All Forum Posts by: Tyler Caglia

John, thank you, and thanks for the feedback. Always good to connect with someone investing in the same market. I would love to be part of a syndication, but unfortunately I am not an accredited investor. However, I do have aspirations of starting one as a general partner, as I have the drive and passion to do the hard work. I'm working with a partner locally to get started, so we hope to get off the ground soon. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to partner up someday. Congrats on your success so far, I hope to connect soon for a more in-depth conversation.

Ron, Thank you I appreciate it. For the property search, we just started with the basics. I made it clear to my RE agent exactly what I was looking for and the price range. This made it easier on both of us. For research and due diligence, there are so many tools available online. The search function on BP is fantastic, as I have found an answer to nearly any question I've had along the way just by reading a previous thread. Trulia is a great tool for neighborhood statistics, Zillow has been fairly reliable for expected rent as well as Rentometer, my realtor sends me detailed comps prior to making a decision to make an offer, etc.

For the rehab, I ask for detailed videos and photos of progress. I manage large multi-million dollar civil projects for my full-time job, so I am very familiar with contracting in general. That has obviously helped me understand what I'm looking for and what to be aware of. From long-distance, you're much better off assigning the contract to one general contractor rather than split up scopes to try to save a few bucks. You could also ask your property manager to manage the rehab for you, or at least take an oversight role in the process.

My RE agent has helped guide me through the tenant search process, and we've had great luck so far with the tenants we've found. We've also found that section 8 in Columbus does a great job vetting tenants. This is also something that you could ask your property manager to do, just make sure you're not selling yourself short on the rent. If your homes are newly rehabbed, you can typically get a couple hundred more per month than the local average. We've also had applicants tell us after the walk-through that my property was the only one that matched the photos exactly, which tells me too many landlords out there are not being honest in their rent postings.

Long-distance takes some risk tolerance and the ability to trust the process. The best tool I've found so far is videos of the home, whether it's initial walk-through, construction updates, or anything in-between. It's hard to hide anything in a video.

@Dan Hertler Thank you, and congrats on your success! I’d be interested to hear more about your experience investing in Savannah. I look forward to connecting and talking further.

@Matthew Battistini Memphis was a big one, outskirts of Nashville, Cincinnati and Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Birmingham, and a few others. When I get a chance I can look back at my research and get back to you on the full list. The quick price to rent ratios in Columbus in low crime areas just seemed to be slightly better than anything else I could find, although I am very interested in expanding into another one of those markets sometime soon.

@Dylan H. I only do it for sake of clarity when discussing numbers with others because those are all variable costs that change depending on how you analyze the property. So I could assume say 10% for vacancy while another investor might assume 15%. By taking those variables out of the equation (and making it clear that the cash flow doesn’t include them) it allows anybody to evaluate someone else’s numbers quickly and with less confusion. One person might evaluate my numbers using their own variables and conclude that I have solid cash flow, while another might think the opposite.

@Caleb Heimsoth Caleb, thank you for your honest input. I’m not sure I agree with all of it though. How do you figure $5k per turnover? Are you assuming a $5k loss in revenue, or a straight $5k loss?

I’ve had very little trouble filling these rentals so far, and the neighborhoods are in low crime but lower income neighborhoods. When the recession happens, rent will likely go down a bit, but I’d assume rentals like mine will be more attractive to those that need to downgrade.

@Michael P. Good suggestion, thank you. I’m currently working with a different lender on my 4th deal, trying to get better terms on the hard money. Now that I have a few deals under my belt I have a bit of a track record. The hard money lenders I’ve talked to have said the terms are unfavorable to the borrower when starting out, but as you do more deals the terms get better. Has that been your experience with hard money? Would it be realistic to find a rate less than 10% at this point?

@Manuel Encarnacion Thank you, I’m glad you found it helpful. This is exactly what I had hoped for in taking the time to post it. Congrats on your success so far, let me know if you have any questions as you venture into OOS investing.

@Ika Sargeant thank you I appreciate it! Glad you enjoyed it.