All Forum Posts by: Walker Kirkikis

@Avery Brendle Hi Avery! Welcome to the wonderful world of real estate! You are in the right place to network and learn as much as possible!

I live and invest in Durham so feel free to message me.

Walker

@Bernard Sanga Great question! I have used Home Depot LifeProof- Serling Oak for the past 3 years. It's a light color that allows the space to look bigger and hides dust and scratches. This product comes with the underlayment attached which is great but I have noticed this allows the planks to move ever so slightly at the ends which can lead to the plank coming up. I am interested to see how this product holds up in a 10 year timeframe. 

Regarding paint colors: We use HD Silver Bullet (A blue grey) or HD Ultra Pure White ALWAYS FLAT for walls as it hides imperfections.

Good luck!

@Michael Fortier I am a firm believer in the best way to learn is by doing. That is exactly what I did for the first 3 years. I learned a lot about the roles of a PM and I now know the ends and outs of managing a property and what to look for in a PM. You should know these things so you can call BS down the line! 

On the flip side, it is very difficult to scale your real estate business if you are self-managing your properties. The amount of time spent managing the day-to-day hinders the ability to grow the portfolio/ scale the business! 

If I started all over again, I would manage the property for 1 year and learn, then hire a PM, then SCALE!  

Good Luck! 

@Jeremiah Fennell @Sean H. is right. It could be a deal but I would connect with a broker in the Goldsboro market to confirm the area and the ARV, then get at least two contractor bids for the rehab.

Good Luck!

@Ryan Hazelwood 29 years old. 7 total units. 1 triplex, 1 quad. Now that they are stabilized and under property management, TIME TO SCALE in North Carolina! 

@Roy Nash Having worked in the rental platform industry, some are clearly better than others. Speaking strictly as a rental investor and PM in Chicago and Raleigh-Durham markets, Zillow and Facebook Marketplace are the clear leaders in the market for leads. As mentioned already, Zillow Rental Manager offers a great streamlined interface and data has shown renters searching through Zillow are looking at higher rental price points compared to other rental platforms. There is no debate that you will get a lot of leads through Facebook Marketplace as everyone is on Social Media/ Facebook but the lead quality is not as strong compared to Zillow. Zillow, Apartments.com, and Facebook Marketplace have been great for us the past 3 years.

@John Warren It will be interesting to see how Zillow does with the new monthly fee per unit in the Chicago market as this could get very expensive very quickly for big operations. I anticipate many landlords and management companies will outsource the leasing side of the business or go to free rental platforms.  

Hi Chicago BP! 

We are going to be refinancing out of our FHA loan to get rid of the Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) and at the same time going to HELOC the equity in the property for potential future investments on our owner-occupied 3 flat in Chicago. Wondering if anyone has had a good experience with a lender that they would recommend for a refi/HELOC in Chicago?

Thanks in advance!

Walker

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

3 Unit with a total of 6 bedrooms/3baths along the Blue Line "L" in Chicago.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Goal was to house hack, live for free, cashflow, and gain equity in the property to start building my REI business.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Through investor-friendly broker. Identified the asset was undervalued and submitted an offer sight unseen. Got the building under contract before 15+ showings the next day.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA owner-occupied 30 year fixed.

How did you add value to the deal?

Improved unit I was living in and waited until turnover on other units. During turnover, improved units to what renters are looking for in current market.

What was the outcome?

Living for FREE + forced equity + cashflow

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was a big learning experience that I would not have gotten via online/books. It goes to show that you learn the most by being active and running conservative numbers. I should have vetted contractors better to ensure there was no grey areas on the scope of work. ALWAYS spell out everything in the contracts with contractor or they will take advantage of you.

@Colin M. I could not agree more with @Michael Lewis Lee. A couple things come into play here:

1. If you have the ability/money to buy 2-4 unit building while having a good amount of cash reserves for any repairs/ maintenance that might come up, you are on the right track. (Do not over-extend yourself!)

2. Having 4 units instead of 1 SFH allows you to still bring in rent money even if 1 unit is vacant for a month unlike the 1 SFH.

3. One of the most important (IMO) is economy of scale. For MF, you mostly likely will have 1 roof, one entry/ lobby, etc. instead of 4 single family with 4 roofs, 4 mechanicals, 4 of everything! 

Welcome to the wonderful world of REI!

@James Johner Congrats on the success! It's great to hear you are able to scale even with a 9-5! Keep up the great work and look forward to hearing more in the future!