All Forum Posts by: Tyler Fontaine

Welcome welcome to the BP universe. Glad to have you. If you want to connect personally jsut link up in here and we can move the convo off of this platform :)

That said, ill answer your first question. You would be correct in thinking Zillow or any other mainstream consumer facing platform like that is not the best place... you can get lucky but thats not good thing to bank on. Honestly, if you're just starting out your best bets are to grow your network. 

Meeting realtors and selecting a good one that you mesh well with and that has the capacity to deliver the results your looking for based on what investment you want is a good start. Next, attend your local REIA as frequently as possible. Build relationships there. Learn as much as you can. Offer to help people for free. And be sure to tell everyone exactly what your looking for as an investment, you never know who can point you towards a deal.

There are other ways to source deals and tools you can use... im sure if you use YouTube University and dive deeper into BP you can figure it out.

Moving to your second question... There are many 'rules of thumb' you can use - 1% rule, 2% rule, 70% rule, etc. but at the end of the day for just starting out I think you should focus on running numbers and get good with that. Get good at estimating mortgage payments and downpayments, rehab costs, cashflow before and after expenses, getting average rental rate numbers. This way when you do come across a "deal" you can assess it quickly and pull the trigger.

When I first started I would look at the basics. 

1. How much cash out of pocket will it cost me?

2. How much will it cost to set up and operate the asset including debt servicing/rehab?

3. What is the total income or cashflow I can attain?

4. Am I satisfied with the left over cash that I could burn in a pile if i chose to after all the costs are paid each month?

Im currently invested in single fam and small multi fams. Its just the stage of the game im in at the moment.

I think for brokers its a broad question. It depends on who their ideal client is. For me i'm looking for first time house hackers, flippers, and seasoned residential multifamily investors who are looking to add to their portfolios and lend.

Location wise, I am based in RI. So multis are in the city and surrounding areas. Singles are in suburbia type or rural areas. I wouldnt say we chose them, it's just where the market brings a good return. There are specific geographic areas within these areas that are ideal but that requires a boots on the ground perspective to really grasp those ins and outs.

I have 3 units to date and 2 active flips. Im just starting out in my career. Veterans we work with are repeat clients adding to their portfolios or looking to gain larger returns on their cash they deploy with us to fund deals.

Im not 100% how you should handle this but something like apartments.com could work. It's free for users with a low number of units. You'd simply have to upload all the property info and then invite the renter to the unit to accept the terms and they can pay in advance through that for the rental. Both you and the renter would have access to the ledger and leases/agreements you have for the rental itself.

Im not in the area but me and my partners all own or have owned house hacks. 

Here to help with any questions.

I assume you mean buy the house you live in? You could ask your landlord if they would do a lease option to buy. (Eliminates the mortgage option)

That said, step one is to contact a reputable mortgage broker. They will underwrite you and let you know what you're approved for. The most important conversation they should have with you should be based around, "What are you comfortable with for a monthly payment?"

Just because you get approved for $800,000 doesn't mean you want to pay a monthly payment for that at 7% interest. Doing this will give you your budget that you are cool shopping with. So whether it's your house or another one in the area you at least have a price point to work with.

I'm actually a fan of renting if you're making good monies elsewhere. Renters don't deal with CapEx, repairs, etc... Another option could be to figure out how to invest in real estate in other ways. If you buy a rental instead of a house you will then attain cashflow to offset your increasing rents. You could become a hard money lender. You could get into syndications as a limited partner (lp) that will provide returns to you. Our team even has a number of clients that turned private lenders - they help us fund our flips and other acquisitions while they just deploy capital and collect checks after.

Going to want to go to your local REIA and ask the people in the group who they recommend for those things. Facebook pages, REIA websites, and meet-ups are all great options to get this info.

@Jimmy Murray is a beast

I would start by getting their price first. Then ask them if they would agree on terms if you could match that price... When they ask what those terms are you can offer the seller financing... if they push back you can use the option to wholesale or get them in touch with a REA.

What's up BP peeps. Been in the game for a couple years now and a student of RE for much longer.

I'm from MA originally and have been in RI for a decade now. My journey started when I was introduced to Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I know! Big shocker.

Property management is where I ended up. It suits my long term business plan much better than the other options I had available. Currently me and partners are flipping some houses, we all own some resi-multis. 

If anyone in RI or south east MA wants to connect or meet up, i'm down!

Answering question 1. I wouldn't say to immediately fire your PM. Some things to consider... The average days on market will vary depending on the where it is; the season that you are in (late November to February are tough - holidays, weather changes, etc.); the pricing strategy behind the rentals; what price point are the rentals looking to achieve (if it is at or above market rent it may take longer to find a tenant. My question then becomes, what's an extra week or two to rent it if you are going to get the best cashflow situation possible?); I'd also say the asset class matters - if a PM manages mostly "A class" units, you generally have a lower number of qualified applicants who are looking for that specific product.

Moving to question 2. Some things to look for are the systems they they have in place. How do they collect rents, pay vendors, issue notices, handle evictions, tenant qualifications for placement, how are maintenance issues addressed, is there in house maintenance or is it all third-party vendors, and so on.

If the PM is just a good sales person... they wont last. PMing is a relationship/teamwork game between investors and PM's. Good PM's will have references, reviews, multiple case studies they can point to about their business, their systems will be tight and transparent. Credibility should be easy to discover by asking the locals in your area about a specific group.