All Forum Posts by: Todd Olson

Great advice here. Having a great team in the area you invest is important. I chose my first investment to be out of state. I bought an 8 unit in Delaware that is 2 1/2 hours away from my primary. Far enough and close enough. I rarely go there because I have a very good property manager in place. 
hope this gives you some confidence to look for deals that work for you. Happy hunting. 

I like having more doors under 1 roof. Less landscaping to maintain and snow removal.  Driving all over to fix issues as opposed to going to one address. 

@Michael A. I am meeting with my banker next week to discuss a cash out refi and possible purchase of a larger building. Will know then about closing costs. 

@Stephanie P. that’s good to know. I am looking at a 12 unit now. Trying to look for a better option than putting 25% down on it since rates are good. Have you seen 20% loans for this many units?

@Corey Frank if you plan on staying at 4 and under then you should just get a 30 year fixed conventional loan for them. 5 and over classifies as commercial property. Usually not always, need 25% down and term is 25 years. After 5 years you will need to refinance or balloon payment. This is not always the case but just a general guideline. Hope this helps. Good luck. 

These terms are common with commercial financing. You just need to refi by the 5th year into a new term. I am doing it now on my 8 unit after 2 1/2 years. Rate was 5.7 now going down to around 4. 

All good feedback. I agree on buying the current NOI and not projections. I still believe there is tremendous upside but the seller will have to be reasonable.

I am in the same situation. I am looking at a value add where the rents are below market but the seller is trying to sell based on close to market rents. Great upside but not cash flowing right now. 

@Carlos 

@Carlos M. Hi Carlos, would you kindly explain where you are finding these value add properties? Off market, LoopNet? That’s a great scenario you worked out on the 11 unit. 

I had a recent issue when I transferred ownership and the old owner was getting the request to do an inspection and it was not brought to my property managements attention. I have multiple section 8 tenants in my building. My PM was unable to schedule the inspection and there wound up being a couple failed items as usual when we finally got the inspection after 2 months. Section 8 withheld payment until we got everything fixed and the final inspection was delayed by them due to incompetence. Long story short 4 months rent was withheld and they never back paid. Only gave a partial month of rent. Not much can be done since going after section 8 would be a bad idea longterm if you want tenants sent to you. Unfortunate experience cost me couple thousand.