All Forum Posts by: Tim Ryan

Might be tough with one unit.  I had a 104 unit complex and landlord was paying all the water. Once we purchased I found a company called Water Systems (somewhere in the South). They provided the meters that go on every water meter in each unit. We had a laptop with bluetooth connection so they get the readings. The company does all the billing.  It brought in $3500 per month!

For you, there are these same small meters on Amazon and work with wifi.  You could buy the meter, have a plumber install, you connect to computer, charge the exact amount of water usage.  At the water heater the cold line in will calculate all usage.

Hello @Sean Quinn

Congrats on making this move. I've been investing in Racine for the past couple of years. I live in LA.  I can tell you more about this. I don't want to say it's a bit far for you. I'm 2000 miles away!

Well for starters it's very difficult to get seller financing. Remember this: the answer is ALWAYS no when you ask.

Having said that, I've been able to get several seller finance deals.

You need to have a motivated seller who doesn't need the money at sale. Some are because there are serious issues with the property that can't get financed by a bank. So you'll have to deal with that.

Some will be wanting to finance for tax purposes. But unless they advertise the seller finance (and be careful as most are really bad deals), then you'll need to talk them into it. That's why I wanted you to hear that they will say NO at first everytime. Of course everyone wants their money now. But stay on the deal, keep in contact, and it could come back with a "maybe" lol

I was taught to buy "in your own back yard first" and I'm in Los Angeles. I bought two SFR is Desert Hot Springs (years ago). They were just barely decent investments. Held for 8 years and make a small amount. So I'm not sure it's the best advice anymore for us SoCal investors. I quickly found Chattanooga Tn in 2009 (very early) and made a killing. I'm now investing in WI. So, my advice for you is to go OOS as I've done far better than I would have here.

Congrats and good luck. Wish you could post pics here. Would be cool to see it progressing.

Hardest part will be to find a good cash flowing multifamily right now. It's super competitive still. You don't want to be under the gun of the time frames in the 1031 without a deal.

I'd start with finding deals. And see if you're able to get it financed since you don't have a W-2 right now.

Probably will need to partner up with someone to make this all work.

Hey @Justin Pumpr. It sounds like mistakes were made on the properties but I'm also questioning the market (you didn't say where these are).  Both of those could put an investor where you are today - unfortunately.

I can tell you that I believe I've avoided these types of issues from happening on my deals because I joined coaching programs and had mentors. There are people on here (BP) that say "you don't need to pay for education".

Well, not only are they wrong! But you are paying now --  So, you'll pay one way or the other. You chose this path. So, now that you got your losses and failures done - and congratulations by the way because I can't think it could go any more wrong - now you can start over.

So yes, get those properties sold and do this right this time. To give you some hope, in the mean time of your RE losses, many of us are doing very well.  So, it's possible, and still for you!

I say no if you are not trying to become a realtor. I got my license and paid fees for a year then put it on hold. Was basically a waste of time. You can always get MLS data many places.

You be the investor, let the realtors do their jobs.

My advice for you is to buy rentals for longer term holds. Flipping is a no. Development no. Fix and Flip is taking on a new job when you already have one.

Owning rentals is wealth building.