All Forum Posts by: Troy Martin

@Andrew Johnson I like the strategy of having the seller negotiate with the tenant to make things smoother.  The seller most often is as motivated as I am to have the deal go through so it is in their best interest.  You're right, if the tenant learns that there are new owners they will probably figure that they are going to be out when their lease is up.  So there runs a lot risk for additional wear and tear.

@Will Barnard Thanks will for the advice, you make a great point about the opportunity loss and annualized ROI. A lot can happen in 9 months between market conditions and property conditions. It makes complete sense to take ownership to a vacant property even if it costs a little more in the short term.

@J Scott @Andrew Johnsonbased on what I'm offering there is about 30%, $75K equity in the property for the seller.  It sounds like offering a financial intensive to the tenant is the way to go.  I'm conservative in my numbers so I have room to do this... depending on what the cost is...  In your experience what price typically gets tenants moving ($2.5K-$5K)?  Here's another question.  My negative cash flow will only be about $250 per month.  Do I hold it at negative cash flow for 10 months and only lose $2.5K and have my money tied up or give the tenant $5K to move out and get the flip going?  Thank you for your insights, much appreciated!

I'm coming across a lot of houses in my area (Tacoma, WA) that make sense as a flip but there is a tenant in the property for another 6-10 months and at my purchase price it does not cash flow.  The sellers still have debt on the property so seller financing is out of the question.  What strategies does the Bigger Pockets network have to purchase the property now and not lose money for the remainder of the lease period?

The issue I see with LLC's is that when the LLC is registered there is an agent name associated with it. Which in my case and I'm sure many others is their personal name and address. So if an accident were to happen on one of your properties and a lawsuit followed maybe the prosecutor would start with the investment property but will have no problem tracing back to the owner of the LLC which then would lead to personal finances.

Am I wrong?

I see an LLC being good for multiple partners that are investing in the same asset. that way there are rules on how decisions are made and money is divided etc...

Good question Joe, I would have to say that the Single Family Rentals have been the best investment. At the time of purchase the houses were about 6 years old. They have very little maintenance costs and they cash flow pretty nicely since they were purchased at auction in the prime of foreclosure activity banks were giving very nice discounts.

The flips were hit and miss and a huge time suck. If I were to flip again (which I plan at some point) I will either hire a contractor that I have built a relationship with and factor those costs into the budget or I will leave my day job to become a full time investor and help subsidize some of the contractor costs.

Troy

Thanks everyone,  awesome to get feedback so quick!  Thanks for recommending REAPS and other local meet ups.  I need to get involved to make this plan happen.  Hope to see you around the message boards and maybe some of you in person at some point.

Troy

Hi All,

New to the BP site.  This looks like a great resource and network.  I've been listening to the pod-casts; i like what Josh and Brandon have going on.

Back in 2007 I got my real estate license and worked Commercial Real Estate in Seattle mostly finding in-fill land for town home development.  Once that bubble popped I ended up in Corporate America which has not been bad just not very fulfilling.

I was able to still work some real estate as a small percentage partner.  We flipped a couple houses and picked up a couple as rentals which have all been good learning experiences.  

I'm trying to grow the real estate portfolio slow and steady and then eventually exit the corporate world to do real estate investing full time.

I have not outlined the strategy/business model yet but am getting the ball rolling.  

Thanks for reading,

Troy