All Forum Posts by: Yaniel Suarez

Quote from @Andrew Syrios:

Sounds like a solid deal. Congrats Yaniel!

 Thanks Andrew! I'm hoping to start the snowball effect and buy some more soon. It took 2 years of overtime to purchase this. 

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $529,000
Cash invested: $132,250

3/1 and 1/1 duplex in Miami, FL. Purchased with a 25% down payment. The property is rented out to section 8 tenants for a total of $4700 currently. The rent for the 3/1 is $3000 and the rent for the 1/1 is $1700. Section 8 is currently sending $4091.00 to my bank account on the first of the month and the total tenant portion is $609.00. Expenses: Mortgage: $3655.55,Property management: $470, Water: roughly 100/month. Total expenses: 4225.55. Cash Flow: 474.45.

Appreciation: 15.5% year over year from May 2023 to May 2024.

Forced appreciation: New paint job for the exterior of both units performed in 2024, Rents raised to market rents in 2024

Pain points: Collection of the tenant portion on time has been an issue. I have had to threaten eviction with 3 day notice.

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

The Zip Code of 33147, Miami is experiencing gentrification. I wanted to purchase in an appreciation market.

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

This was a deal on the MLS. I found it using Redfin and Zillow. I wanted to make sure it cash flowed from day one after the 25% down payment. The deal was analyzed using the Bigger Pockets buy and hold calculator.

How did you finance this deal?

Wells Fargo conventional loan with a 25% down payment.

How did you add value to the deal?

Exterior paint job in 2024: Sherwin Williams Repose Gray for the body, Gauntlet Gray doors, and Pure White trim.

Raised Rents to Market Value: The total rent was 2367 when purchased and only the 3/1 unit was occupied. The 3/1 rent was raised from 2367 to 3000 and the 1/1 was rented out to a new tenant for 1700. Both are section 8 tenants.

What was the outcome?

Current cash flow of 474.45. The cashflow is not great but this is a Zip code with extremely high appreciation (15.5% year over year from May 2023 to May 2024).

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The main challenge is collection of the monthly tenant portion on time for the 3/1 tenant. I prefer not to evict so long as the portion is sent every month, even if it's not on time. Section 8 is currently sending 2496.00 for this particular tenant and her portion is 504.00.

Quote from @Joshua Noth:

@Yaniel Suarez I'm no expert in the South Florida market, but generally speaking, both offer their own benefits. MFH's big edge over SFH is their economies of scale. They just may require more "work" in terms of PM, repairs, etc., but that's not always the case either. I typically recommend MFH *if it is an option*. Some investors cannot afford the higher required down payment, or the extra PM rates, and so on. At the end of the day, the most important step is actually getting a property (and making sure it's a good deal, of course!)

In terms of getting a PM, it is not essential, but is very helpful.  If you are investing locally, you can certainly do it yourself, but it can become a decent amount of work, especially upfront.  Finding tenants, replacing their appliances, fixing the stuff they break when they move in, all those fun things.  

@Joshua Noth Thank you for the great advice. MFH is what I'm leaning toward at this point since I have the opportunity to save while living with my mom. The higher down-payment and PM expenses shouldn't be an issue with the amount of over-time I'm working. How rare is it to find a MFH that will cash flow from day one after closing? I'll be putting 25% down using a conventional bank loan.

@Drew Sygit Thank you for the solid, actionable advice and warning. I'm leaning more toward just putting 25% down on a duplex and hiring a PMC. I need the property to cash flow from day one. 

Quote from @Michael H.:

I've owned SFH, multi-family, and townhomes. I currently own and manage 8 doors mixed multi-family / townhomes. IMO multi-family has the best cash flow, but townhomes have been much less work due to the HOA taking care of a lot (or some) of the maintenance.

I personally have been using TenantCloud for a little over a year and it's been pretty great. I was using Cozy before that. I would recommend you get some management platform that's either free or low cost that has an app that allows tenants to pay via the app. Making it easy for tenants to pay, is always a good thing.

@Michael H. Thank you for the advice and I'll definitely check those two property management software out. Managing 8 doors yourself without a PM company is very impressive. I think I'd lose my mind with the constant phone calls and rent collection while working as a nurse. 

Quote from @Malgorzata Sadowska:

@Yaniel Suarez PM would be a convenience (with the amount of work you are doing, might be a much needed convenience :) 

Is this your first RE purchase EVER (and you want to house hack?) OR purely an investment?

I (and my landlord clients) have used all kinds of apps to collect rent. 

@Malgorzata Sadowska This would be purely an investment and it's my first RE purchase ever, not house hack. Since I have the opportunity to live with my mom I'd rather just have more equity in the property by putting 25% down as well as more cash flow. I'd love to start working with agents as soon as I can. I'm still not pre-approved for a loan since I don't have 2 years of tax returns working as a RN but I'll keep your name at the top of my list. I know you need those requirements to take me as a serious client : ) I'm leaning more toward purchasing a duplex rather than SFH.

Hello BP community. I'm a 27 year old full-time RN (working on average 91 hours/week) with 100k in savings looking to dump into my first real estate investment. I'm looking to put 25% down on either a turn-key SFH or Duplex in the South Florida market (Hollywood or Miami). Which property type was your first and what would you recommend? I know that multifamily has the potential to provide more cashflow but the stability of long-term tenants with single family homes is very appealing since it seems more hands-off. Is a property management company essential for multifamily or just a convenience? Also, do you guys use apps such as cashapp or venmo to collect rent? Just curious. Thank you for taking the time to read this and happy 2022!

Welcome! I also only learn by doing things by trial and error. What are some good cities to invest in here in South FL? Plenty of people I know have invested in Hollywood. I know that Ft. Pierce has some of the best cash flowing properties available but that's a bit far from me. I'm curious as to which markets other South FL investors are buying properties in. All the best!

Find an investor-friendly agent who specializes in multi-family and who has access to all of the MLS data in your area. Zillow and Realtor.com don't show nearly as many properties as what the agents have access to.