All Forum Posts by: Zach Westerfield

Brokerage fee should have nothing to do with what type of entity you purchased the property in. Where did you find the property? Also, look at your signed purchase and sale agreement from when you went under contract. The details should be listed there

@Adrian King there was a recent post thread by @shannon smith on the Macon area, she gave some good insights. I would look it up!

@Mason Gibbs yes that is expensive money, but to answer your original question, I estimate holding costs up front and add to the cost do the project. So I have purchase price (including closing) + rehab + holding costs + selling costs (agent commission, closing costs) = project cost. No matter how I raise the money or what it costs, I raise that amount up front. Usually a combination of bank loans, private loans, personal reserves and 0% interest credit cards. If you are new don’t factor a holding period less than 6 months. If it’s a decent sized rehab go higher than that

@Justice Jacobs what do you need pictures of?

@Hunter Jones you can find 2% deals in Warner Robins, but it D class. It’s an asset class I don’t touch. For quality rentals I target 1%.

@Alex Freeman welcome! I did the opposite of you, I lived in destin and now live in Warner Robins. I invest in both markets so if you need anything feel free to reach out.

Im looking for a CRM and management software suite that I can grow into. I for a few years I have been using a combination of excel, microsoft project, office 365 products, and deal machine. I want to find a CRM I can grow into as my business expands, and keep as many functions as possible on one platform. 

My current business functions are

- Renovation management

- Deal acquisition (marketing and finding new deals)

- property management

- Investor relations

As I continue to scale, I am starting to develop an investor network, and currently have been using Hubspot to manage that. I have been using Dealmachines CRM and excel for marketing and deal management, and microsoft project and excel for rehab management. I believe platforms exist to combined a lot of these functions into one platform, and grow into as I add partners/employees to take on these roles. 

Im looking for any advice or experience people may have, I dont mind paying for the right service but a lot of the better ones have a learning curve so I would like to make an informed decision and plunge into learning it. 

@Manish Varma there are plenty of threads on there about the Macon, GA market. Be very careful when approaching this market. There are some cash flow opportunities there, but you HAVE to know the market very well. 

@Andrea D. are you planning to live in it? if not, your best bet is to treat it like a BRRR. Find short term debt, either private or hard money to buy it and rehab it, increase the value and refinance out. This will limit your down payment.

The other option is to live in one unit for a year. this opens you to FHA loans, VA loans (if eligible), or 203K loans which combines a rehab on an FHA loan.

if the numbers make sense for either of these strategies, this is a great way to get started. 

@Hector Salas Yes, PMI is required with such a low down payment loan such as FHA. the two programs I know that do not require PMI are VA loans and USDA loans, but you either have to be a veteran or buying a property in a rural area to qualify. Side note, USDA's definition of rural is not as small as you would think, so if you are not in a major city it might be worth checking to see if you qualify.

There are more and more banks also offering low down payment loans these days, but most that i have talked to will require PMI for anything under 15% down.

The other strategy is to treat the property like a BRRR. Find something that needs a little work, or has potential to add value. Buy with an FHA loan, then after a year or more refinance into a conventional when the price appreciation gives you 20% equity or more. This gets rid of the PMI. Just remember to factor PMI into your holding costs for the the period before the refinance. I have done this strategy before with a small multifamily.

Remember, the power of house hacking is you have different criterial. Even if your net situation is you are $100-200 negative cashflow each month, you are still in a better situation than having a $1800 mortgage payment. Hopefully you will be able to save the difference and continue to grow. In the meantime, you are building equity in your property by paying down the loan and hopefully appreciation. I wouldn't let the PMI stop you.