All Forum Posts by: Alex T.

Can someone please recommend a property manager who can manage a unit in a condo hotel in Orlando?

@Jon S Strick, here is a real story that might help you.

Purchased a brand new 2 bed 2 bath condo hotel very close to Disney when they opened in 2017. Purchased for 290k, 25% down at 5.25% at 5/1 ARM. Financing is very hard for condo hotels. First lender declined. Another community bank approved finally. Entered into a 2 year leaseback at 8% of the purchase price. Monthly payments covered mortgage and tax and left me with $100 cash flow! Builder waived HOA $530/mo during the lease back period. Hence the positive cash flow! Builder developed the property as a luxury resort with rides, pools etc. with excellent guest ratings on bookings.com, Expedia etc. They also gave 2 weeks free stay per year during the lease back period.

My lease back period ended now. My first option is to sign a rental agreement with the in-house operator at a fee of 45% plus HOA $530 plus utility expenses. This will leave me with a negative cash flow of $1200 per month on average! I need to give a 1 year notice to exit this arrangement.! My second option is to go with an independent property manager. Currently researching on this option, which might be the only option left.

Good luck with your plans.

@Chai Xiong, do you manage yourself or use property managers. If it’s the letters, can you please recommend one.

Not easy as it sounds. You can read all of bigger pocket posts but until you purchase one you will not understand the pros and cons of this business. Further I will caution you about the current market conditions. Interest rates are pretty high. We reached a peak and is tending downward now. Knowledge from learning and knowledge from experience are two different things. You are better off learning and watching the markets and wait.

Hi Andrea, Thanks for sharing your insights on Ocala market. I am planning to buy new homes for investing and your inputs help a lot.

Your property tax estimate is wrong. It would be about $900 min. HOA seems ridiculously low. I assume this is dr Horton. Your realistic rents is as follows: Master bed with one assigned parking for one person: $1400 to $1500. Master bed with one assigned parking for two people: $1600 to $1800. Small bedroom1 with assigned parking and shared bath for one person: $1100 to $1200 Small bedroom2 with no assigned parking and shared bath for one person: $900 to $1000. In this job market vacancy is near zero. People are desperate for single rooms in good location. Milpitas bart area is the single best commuter location in Bay Area. Vta, bart and 237 and Montague Expressway. Numbers based on rents from past 2 years running the exact same operation that you are planning. LOL!!! I don’t live there. Pros: always broke even for me and made $100 to $200 cash flow. Cons: bad tenant means you will lose sleep until tenant is evicted or issue resolved. Expect this if you are a newbie. Use an LLC to limit liabilities. Yes **** happened to me once. Do not even consider renting to friends or family. Do not consider anyone without stellar credit. Avoid less than 700 credits. Write solid lease, collect ID proof, income proof, application, just like apartments do things. Never compromise on screening. Good Luck!

Yuriy,just do it. There is a first time for everything. I bought my first house with zero research on numbers, market etc. after six months, 2008 arrived and I rented it. Lost money for couple of years. But everything went fine after. Just assume a 50% vacancy rate and keep that in cash. Remember the vacancy rate in 2008 was 11% or so nationally. You seem to have done more than sufficient research. Your age is the most important factor that is favoring you in this affair. I wish I was your age when I started or knew about what you know today. Good luck.

Please find another tenant, if you can. I had a similar applicant with 600 credit, great manners, few collections on repot, employed, looked like a true gentleman. He was my first tenant and I rented a room in my 3 bed condo. Within 6 months, he started abusing neighbors, other room mates, started using f word to everyone else including me. He hit the room mate’s car, hosted parties with his one night stand girl friends and the list goes. Finally I had to evict him. He did not pay last month rent. I paid more than 500 in legal, what a nightmare. Luckily I did a m2m lease. I did not mention that he started forgetting rent payments! Low credit or collections or late payments on a credit report means you have been warned. After this, i screen everyone like hell and tightened my lease agreements. I don’t want to rent to Warren buffet himself unless I am convinced. Be a machine when screening new tenants, don’t act like you are a human. Careful if someone acts too nice or wants to be friends with you within few minutes. Good luck.

My friend who bought his primary residence in 2014 has his home appreciated by about 500k. He is wondering whether to sell and use half of the proceeds to acquire 1 mil worth of income properties in Florida or Ohio. Wait for more appreciation or bail out now? Any thoughts?

Please help with the following: 1. Can we deduct one time and ongoing legal expenses paid in 2017? 2. Do I need to mention the names of pass through LLCs in my tax return. Or just include the income and expenses as if they are my personal investment income and expenses? Do I need to issue K1s on these pass through LLCs? 3. Can we still deduct points paid on loans? Thanks!