All Forum Posts by: Tim Mellor

Nathan, congrats on your success so far. When you say you flipped those houses, how did you do that without credit/down payment (hard-money lender)? Or did you wholesale these deals so you didn't need any cash? I've heard a lot of those street signs that say "Real Estate Investor seeking apprentice" are for the very thing you are looking to do - IE find someone with good credit or cash to purchase the home already found by the investor. A few things you may want to try include: 1. Make sure you tell family, friends, and anyone you meet 2) Attend or let people know in the SLC REIA group 3) Post on Bigger Pockets (check) 4) Put an ad on KSL

My only concern with what you said is that these don't appear to be legal duplexes so technically the owner is supposed to live in one unit.  I also own a property like this, and rent it out to an extended family and that works great so there are ways to make it work.

Feel free to message me with more details and I'll see if I could help.  I already have a bunch of properties so it is a bit harder for me to get traditional financing, but perhaps could be a hard-money lender and/or partner.

@Dillon Alder - My understanding is that short-term rentals (less than 30 days) are not allowed in any residential neighborhood in Provo.  Many people still do it and currently as long as your neighbors don't complain, Provo isn't likely to crack down on you (this could change at any time though).  In my experience with Airbnb, you can earn more than just doing a long-term rental, but it is more work so consider your time in the equation.  Where you are just subletting a part of your place, I think this approach works really well.  Best of luck and let us know how it goes if you proceed.

@Derek Herbst - Purchasing a multi-family in Provo is challenging because you are competing against a lot of other investors.  If you aren't having any luck with a multi-family, you may want to consider a single family home with a mother-in-law/accessory apartment.  Check with the city first and follow the zoning laws, but this could allow you to get into a place for much cheaper and have much less competition.  The main drawback in these is if you decide to move out, you technically can't rent out both units since you no longer live there.

@Tyler Bond, thanks for the question.  This home is actually doing really well.  We did a partial remodel on the home after the inherited tenants from one side moved out (cost around $50k and that unit sat empty for 3 months), but we were then able to charge $100 more per month in rent plus the new tenants pay their own utilities.  We still have the same inherited tenants in the other unit, and while their rent hasn't gone up much they are also paying their own utilities.  They are considering moving this year and we'll probably do the same thing on that unit.  Both units are currently rented to families (extended families to be more precise).  We haven't yet redone the roof, but we put in central air in both units.  

The home has increased in value by approximately $150,000. I haven't refinanced or pulled any money out because my ideal DTI ratio on my portfolio is 50-75%. I have now used both of my MACU 90 loans, so I will look at refinancing at some point to free one of those up again. I hope to keep this property in my portfolio for the long term.

@Mark Christensen, I’ve recently started doing some investing in Price Utah.  It seems like there are some positive things happen ending in carbon county.  I talked to one local who said investors are buying up Helper and trying to make it a Park City like town.  I’d love to get more info if anyone has any.  

I own two duplexes outside of the BYU approved housing zone.  I have grad students in one unit (they don't need an exception) and I was planning to rent another unit out to undergrad students after having them get an exception (which the students have said would be pretty easy).  The other two units (one in each duplex) are rented to families.  So I've got a pretty good mix of tenants.  My duplexes are 1.3 miles West of campus.  PM me for more information - I'm happy to give more advice as well as possibly selling.  

Welcome!  Please reach out with any questions or needs.  I am an agent/investor focusing in and around the Provo market (where I live).  Let me know if you'd be interested in grabbing lunch.  Happy Investing!

@Ray Hollins sometimes it's hard to get started, I'm glad you haven't given up.  Most of my rentals are here in Utah county and they have treated me well.  I would love to meet up with you and see if we can help each other out.  Keep up the battle.  

Nate, Welcome!  This is a great community of investors that will be here ready to help.  Where are your properties that you have under contract?  I'm not really looking too hard right now as I just purchased one, but please PM me the details.  Curious how you found the deals and also which mentor you used (I've been approached by a local and a national company for mentoring).

@Clint Roberts - I interviewed several brokers when I first got my license.  Very few flat fee brokers existed at that point, and I chose to go with AllPro, until about a year before they went out of business (I spotted some signs that made me nervous to stay with them).  At that point I looked again at a few including Exit Real Estate and chose Equity.  It is absolutely the best fit for me as I usually average less than 7 deals per year.  

There are two different brokers in Park City: Eric Lee (a principal broker) as well as Claudia Klawe.  See here for their contact information: http://equity-usa.com/offices.aspx.  I definitely recommend you meet with one or both of these brokers before making your choice.

Best of luck!  Feel free to private message me as well if you have questions.