All Forum Posts by: Tiffany Drahonovsky

@Tim Herman that makes sense, and I appreciate the tips to keep things real! We want to go into this with eyes wide open and a solid plan in place. Thanks for your comments and the ballparks you use! These will be helpful to start with and see if they hold true for this property and market. Have a great New Year!

@Tim Herman if I'm buying and holding, why does capex matter? I thought that was only relevant if I were to flip. Also, tenant handles snow and lawn. Garbage fees are in our taxes. There is a pm in place, but I'm waiting on his agreement/contract. I'm not sure what he does other than collect rent. The place is tidy and in great shape. I've asked for maintenance/service call records. 

@Nicole A. Yes, buying it cash. I took the property tax # from Zillow and I have an insurance quote from my agent. The property is being sold by a wholesaler, but we found it on Zillow, even though he didn't list it there. $200/year for personal liability umbrella. This will be held in my personal name for now. May convert to an LLC, still evaluating the pluses and minuses there. Advice along those lines is very welcome.

@Tyler Gibson, Thank you! Yes, we are official now! My boyfriend lived in Clearwater for a while, so that's the initial idea. We plan to move to FL once my son graduates high school in 4 years, so this would be for investment to hold and rent or possibly Air BNB and use as a vacation home for us as well. We're very interested in getting more acquainted with best areas in FL for real estate investing. Any tips you may have, or properties you're looking to move wold be of interest!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Milwaukee.

Purchase price: $52,000
Cash invested: $13,000

Cute little turnkey single family with a happy tenant who takes pride in the home. Eager to see how this first experience works out, it looks good initially. We are focused on smaller single family homes to keep our risk and exposure for major improvements/repairs low as we just get into investing. We will be looking to upgrade to a single fam in Franklin, WI in the spring (for ourselves) and rent out my current condo. Then step 3 is our first investment property out of state (FL).

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I don't have as much for reserves as I would like to feel safe, so when we found this cute little home, and calculated the cost of major repairs (if/when that would happen) we determined that with no immediate improvements needed and a tenant in place, our cost and risk was low to get started. Financing cash was easier at this price point, too. Had struggled with the challenged areas of our city and where we wanted to invest as well. Highly segregated city, some areas very dangerous.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We found this deal on Zillow, however it was being sold as part of a portfolio by a wholesaler. He liked that my partner and I committed to doing right by the tenant (she wants to stay) and we see that as the icing on the deal's cake. She takes care of the place, it was spic and span and she wants to paint, too. We had to move fast, 2 other offers, but went with us, other investors were all about squeezing every dollar and not caring about wholesaler promise to tenant. It's a people business.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash down from my HELOC. Went to Dad for cash funding to win this deal. He took a HELOC on his paid condo and I will be paying that with the rent proceeds.

How did you add value to the deal?

No adding value needed, tenant wants to paint and stay. Our value is in keeping the tenant and strong cash flow. Minimizing turnover cost.

What was the outcome?

TBD, we close in Jan 2020.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

be ready with funding options. I had pre-approval for a traditional loan, but seller wanted to close fast.
Care about the people involved, wholesaler promised tenant he would sell the property to investors who would consider keeping tenant in place. Integrity still matters. Make nice with the tenant if you have the opportunity when inspecting property.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Pending all goes well, I'm happy to share the wholesaler who assisted in this assignment of contract.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Milwaukee.

Purchase price: $52,000
Cash invested: $13,000

Verbal on my first investment property. Cute little turnkey single family with a happy tenant who takes pride in the home. Eager to see how this first experience works out, it looks good initially. We are focused on smaller single family homes to keep our risk and exposure for major improvements/repairs low as we just get into investing.
We will be looking to upgrade to a single fam in Franklin, WI in the spring (for ourselves) and rent out my current condo. Then step 3 is our first investment property out of state (FL).

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I don't have as much for reserves as I would like to feel safe, so when we found this cute little home, and calculated the cost of major repairs (if/when that would happen) we determined that with no immediate improvements needed and a tenant in place, our cost and risk was low to get started. Financing cash was easier at this price point, too. Had struggled with the challenged areas of our city and where we wanted to invest as well. Highly segregated city, some areas very dangerous.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We found this deal on Zillow, however it was being sold as part of a portfolio by a wholesaler. He liked that my partner and I committed to doing right by the tenant (she wants to stay) and we see that as the icing on the deal's cake. She takes care of the place, it was spic and span and she wants to paint, too. We had to move fast, 2 other offers, but went with us, other investors were all about squeezing every dollar and not caring about wholesaler promise to tenant. It's a people business.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash down from my HELOC. Went to Dad for cash funding to win this deal. He took a HELOC on his paid condo and I will be paying that with the rent proceeds.

How did you add value to the deal?

No adding value needed, tenant wants to paint and stay. Our value is in keeping the tenant and strong cash flow. Minimizing turnover cost.

What was the outcome?

TBD, we close in Jan 2020.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

be ready with funding options. I had pre-approval for a traditional loan, but seller wanted to close fast.
Care about the people involved, wholesaler promised tenant he would sell the property to investors who would consider keeping tenant in place. Integrity still matters. Make nice with the tenant if you have the opportunity when inspecting property.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Pending all goes well, I'm happy to share the wholesaler who assisted in this assignment of contract.

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*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

It was zoned commercial and recently changed to residential, listed at $99,000. I want to snap this up, but not sure how low to offer. Help a newbie!

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*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Hello- We just took out the kitchen and entryway tile flooring (wow, what a mess!) and used self leveling cement to cover the grout we could not scrape up and then laid LVP. We used the concrete moisture barrier underlayment, but the concrete isn't level. It has slight divots that can be felt over the LVP when barefoot. It doesn't pool water, but I can feel it. We are planning to move out and use this 2BR condo as a rental in a few months as our first investment property. However, I'm nervous that this might impact renting it and eventually selling it. Would love to get the input of others. This was a project we did, and I feel like we should have used a pro, am I being too picky?