All Forum Posts by: Victor Wasson

 Thanks John. 

I agree with being prepared to walk away. I'm not in a hurry to buy but the seller wants to move to Florida. Do they want to deal and move or keep negotiating with other buyers?.

Thanks for the advice guys. I will try and get someone there to look at the foundation. What items would you ask the seller to fix if they wont budge on price due to the other backup offers. For sure the furnace since that could be expensive if it ends up needing to be replaced?

Finally got an offer accepted on a duplex and I contacted a home inspector to schedule inspection. He inspected the property two weeks ago for a cash buyer that ended up not working out. I still want to meet him there to do another inspection so I can take part. He did offer to give me the report for $150 or do the inspection again for $350. I think the experience for me as a first time buyer and having another look with the inspector are worth the extra 200 dollars in case he may have over looked anything.

The listing realtor offered to give me the results of the inspection because she does not think he should be paid to do the same inspection again. My realtor thinks they may not like the inspector. She said they are willing to make some fixes but wont budge on price since there are to other  backup offers. The listing agent sent the following to my realtor. Hoping to get some thoughts how some of you would proceed or if there are any deal breakers here.

1 - Roof
Recommend flashing and counter flashing installed at chimney for maximum water protection.
2 - Grounds
Water off the roof concentrated in back part of house. Properly installed gutters and down spouts should help.
3 - HVAC
Furnace in 447 would not stay running for me. Recommend further evaluation. Some duct work appears to be wrapped with asbestos. Do not disturb. Recommend qualified removal.
4 - Plumbing
A pipe in crawl space under 447 appears to be covered with asbestos. Do not disturb.
2017 Reliance 40 gallon gas water heater. Hot side leaks. Water stains on the water heater. 445.
5 - Electrical
447 receptacle to right of kitchen sink does not trip.
Loose wires not protected in conduit secured to wall in garage. Recommend repairs.
A fan in 447 appear run using a remote. I cannot get the fan to turn on, and see no chain to pull.
A few receptacles upstairs and down at 445 have no power. You may consider having qualified electrician evaluate.
No power at dining room receptacle in 445. Unclear how many have no power. Too many items in way to see them all.
GFCI receptacle in 445 bath is not grounded. It does not trip using a tester. You may consider some updated wiring.
Knob and tube wiring appears still in service. One or more wire test live. Recommend qualified electrician update.
6 - Bathroom
Bath window in 445 falls in when opened. Tabs holding top in are damaged. Repair recommended. I suspect the parts to
be relatively inexpensive, and appears easy to replace. Safety concern since it hit me in the face when I opened it. $200
7 - Interior Rooms
Recommend connected smoke alarms in each bedroom, adjacent hallway or room, and at furnace. Missing at furnace in
447.
Balusters at top of steps are spaced a little more than 4 inches apart. Suggest repaired
Recommend hand rail installed full run of stairs at 445 for safety.
8 - Attic
Attic access in 447 is not in a safe place. It is partly over the stair well. Recommend moved.
9 - Foundation
- Cement wall next to the furnace in 447 looked wet, so I checked it moisture meter. It is over 20% wet.

- Recommend graspable hand rail entire run of steps to basement in 445.

- Part of foundation in 445 is dirt and it is wet.

- Unclear if cement wall was installed at part of foundation like in 445. Recommend a retaining wall to help support the wall. Wet floor at another part of 445 foundation. Fairly common in City of Manistee, however, recommend take steps to help make more dry.

- Part of foundation in 445 is boarded up. I cannot remove it. Seller needs to take it off for me to see what is behind the wall.

- Found what appears to be asbestos near where found on duct work

@Jeff Cagle

Followed the link to the guys story and it never says how he reallly did it or how he got started just that his first deal was huge now come to this webinar...

Thank you all for the great advice. Glad to have BP in my corner as new investor.

Thanks Michael,

I have been looking into local groups. What proof of ability to close do you require before you will bother spending time on a client? I have shown the above mentioned agents my pre-approval letter. I have been very specific about what I am looking for. I am not asking to see every property on the market. I run my initial analysis and have only asked to see properties that I think cashflow according to to that. I intent to make a fair offers and negotiate from there. I know I am a newbie and maybe I just have to deal until I have a couple properties under my belt and then agents will take me more seriously.

In the Northwest Michigan Market. The last agent is a non VA agent. Still feel like I missed out on 3 potential properties due to taking a week to ask me which I wanted to see. I literally sent the listings and said I want to see these. I get a message today that I can see one tomorrow but I can only see the vacant unit and if I'm interested they can schedule to see the rented unit. If I wasn't interested I wouldn't ask to see it. Now I have to see it twice which will probably take another week for them to work out. Sorry for venting but I thought these people were supposed to be the professionals. I totally see the importance of finding the rockstar agenda or why investors get their licences.

Would welcome any advice on finding a good agent. I have been looking for a small multifamily for about 3 week to a month. The first agent, recommended by the VA, didn't even call me back. The second has shown me one property I have requested to see in the last 3 weeks. Does not send me any homes tor multifamily listings that I might be interested in. I send properties I find. I had to reach out after a week and say just wanted to let you know I am still interested in the properties I sent over to you. It's been 5 days and just got a response that I can see a couple of them middle of next week because the agent have family in town.

I connected with another non VA agent and sent 5 duplexes I wanted to see. It took a week for them to send me disclosures and asked which ones I wanted to see. 3 of them are now under contract.

Am I just impatient or should they be working a little faster since properties like this are going g fast and there aren't that many to begin with.

Thank you all for your responses so far. I have seen some posts where people only had 23% of the rent figured for expenses and I am at 37% not including the taxes and insurance so thats why I thought I might be too high on those. I'll look at adjusting my vacancy percentages and drop the PM percentage a bit too. I do plan on managing myself at first but only plan on living in the property for the required year then renting so I may want to have it managed at that point.

Hello everyone,

Preapproved for 200,000 VA loan. I would like to use to fund my first multifamily deal by doing a house hack. The problem is multi family in my area seem to be few and far between and seem to be priced too high to cash flow. I am also looking at and analyzing some SFRs in the event I am unable to find a multi-family nearby due to the intent to occupy requirement.

I am wondering if I am being too conservative in my analysis and estimating too much for expenses which is why nothing I analyze cash flows unless it is close to or below 100,000. Anything around 80,000 or below are typically in questionable shape nd ight have a hard time meeting inspection requirements for the VA to approve the loan. See percentages of rents below that I am using for my calculations.

8% Vacancy

10% Property Management

9% Repairs and expenses

10% CapEx

Taxes: basing on previous year.

Insurance: Quote from my current insurance provider. Do most of you get a quote for every property you analyze or use a percentage? Feel like my agent will get tired of quoting so I can keep analyzing deals.

Can the above estimates be reduced for a property that has been remodeled recently and is going for a higher price? Are they even too conservative for the cheaper properties? I would hate to be force to settle on a cheap property and leave 100-120,000 on the table with a no downpayment loan.

Thank you for taking the time. Looking forward to your expertise and opinions.