All Forum Posts by: Todd Pultz

@Aaron Weitzman I will qualify this with I do not invest out of state, only in my local market which happens to be a pretty solid investment area. However, 2 of my partners and other investors I work with find the most valuable thing is to narrow your markets down to 2-3 that you feel good about it. Then visit those markets, spend time there, network with brokers and contractors and PM’s. You’ll find one that stands out to you with people you like.

Personally, I stay away from SF’s unless a great deal passes my desk. I like 4 units at least as the numbers tend to make more sense and present less risk in my market. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with. Best of luck to you!

@Nancy Stark during the pandemic we saw lenders shut down refinance in certain markets but not all. Commercial refinancing (5+ units) is still a little slow, but it has happening. I would suggest you start interviewing lenders to plan as the process is taking a bit longer. All of our lenders that **** down certain products are coming back on line and I don’t think we will see it any worse in 6 months than what we saw over last few months. Just my experience! I certainly don’t have a crystal ball though. Best of luck to you.

@Noel Dixon I first would have the same question as @Nathan G. About why your dealing with stuff when you have property management?

Real estate investing is not easy and self-managing is even harder, which is why you have to plan for down turns and unexpected events to happen. You have to factor in vacancy losses and eviction cost when you run your numbers. Covid is a bit different right now, but this shows how important having reserves are and planning for the worst. In Ohio we are still doing evictions and filing as normal!

I’ll be honest, I hate this “cash for keys” advice everyone keeps giving because they heard it on a podcast recently! I have never done this and this is why.......the good owners on here have great screening processes in place, but if other owners do not file evictions or send people to collections, our screening process WILL NEVER WORK, and you allow that tenant to go take advantage of another creditor with absolutely 0 responsibility. You are providing them incentive to not pay their bills, so do you really believe that teaches them a lesson? It’s bigger than any one of us and we should act as a community!

Lastly, I saw tenants called names in these posts and would only say, use caution. It doesn’t make them A deadbeat or anything else because they didn’t pay you, it makes them a non paying tenant that needs to be evicted. No reason to be unprofessional ESPECIALLY if someone has branded themselves as a low income landlord!

@Greg Jenkins best of luck to you! Reach out if there’s anything I can do for you or help with!

@Brann Perz it does not sound like you are going to be able to use your current property to get financing for investment. If you qualify and can rent it out then you would be building your equity on that one.

There are two options which one has already been stated by paying down your loan etc.

The second is looking for another option for your property if there is one. Does it have multiple lots you could sub-divide? Can it be converted to a duplex? Is there anything quirky about zoning that would allow you to get a higher better use?

Your fairly limited but best of luck to you!

@Abby Gile the best way is to do the free trials for the top softwares out there. They will set up a mock site for you to try and play with. I tried all of them and ultimately landed on Buildium. It was the most user friendly in my opinion and has changed my life in real estate! Everything is done through the site and I manage everything from my iPad. Good luck to you

@Tom Weyer unfortunately we find issues on county side often. They are usually easy to get corrected just takes a few weeks depending on where you live. However, the buyer should be easy enough, tell their attorney to meet you at house and measure together.

@Brian Ellwood I almost agree with you, lol! Most of the time I think your right, but there are a few times you can make something happen. Example.......found off market triplex and quad owned by older guy. He actually had 8 buildings but told me he was not interested in selling yet because he was not ready to retire. Told me he would be ready in 2 years and call him then. During that conversation he was also unfamiliar with a land contract or owner carry, so I gave him a quick run down. Certainly not interested. I did not wait two years, but called him 5 days later and had an owner carry laid out for him with a 2 year term. However, I structured it with monthly payments of about what I thought his net was. I sold that piece to him that he was still making the same NOI, but did not have to worry about Maintenace, tenant calls, leases, paying bills etc. then at 2 years would get the balloon to sail off into the sunset. He accepted and we closed! Party of these deals are always selling yourself as reliable and creditable so being personable and transparent I have found is key.

That doesn’t happen often, but always worth a try!

@Yuko Tanaka sounds like your taking learning very serious and that’s huge! You will do well if you continue that route, but I’m not sure anyone answered your questions, so let me try.

1. No, that deal does not seem to good to be true except for your rent estimate. Someone said $500 was right and I agree. I don’t buy in St. Louis, but it is a similar market to where I’m at. We pick quads up well under 100k all day long out here that are cash flowing from day 1.

2. Honestly, I've never put 100k into a quad and that's crazy talk! You said your ARV was 115k, so your buying for 95k and rehabbing for 100k, so your all in at 195k on 115K ARV? that is not a good deal. 100k rehab also indicates this property is vacant so you won't have any income coming in, so factor in your carrying costs

And YES, there are programs out there that can help you estimate rehab costs and create scopes of work. House hacker pro is a pretty good tool for starters.

3. We have hundreds of doors all C class and quite a few in very challenging areas, but you have to decide how you want to invest. It’s not for everyone, but there are pro’s and con’s. I manage all of our doors, but you won’t be able to. You have to find a manager that knows the area, is not afraid of the area, and can do a kick *** job. Unfortunately that will be hard!

4. I agree with whoever said there are still good tenants in these areas. I have wonderful tenants in my units, they just don’t have high paying jobs or that is the side of town they grew up in and feel comfortable. You screen and decide who you let it. Do that right and you’ll be fine!

Your welcome to DM me if you would like to chat

@Andrew Bissada @Andrew Bissada please take this the way it is intended, but from your notes I would suggest you find some forums discussing some of these items and seriously suggest that you emerge yourself with every real estate podcast that you can. The hypotheticals you listed are just that and your shooting from the hip. You need to practice running deals from real scenarios. Example, you didn’t list if the property was SF, duplex, triplex, quad etc., so how could someone really critique your numbers?

You say $500 per month for vacancy, capex, repairs etc......where did that come from?

To answer your questions, NO you do not buy a home you can’t afford!

And as you scale your model does not change, you do not buy properties you can not afford, but your terms for "afford" become different. On every transaction, you have to look at DSCR and it has to make sense. Lenders are looking at DSCR and will not lend unless it meets their criteria and each are just a bit different.