All Forum Posts by: Stephen Diakos

Afternoon Brandon. I moved to Winston 6 years ago and have been dabbling in the real estate game for a few years now. There's plenty of opportunity in and around the area, depending on your risk tolerance of course, and hoping to expand my portfolio to get out of the rat race and enjoy life. I wish you luck and please keep me in mind if you go the wholesaling route and are looking for a buyer. 

Regards,

Stephen

I always use Andy Semones, with Metro Air and Heat, for years on all my rentals and flips here in Winston. 

Morning Kenny. I've lived in Winston for the last 6 years and love it.Welcome to BP and wish you the best of luck. 

I'm with Joe. I have a BS in Computer Engineering, a minor in Math, and an MBA...and am only now turning to real estate as I round 40 years old. Ah, to know at your age what I know now. You'll find that quite a few engineers turn to real estate as it's just a numbers game and we're all good at math. I say skip the MBA, focus on your real estate education, and spend that tuition money on your first cash flowing project instead. I assume you're around 22 years old. Hit the ground running and you'll be out of the game in no time and not kicking yourself for starting late like I do. 

I live in the Winston-Salem area and am just getting the ball rolling with a flip project and a rental rehab project. Glad to see that things are looking up for the state. Looking to expand to the Big 4 but we'll take it step by step. Thanks for the info!

I use Allstate and have never had an issue. Landlord insurance covers the shell of the building only vs. home owner's that covers the belongings inside. Working on a rental right now and am getting landlord insurance without question as the house is empty and they only need to insure the "shell."

Can I assume you mean seller financing...current seller being the owner you're referring to? If so, by all means go ahead. Seller financing is always an option. If the terms work for the deal, then make it happen.

I think you have to look at your situation from an opportunity costs standpoint. Renting ASAP provides you with quick cash that you can use for something else. However, waiting it out and collecting higher rents will inevitably help in the long run and may provide you with more cash for something bigger. As it's only a duplex, increased rents and NOI won't come into play with the bank does its thing. Bottom line...do you need the money now or can you wait?

Now that you found a property, it's time to run the numbers. Get your financing in place. Look at the property's financial history, i.e. monthly rental income, vacancies, expenses, and go from there. Hopefully you're still in the black when you're done. 

I completely agree with Marcus...is the increase worth a possible turnover? I've had the same tenant in my NC rental for going on three years. Yes, I could probably raise the rent $25-35 a month but the few extra bucks isn't worth the hassle of finding a new tenant, should they decide to leave. That being said, you could float the idea to the tenant with an educated explanation, so it doesn't sound like you're just being greedy, and see what happens. The same logic of us not raising rents, to avoid the costs of finding a new tenant, could be applied to that of a tenant not wanting to move out, i.e. time to find a new place, pay application fees, rental trucks, move their stuff, and so on.