All Forum Posts by: Tiago Martins

Jeffery Waicak thanks for the post. What you are doing are my thoughts exactly. Cheap to get in, cheaper to fix, less bells and whistles, not such a negative impact if someone moves out. I guess the only way to learn is to try it out. If it doesn't work, maybe I lose $20k, but that's something I feel I need to risk. There are plenty more risky things I can do with $20k. At least I'll have a house that's paid for. Like you said, you don't buy a house you wouldn't live in, when fixed. Thanks for the advice.

Jay Hinrichs You said you have clients that do this type of investing. Are they making good money? Do they think their efforts are worth the reward? People talk about buying apartments in C class areas. I feel they would attract the same tenants as these types of houses. I know they are located on one property, which makes it easier to manage, but wouldn't it be the same headache? Why do people think it's a success when they buy a 50-100 unit apartment complex, with lower rent paying tenants, but then a SFR that caters to the same tenant is looked upon as a bad, time-consuming, money-bleeding investment? I haven't connected the dots.

I am thinking about buying single family homes in a C class area. I have found $20-30k homes, that I would pay cash for. These areas generally rent $500-800/month. I would be cash flowing 2% or greater. They aren't desirable school districts, but people still live there and raise families there. I know getting rent might be an issue, but I've heard of people offering cash for keys. Also have read books on section 8, where they say people don't want to lose their benefits, so they tend to follow the tenant rules better than non-section 8 tenants. My theory, although naive, is that if a $30k home brings in $600/month (2%), and the tenant decides to not pay rent for 6 months, it drops the 2% to 1%, which is better than a $150k home bringing in $1,200/month. I could take that $150k and buy 5, $30k properties renting at $500-800 a month. That means $2,500-$4,000 a month. That would give me room to risk a tenant that doesn't pay. Is that an idiotic thought process? I need some guidance.

Karen Schimpf thanks for the advice. I was wondering if hospitality financing is better? Also, I might make half the units monthly rentals and half Airbnb. Does this change it?

I am looking to turn a commercial property in a downtown area into 1 bed/1 bath apartments for either vacation or monthly rentals. The building is a historic building with nothing but walls and floors inside. It's zoned C3, so not sure if this is even possible. I would like information in the property, but don't know how to ask the broker. On loopnet there is a generic response to get information, but I don't know if that's the way things are done. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you Mike and Mark. Glad I took your advice, because I called the zoning office in my area and they said it's not possible. I can apply to rezone the property, but it would cost $1000, and there is no guarantee it would change to multifamily. Especially since no surrounding property is multifamily.

I am thinking of purchasing a property with a 2/2 house (900 sq ft) with an extra building on the property that has two rooms that are 300 sq ft each. It is near a college, so I was thinking of turning the house into two separate one 1/1 units, and the other building into two 1/1 or bungalows. These would all be student housing at around $400-500 each a month. Are there limits to how many leases can be on one property? I am not sure of the legality. Who would I ask, locally?