All Forum Posts by: Troy DeLong

Morning Joseph! I recommend always sending out a 60-day, 45-day, and 30-day notice to your tenants for lease renewals and/or rent increases. 

My recommendation, for your situation, would be to NOT raise the rent on your current tenants if they re-sign a new lease with you. Them paying for their own water will be enough of an 'increase' for you at the moment. Then, next year is when I would start to raise rent on them ($20-$30/month more). A rent increase (along with paying their own water now) and you could lose that tenant and easily have that unit vacant for 1-2 months. That vacancy time will kill any and all 'rent-increase income'. 

If your current tenants don't want to renew a lease, then I would definitely raise rents to match closer to market value. 

Again, this is simply what I would do. There are many ways you could go about this. Hope it helps! 

@Veronica Hennessey Lansing, MI would be a great area for what you've got to spend. Plenty of 2-4 unit properties list around here within that price range. 

Michigan, and the Midwest in general, is great for cashflowing rentals. Find yourself a good property manager and you'll have a steady investment. I'd be more than happy to chat with you offline more in depth! 

@Candace Pfab Thanks so much Candace! Received. 

@Luke Carl Quickly put, I'm looking for the big picture of the Gulf Shores / Orange Beach area. Average price for a condo/SFR that's move in ready, on-the-beach vs. off-the-beach properties (cost & rent), occupancy rates (busiest/slowest times of the year), property management cost (I'm seeing 22%? That's a big increase from Mid-Michigans 10%), and is the STR game doable for someone on the other side of the country?

@Paige Hutchinson Is your 'Under Contract' property something you would be ok with sharing as far as purchase price, terms, profit analysis, expenses, location, etc? 

Thanks in advance all! 

I'll be taking a trip down to Gulf Shores, AL this August and would love to take advantage of my time down there to get to know the local real estate market and meet some local investors/business people. My boss is always looking for new investments and I'm tagging along for the ride. 

Are there any local real estate investor meetups or conferences that will be happing down in the Gulf Shores / Orange Beach area around the August timeframe? The Mid-Michigan market is mostly all long-term rentals and flips but I would love to get into a destination spot, short-term rental investment (Beach house, condo, etc). 

Any names/numbers/emails for local real estate people would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks all!

@Scott Kane You've picked a great rental market. I'm in the Lansing area and am very familiar with the neighborhoods and surrounding towns/cities. 

If you're looking for a first investment, I highly recommend a property that doesn't need much work and is ready to rent. There are plenty of flip/BRRRR properties available in the area as well, but you could overwhelm yourself with that as you are 'early on in your investing journey' and out-of-area.

Work on getting your team built up in the area and those projects down the road will become much easier and more profitable. I'd love to chat to see if we would be a good fit and to dive more into what exactly you're looking for.

@Scott Jensen After several interviews/phone calls with some of the companies recommended here, I ended up just rolling over my employee sponsored Vanguard 401k plan into a Rollover-IRA with Vanguard.

A couple of the advisors I was talking with recommended I focus on building up my balance to a larger number before I put time and effort into using my 401k for down payments, loans, rehabs, etc. I am still interested in a Solo401k and will definitely revisit these advisors once my 401k plan is a little bigger. More to come! 

Welcome @John Tran! I'd say you're starting off just fine by reaching out to the public and networking.

Linking up with locals in the area you're looking to invest in is step number one. They'll be able to give you the most accurate and up to date happenings of that area. 

Michigan has an extremely low inventory of houses (SFR & Multifamily) at the moment with tons of buyers for that low inventory (In-state & Out-of-state). The midwest as a whole is a hot market right now because of the comparatively affordable prices and the great cash-flow potential with current market rents. 

My suggestion is to start with two things.
   1) Build your list of potential Buyers so you are ready to go once you get a wholesale deal.
   2) Establish an effective way to find properties you can wholesale (Direct mailer marketing, foreclosure research & home equity reports, paying locals a small fee to send you off-market property info).

Hope this helps and best of luck to you and your business!

I second Ethan. Would love to get a Lansing meetup scheduled! Maybe get something on the calendar for March? Horrock's beer garden, The Brew Cafe for coffee, Tony M's, EagleMonk Brewery, etc? 

@Jack Hritsko Sounds like you are on the right track for success! I just recently obtained my license in Michigan, and to be completely honest, you don't learn much of anything on investing from it... 

If you're going to spend the time and money getting your sales license, I highly recommend you go full speed ahead with it as your career and make it a goal to be as successful as possible in that field. Become that 'Rockstar' that all the local REI groups want on their team.

It sounds like you have the GC / rehab aspect of investing squared away (with your Dad). Immersing yourself into the sales end of real estate will benefit you with great relationships, access to the MLS, and overall/current knowledge of the market you're looking to invest in. That's priceless I'd say! Best of luck in your endeavor.

@Darian Lupton Congrats on grad school at MSU! Unfortunately, you won't have a decent football team to root for for a couple years... 

As far as the area (East Lansing), it has changed a TON in the last couple years. High rise apartments and condos have been put up all over the place. The student housing need has increased property values and spread like wild fire from the city center. 

I realize March is approaching fast and that you may already have a home picked out, but Landon Allen has good recommendations on surrounding towns/cities to possibly move to that aren't far drives at all from EL. The market was really hot 4 months ago and it is just as hot today. 

I'd be more than happy to meetup for a coffee and show you around town once you get settled in in March. Safe travels!