All Forum Posts by: Anthony Benjamin

Hi Guys,

I am very interested to start investing in real estate. After trying to get my education first by reading Real Estate articles, hearing a lot of Bigger Pockets’ podcasts, blogs and a couple of Rich Dad’s audiobooks, I am very excited to start. My only problem is that I don’t have enough cash to put for the down payment on a property. Due to this situation, I am currently searching for REOs or foreclosure properties with minimal damage to invest.

Surprisingly, I found one property in a good neighborhood but not in a good location. This property is a penthouse on an apartment complex. The original price was around $270,000 a few years ago, current comps are about $170k ish and I found it for $60K. The unit is in good condition and only need minimal fixes. I think that with less than 5k I can get the unit in good condition. The only few things that it requires to do is clean, paint and to fix a couple of cabinets of the kitchen. I have the down payment and I am planning to make an offer of 50k because is being on the market for a while. For the rehab money, I am planning to get it from my net income and fix it within the next 3 months. I will love to flip it. But before I do that (and the market in my area is not that good), I will like to refinance, take the equity out and using it to buy other properties.

I did the numbers and if I rent this property, I can get around $50 monthly cash flow or get even. But the deal is that I will like to use around 75k (hopefully more) of the refinance equity cash out to use it as down payments to other properties that can get a better cash flow, offset the cash flow of this property and start building my portfolio.

What you think of my strategy? Please advise. I will like to start and not get stuck in analysis paralysis.

Thanks…

Island Newbie

Hi guys,

I am planning to buy a REO foreclosure property on a resort-like location. The apartment is a 1b/1b that needs total restoration, estimated in around 20k. One thing that will affect my cash flow are the Home Owner Association (HOAs) fees. Yes, it has 2 HOA fees, one monthly fee for the neighborhood and a quarterly fee for the whole complex. This is one neighborhood within multiple neighborhoods around it.

Current options that I am thinking about:

• Vacation Rental (high profit / high vacancy rate) – calculate that with 2 weekends rentals I can paid all the monthly expenses. The more reservations, the better the profits. In addition, I can use the property for family weekend vacations or second home since because I like the area.
• Monthly Rent (low profit / low vacancy rate) – Cash flow around $150 monthly.
• Flip (one time profit / waiting time for the resale) – Comp Sales are around 200k, and I planning to buy it for less than 100k, plus the rehab expense.

My plan for now is to set this property as a vacation rental and use homeaway, vrbo or airbnb to manage the reservations. After the rehab is completed, I will like to refinance the property and take the profits from the equity. Then use the equity profits as a down payment to buy another property that will offset the loss/profits of this property. Then I will have 2 properties. A good way to start my Real Estate Investing path. I think…

I will like to hear about your feedback in regards. Any strategies, suggestions and/or options that I can use in this business will be gladly appreciated.  In addition, I am experiencing problems with financing.  I will like to hear about options about it too.

Sincerely.

Island Newbie

P.S. - This is my first post so sorry for my writing...

Hi guys,

I am planning to buy a REO foreclosure property on a resort-like location. The apartment is a 1b/1b that needs total restoration, estimated in around 20k. One thing that will affect my cash flow are the Home Owner Association (HOAs) fees. Yes, it has 2 HOA fees, one monthly fee for the neighborhood and a quarterly fee for the whole complex. This is one neighborhood within multiple neighborhoods around it.

Current options that I am thinking about:

• Vacation Rental (high profit / high vacancy rate) – calculate that with 2 weekends rentals I can paid all the monthly expenses. The more reservations, the better the profits. In addition, I can use the property for family weekend vacations or second home since because I like the area.
• Monthly Rent (low profit / low vacancy rate) – Cash flow around $150 monthly.
• Flip (one time profit / waiting time for the resale) – Comp Sales are around 200k, and I planning to buy it for less than 100k, plus the rehab expense.

My plan for now is to set this property as a vacation rental and use homeaway, vrbo or airbnb to manage the reservations. After the rehab is completed, I will like to refinance the property and take the profits from the equity. Then use the equity profits as a down payment to buy another property that will offset the loss/profits of this property. Then I will have 2 properties. A good way to start my Real Estate Investing path. I think…

I will like to hear about your feedback in regards. Any strategies, suggestions and/or options that I can use in this business will be gladly appreciated.  In addition, I am experiencing problems with financing.  I will like to hear about options about it too.

Sincerely.

Island Newbie

P.S. - This is my first post so sorry for my writing...

Thanks @Jeremy Baker for the information.  It is really helpful and I wasn't considering the additional expenses like mattress, linens and other stuff.  Regarding taxes, soon I will have a meeting with my accounting and I will ask her about the taxes implications of this opportunity.  Appreciate your feedback.

Hi guys,

I am planning to buy a REO foreclosure property on a resort-like location. The apartment is a 1b/1b that needs total restoration, estimated in around 25k. One thing that will affect my cash flow are the Home Owner Association (HOAs) fees. Yes, it has 2 HOA fees, one monthly fee for the neighborhood and a quarterly fee for the whole complex. This is one neighborhood with multiple neighborhoods around it.

Current options that I am thinking about:

• Vacation Rental (higher profit / higher vacancy rate) – calculate that with 2 weekends rentals I can paid all the monthly expenses. The more reservations, the better the profits. In addition, I can use the property for family weekend vacations or second home since I like the area.
• Montly Rent (lower profit / lower vacancy rate) – Cash flow around $150 monthly.
• Flip (one time profit / waiting time for the resale) – Comp Sales are around 200k, and I planning to buy it for 100k plus the rehab expense.

My plan for now is to set this property as a vacation rental and use homeaway.com to manage the reservations. After the rehab is completed, I will like to refinance the property and take the profits from the equity. Then use the equity profits as a down payment to buy another property that will offset the loss/profits of this property. Then I will have 2 properties. A good way to start my Real Estate Investing path. I think…

I will like to hear about your feedback in regards. Any strategies, suggestions and/or options that I can use in this business will be gladly appreciated.

Sincerely.

Island Newbie

P.S. - This is my first post so sorry for my writing...