All Forum Posts by: Terra Padgett

Have Empathy for your Landlord. We all get it...receiving news of a rent increase can be frustrating for a tenant who's balancing their own financial responsibilities. However, Landlords face even greater cost pressures that lead to the increase decisions. Managing all the home's expenses are many times invisible to tenants. They may see it as "greedy landlord trying to get rich off of me." (chuckle chuckle). I wish I could live rich off the marginal dollars left over after all bills are paid. The reality is, rising property taxes, maintenance costs, increase insurance premiums (I'm a broker so don't get me started here), an HOA assessment or annual increase, etc, etc, etc. The increases are not strictly about creating more profit for a Landlord, but rather more often than not, they are necessary to keep a property in good condition (including good financial condition), meet safety standards, and ensure a comfortable living environment.

So before you get ready to attempt to rip your Landlord a new one, first go take it up with the local taxing authority, then go have it out with the insurance industry, then gripe to the neighborhood HOA (if applicable), then maybe settle your disputes with Home Depot/Lowes and any and all trade contractors. More than likely, your Landlord goes down those roads on a regular. While rent increases are never easy, neither are the increases experienced by your Landlord. So we could all have a little more empathy on both sides of the coin. 

In higher priced areas, your tenant pool will be smaller. Not as many “qualified” tenants to choose from. So it will likely take longer to rent. Don’t settle in your requirements. Cheaper in the end to find that qualified tenant than to have to evict an unqualified one. If your KC market is anything like mine here in Houston, someone who can afford that monthly rent range is likely a homeowner, not a renter. I would definitely recommend working with a PM or leasing agent that caters to a higher-end clientele. Doesn’t have to be million dollar listing style, but just a step above the run of the mill. 

“Don’t wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait”

“It’s not about timing the market; It’s about time in the market”

If property is on public record in your personal name already, then you don't have anonymity currently. Moving to an LLC will help going forward to show the property is owned by an LLC rather than you individually. Or you could move it into a Real Estate Privacy Trust where the trust will show on public record as owner, not you or your LLC.

We had a flip where we were doing a complete gut renovation. We re-piped the plumbing with Pex, installed new toilets, new showers, new hoses & fixtures. However once all was complete, the tub and toilet water still had a yellowish tent to them. The sinks and faucets didn't, but the tubs and toilets did. 🤔 After having the plumber come back a couple of times to try to remediate, we brought in a different plumber that provided 2 other possible remediation things we could try. It ended up being the main water line to the house that was old/rusted/damaged. We ended up having to dig up parts of the front yard to replace the main water line that connected to the city water supply to the home. Never thought to inspect or check the water lines outside of the home prior. 

Are you wanting to stay an active investor or get into some more passive investments?

If the latter, I would consider putting your money to work in hands-off passive investments. Investing relatively small amounts into many different funds, notes, syndications, etc and having a chunk of your capital grow that way. In many cases, you’ll still receive the benefits of direct ownership such as appreciation, cash flow, tax advantages, etc, however with a lot less time and headaches. That’s what I would and have done in your similar situation. 

You can certainly use a HELOC for down payments. Where the other money comes from is the question. For rentals, you're typically doing long-term conventional type financing. So debt to income will come into play. If using DSCR, then the cash flow on the house with the outstanding mortgage(s) would come into play. For rehabs, then a variety of other financing options would be considered; private money, hard money, etc. But yes, a HELOC could certainly be used for purchasing investment properties, just ensure you have the cash flow to cover the loans.

It depends on a variety of factors: your goals, your time constraints, your available capital, your desires, your timeline, etc. If you want to be more hands-off/passive, then Turnkey route. You'll buy a property pretty much at market value and the property management company will handle the day to day items. It is your property and the buck still stops with you, but for the most part you're responsible for managing the manager & making sure all interests stay aligned. If you want to be more hands-on/active, then BRRRR route. You will certainly learn a lot more and get experience in all sorts of areas. It will be a commitment of time, effort, & resources, but the returns could be greater. You may want to consider partnering with someone who has some experience to help you along the way.
But if you’re open to both, I say flip a coin 🪙 and do that method first and the other method on your second property. 

You can do a HELOC on rental properties with some lenders to access the cash, but you're essentially taking more debt out on them. So you'll want to ensure your cash flow can cover the additional monthly note (assuming you still have a loan on them from the pre/during-Covid acquisition dates.) With your RE LLC, you could seek out a business line of credit to access capital for expanding. A SoloK is another fantastic option to access capital for buying more properties. This would come from any past employer 401k plans you might have that you can rollover to your self-directed Solo401k and utilize for investments.

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

Quote from @Terra Padgett:

Flipping, Wholesaling, Owning Rentals, Crypto, Stocks, etc. They ALL can, do, & have worked for many different types of investors. You'll hear lot of chatter about what "doesn't work" or what's "a better investment" for this or that; And maybe it is for some and maybe not for others. Investing isn't an Either Or sport, but rather a This And. Find what fits your desires, goals, or enjoyment levels and run with it. You might find success, you might find losses, you might find a lot of lessons learned. As long as you survive to see another chance at bat. 

My preferences are passive RE investments; whether through Debt, LP Equity stakes, etc. What are yours 🫵?

Having been in many aspects of real estate throughout my career my favorites are ground up construction and note investing. 
right now note investing takes the cake as it can be done in any environment whereas ground up right now is very challenging.

I like both of those as well. In this current interest rate environment, I’ve found notes (those underwritten well) to be doing very well and paying pretty consistently. I too am in some ground up construction investments. They still have a year or 2 left before they’re completed and stabilized, but all metrics still show positive as of now.