cheers to a successful 2020, despite the pandemic, and an even better 2021.

~Steve