All Forum Posts by: Tyson R.

So I've been looking to buy a duplex in Salt Lake City that would be owner occupied. More specifically in salt lake valley, excluding rose park or west valley (my wife is on board for anywhere else). The trouble is, when I run the numbers nothing seems to work. The investors I've spoken to say that Utah is more of a 1% place, which I'm ok with. But when I try and do due diligence on any duplex/multiunit property that i can find it appears to negatively cash flow. 

Am I doing something wrong? How do you find deals in SLC? I've been sticking to MLS and i've been working with an agent who is also a fellow investor. And how are people who buy these properties making money?

I've been comparing rents through rentometer dot com. And have using a few different buy and hold analysis spread sheets from BP file place.

I'm currently looking for my first investment property is SLC and I plan on self managing it. A family friend who has properties offhandedly asked me if I wanted to manage his properties. He only has a handful and since he knows I have no experience I don't feel that he is worried about too many rookie mistakes on my end. 

So my question, would this be foolish to take on? starting my own little property management business before I have any experience. I figure he would help teach me his system, I could use stuff I've learned on BP, it would give me experience for my own properties, and it would be a bit of extra income. The two biggest concern are time and maintaining the relationship (I would hate to cost him money from my mistakes). I have the summer off but I'm very committed in finishing my education and I'm working part time.

Any thoughts or words of wisdom would be appreciated.

I have no experience with this company but I would recommend going to your local REIA before you start spending a lot of money on your education instead of investing that money. I've just read too many horror stories.

Thanks @Jordan Burke  I've been thinking the same thing now for a while.

I feel like I’m in the exact same situation, and it’s frustrating. I see the low interest rates, the projected population growth, the new companies coming into Salt Lake City, Lehi, and everywhere else in Utah and my trigger finger starts twitching.

Do I use the lower interest rates, for owner occupied, to buy a more expensive multifamily (at an inflated price) that doesn’t meet any of the bigger pockets rules of thumb but still positively cash flows? Or do I hold out, wait for the interest rates to raise and prices to fall, if they do fall. The worry is to owe more on a property then it’s worth, and not be able to leverage it later when/if the market is nice and low ready for investors. And the other concern of course is that the rents drop and not being able to get out on a negatively cash flowing property. Any ideas or thoughts?

My thoughts about our current Salt Lake prices are that there is higher demand, lower inventory, but most importantly the lowered interest rates are dictating how much the houses are costing.

Any $80,000 income at 4.5% can afford $283,230 mortgage.

Where $80,000 income at 7% interest rate can only afford 230,984. That is a difference of $ 52,246. I personally think, that these two mortgages will buy the same home; it just depends on what the current interest rate is when the house is sold. 

my follow up question, am I just overthinking this interest rate/mortgage price or is there something to it? 

( I hope it's ok If I jump on this post, it's just Utah investors, and everything being on my mind)

@Brian Burke I read this a week or so ago and was just wondering if any new offers have come your way. This is truly an amazing transformation. My wife almost convinced herself that she could smell the cat pee as we looked at the pictures together. The final product is amazing! I hope it sells quickly.

Keep it coming!

I'm a newbie myself, and am just beginning to understand the business of real estate, but I would recommend you check out the file place for some property analysis calculators. BP has one built into the sight, but to do more than one you need to upgrade your account. I've linked one calculator which i've used to learn what to account for.

Good luck to you!

http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/d1beard/file/buy-and-hold-analysis

@Ethan Bowen That could be very true. But I really enjoy the engineering. And if I don't actually enjoy real estate (since I haven't actually started) or if I just plan suck at it, it would be very nice to have something I enjoy to fall back onto. Thanks for the comment. 

@Christopher Hunter Thanks Christopher!

@Paul Timmins Thanks Paul! I haven't given student housing much of a thought because of the high turnover rate, but it's something that I'll really consider. I appreciate the advice.

Hello Biggerpockets community!

Hi, I'm Tyson from Salt Lake City, Utah and I'm very interested in becoming a real estate investor. I've been a shadow reader for a while now, reading forum posts, blog posts, and listening to the podcast, but it seemed like it was time to introduce myself officially. I have yet to make my first deal but am very eager to learn anything that could help me become successful in real estate investing.

I'm interested in Buy and Hold investing locally and am currently waiting for tax time to hit to apply for a conventional loan and buy an owner occupied duplex, triplex, or whatever deal comes my way. However, I'm also open minded for RE investing and would consider flipping and buy and holds outside of my area. 

I'm currently a full time student and plan on double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and BiggerPockets. I'm very dedicated to my program but that's not going to stop me from beginning my portfolio.

I like skiing, fishing, hunting, hiking and spending time with my wife.

@Joshua Dorkin I've been a big fan of the site. Thanks for the hard work!