All Forum Posts by: Travis Dawson

I suppose all depends on what you want to track and how segmented you wanted your data.

It could be as simple as two columns. Revenue and expenses.

Or it could be much more complex with expenses broken down into Mortgage, insurance, capital expenditures, upgrades, etc.

An easy way to start would be take all the different numbers you crunched when researching a place and give each a column to track over the year.

Should I buy a single family in my college town, should I purchase commercial?

largely depends on your goals. Pick a niche you want to be in and get good at it. If you are already in a college town I'd look into house hacking a multifamily home (2-4 doors).

 Do I need a property manager if it is just a house?

Do you want to manage it yourself or not?

How do I go about getting the documents and leasing agreements for my tenants? 

A lawyer if you are smart. 

How often should I check my property?

Screen well and you only have to do the occasional drive by and an in person check every 6 months or so

Do I need a book keeper and a lawyer too?
Lawyer yes, bookkeeper depends on if you want to do it yourself or not.

Any advice for a newbie? 

Read more. You either aren't reading as much as you said, or you are reading the wrong books. Grab the bigger pockets book on managing rentals. That will help you a lot.

Going off of your post I'd say you need a better idea of what this is before leaping into it.

Here is the thing. You said in your first post that your Debt to Income ratio is bad. Unless that is fixed you won't get anywhere with a bank, FHA or conventional.

If you are deadset on keeping the truck and decreasing your debt, your only option to get bank financing is to find a way to increase your income. Get a raise, move to a better job, take a second job, etc.

Hey Matt,

I am about to close on a duplex that is in a flood zone so I think I have some information that can be somewhat helpful.

FEMA coverage is very expensive I was going to have to pay something to the tune of 6-7 thousand dollars. Plus the cost of an elevation certificate.

However you can talk to see if a lender will accept private catastrophe insurance instead (I'm using a small local bank, but I ran it by Wells Fargo and they would accept it too). Going that route saved me thousands a year.  Here is a link to a FAQ

https://www.trustedchoice.com/catastrophe-insuranc...

Note: I don't think this is possible with an FHA loan because the deductible is higher then they allow.

Feel free to ping me with questions.

gifts have to be from close family and can only cover a percentage of the down payment, I don't believe the full amount is allowed. 

However, the banks will only look into 2 months of your bank statements. If you are taking a gift from a friend you just have to wait to purchase a house for at least two months. This is called "seasoning" your money. 

sounds shady as hell. What size property are you looking at? You'd be better served saving and getting an FHA loan on your own.

@Deanna McCormick I close on the Duplex July 21, meaning I couldn't legal'y increase the rent until September 6th and it wouldn't take effect until August 1st. At least that is how I see it.

I appreciate the advise and was kind of leaning towards that direction before I posted. I will do as you suggested and hope it works out for all involved. 

So I will try to keep this short.

I am buying a duplex, planning to live in one end and rent out the other. The tenants that are currently in the other unit have been there for 10+ years, have taken great care of the place, and generally seem like amicable people.

However, they are underpaying in the market by quite a bit. They are currently paying $550 a month. From what I have gathered the old landlord never changed their rent since they moved in a decade ago. I've talked to a couple of different landlords in the area, my real estate agent, and online calculators and all think that unit could pull in 700-720 a month, especially once I fence in the backyard.

These people are on a month to month lease and in my state of Idaho I am allowed to increase rent as long as I give them a 15 days notice.

Here is my problem/question, I would like to keep these rentors but would like to get the rent closer to market rates. Is that even possible considering the jump? how much could I increase the rent without insulting them?

Or If you were in my shoes would you rather keep the tenants at a lower rate due to knowledge that they take care of the place or would you rather roll the dice on new tenants?

One other thing to point out is due to state laws the earliest I could raise the rent would be September - not the best time to be looking for new renters in my town.

@Jessie Nunley

as a side note, I don't know how long you have been stationed in Mountain Home, but I grew up in that area and still visit all the time for family. If you had questions I might be able to help.

They caution you because they love you. They aren't trying to hold you back. Not every Real estate story is a successful one. There are plenty of failure stories out there as well. 

You would be best served by listening to their doubts, answering their questions, and if necessarily refining your goals or plans. It can only make your plan of action stronger.