All Forum Posts by: Travis Biziorek

Like Jay, I'm struggling to understand the details.

You have a bridge loan... for what amount?

And what did the property appraise for currently?

The only way I understand this is if the LTV on the appraisal is ~$25k short of what you owe on the loan. Is that right?

Giving us a full picture of what's going on here would be helpful.

For example, what did you purchase the property for? What did you spend on rehab? How much was financed with this bridge loan (and on what terms) vs how much money did you put in? What's the current appraised value of the property?

Nobody will be much help until we know the full picture.

 Right here. 

It's not hard to find cash buyers. Wholesalers just tend to put in nearly zero effort finding decent deals.

I know Section 8 is the latest real estate investing craze. 

It seems folks are attracted to this because of "guaranteed rents" and the perceived ability to get higher than market rate rents to improve cash flow.

It's not a complex process but you should be aware of all the pros and cons whether you're looking at investing in Cleveland, Columbus, Florida, New York, Detroit, St Louis, Ohio, etc.

I have 3 S8 tenants and have been doing this for the last 5 years. I have some great articles on the topic here: https://www.buyingdetroitrealestate.com/section-8-investing/

And if you're looking to do something out-of-state I'm happy to help. I've helped hundreds of investors get started with out of state investing over the last couple years.

 Yes, my exact situation is a fringe one, but having vouchers change values is extremely common. That means the "guaranteed" portion is constantly changing.

Hi Hai, the best place to start is simply searching the BP forums. There are a ton of threads discussing Section 8... the pros and the cons. 

I'd imagine you'd find out everything you need to know doing that.

Awesome! With the right duplex and loan (e.g. FHA) you might be able to get into something with literally no money out of pocket.

Detroiters have a massive opportunity today IMO. Go get it!

The problem with inheriting tenants, like Sarah says below, is that you really don't know if they are paying or not.

Yes, you can vet them and even get rent rolls, bank statements, etc. But all of that can be fabricated. I know that sounds crazy, and you and I would never think to do it, but people do.

At the end of the day, inheriting tenants is a gamble and risk you need to factor in. There are ways to feel out whether or not they are solid and paying, but it takes some experience and still isn't guaranteed.

Hey Kyle, it's really hard to say because there are so many variables.

I can speak to personal experience but your mileage will definitely vary.

I acquired 12 doors in Detroit from 2019-2021. At the time, they were all cash flowing (net) about $150/door. Today, that number is $500-$600/door on average. 

I benefitted from rent inflation, but I also did some things that would help improve net cash flow (appealing property taxes, for example).

Happy to send you some resources with more details on how I accomplished it.

Hey Daja, do you live in the city limits? And do you currently own your primary residence?

If the answers are "yes" and "no" to those questions, respectively I'd highly suggest you look into Detroit's down payment assistance program. They are offering up to $25,000 in downpayment and closing costs.

Link here: https://detroitmi.gov/departments/housing-and-revitalization...

Ideally, you could take advantage of that to buy a duplex and house hack. It's an insane advantage if you do the work to get it.

I see. I'd also caution you against using 100% financing for a long term buy-and-hold property. 

Beyond being difficult to make the numbers work, it's just not a wise strategy IMO. It's also not going to scale as you'll quickly hit DTI limits even if you can get the numbers to work.