My PM suggested having contractor relationships to use. I used them, and was a bit baffled by the craftsmanship. I wanted to close off the fire place, and was charged $180 for them to literally add a thin piece of wood in front of it.

Moving forward, I asked that if there’s sizable repairs, to align on what they’re doing so I don’t have different expectations for the quality of the work. My PM then said that I’m too hands on, and told me to directly talk to the contractors myself. So I did. This week, there was some misunderstanding on what I wanted to repair vs what was communicated to the tenants. The PM then tells me that I’m too hands on, and all of their other owners just let them do whatever is needed.

I told her I frankly don’t want to coordinate repairs, but I do believe aligning on expectations is fair if I’m the one paying for it.

I am wondering if I am being too “controlling”, and is it standard to be fully hands off and just almost fully approving repairs that come your way when you have a PM?

Hello, I am looking to sell a property to the tenants and have a question or if anyone has heard of this scenario. If a tenant wants to buy a house and take out a mortgage but lets say they don’t have the down payment money.

To keep things simple lets say we agree to sell house for $150k and need to put 3% down. Has anyone ever covered the down payment money ($4500 in this case) and increase the sales price to $154.5k? So they would take out the mortgage for $4.5k more.

Does that make sense? Or does anyone see any issues with that?

Edit: I guess a promissory note could be written up for basically a short term single pay loan. Basically just write up an agreement to pay it back in 3 months for example.

Thanks

We are a small shop with two partners and self manage our 50 units. Mostly multi family apartment units but several commercial tenants as well. We do not manage for other investors - we are primarily focused on acquiring/sourcing more properties to add to our portfolio.

We have an employee that balances transaction coordination tasks and property management tasks. We use appfolio to collect rental payments and organize vendor payments. This is manageable for our current portfolio. However, I am curious what the true capacity of a system like this is.

For other companies that manage their own rental units, how big is your team and how many units do you manage?

Most people run the numbers on a detached ADU and conclude Denver doesn't pencil. They're right about that specific scenario. A $300k build at $1,600/month rent is a 15+ year payback and that's before financing costs.

But that's not the only scenario and it's not the one most house hackers should be using.

Here's what the numbers actually look like on a basement conversion in the Denver suburbs:

Purchase: $525k duplex or SFH in Englewood or Thornton Down payment: $18,375 at 3.5% FHA owner-occupied Monthly payment at 6.15%: ~$3,100 Basement conversion cost: ~$85k at current contractor rates Rental income: $1,400/month Effective monthly housing cost: ~$1,450 after rent offset

For context, renting a comparable unit in the same neighborhood runs $1,800-2,000/month. You're building equity, paying less than rent, and the basement conversion pays back in roughly 5-6 years rather than 15+.

The mistake people make is comparing detached ADU construction costs to rental income in isolation. The relevant comparison is total housing cost with vs. without the rental offset — and that math is completely different.

Colorado also passed HB 24-1152 last year which removed most of the zoning barriers that used to make this complicated. The remaining friction is construction cost and permit timelines, which vary a lot by city.

Curious what others are seeing on basement conversion costs outside Denver — are numbers similar in other metros?

I know I can't tell the future and I'm not a particularly seasoned investor, but I can do math. For context, I own 7 rentals in my market.

My wife has a friend who got money from a divorce a few years ago, her ex husband had a rental that he owned from prior to their relationship and it has done terrific.

She has never owned anything herself and wanted to pull the trigger on a property. A few days after making this decision she found a property....

It's a 1/1 condo for $200k+ and she's putting $10k down. It has an HOA of $325/mo, taxes at $100, insurance at $50. She's planning on using a PM.

They are under contract and she reached out to us for a referral for an inspector, which I gave her. I knew right away it was going to be a terrible deal but I'm also happy for her for wanting to do this.

I looked up the rental comps and she'll be lucky to get $1450 a month. It is a REALLY nice area though. My wife asked her if she wanted me to go over the numbers with her but she declined. At which point, I feel like we did our part. I don't want to kill her hope or have her resent us or regret purchasing it. I think people learn more from going through things.

That being said, I showed my wife that she's likely going to lose about $500-600/mo before ever having to fix anything or replace a tenant or pay a months rent to the PM. She's a teacher....

So my wife feels terrible and wants to talk her out of it, but I told her to just offer her support, or maybe compliment her and ask what she calculated for rent (hoping that might help her look at the actual numbers).

What would you do?

Usually appraisers ask what improvements were made. I wouldn't know what to say to that. Any ideas?

As an example, say I buy a turn-key duplex for 165k in cash off-market. Maybe I make some tiny improvements. Maybe it's just some touch up paint. Say I cash out refi a month later. Say it appraises for 220k.

75% of 220k is 165k.

That would be a successful BRRR on a turn-key property, right?

We have a largish portfolio of single family homes. We need to increase coverage but with insurance being so high it will really eat into cash flow. What are you doing as a landlord for insurance? Are you using blanket policies with separate LLC umbrella coverage? I once looked into that and it was crazy expensive.

Single family house in a nice neighboorhood (B+). Purchase for $325k and needs probably another $30k of cosmetic work. Roof, windows, mechanicals are all 10 years old so that’s overall good in my book. My plan is put $25k down and $35k in repairs and closing costs so all in $365k. If I were to sell immediately it would probably sell for $425k after repairs.

I plan to rent for $2900-$3000 monthly and total mortgage+taxes+insurance would be $2,450.

Good deal or nah ? This is off market opportunity for now so not in MLS

Is there a competent national bookkeeping firm anybody recommends?

I have 50+ units in a small town and the bookkeeping options around here are uninspiring. I have found too many simple errors in my taxes (electing standard deduction when my itemized expenses were higher, for example) and need competent help. Willing to branch out.

I own a few rentals and I own a property management company. The amount of time that I waste on hearing sob stories is really starting to piss me off. It’s always the same shit spread out in a 20 minute conversation. 1. My last landlord was a SLUM LORD

2. Their credit report isn’t right and they’re contesting it

3. They just need a safe place for themselves and a billion kids

4. They get paid via Cash App and don’t have a real paystub.

5. Nothing that has happened to them is ever their fault.

Monthly Motivation Thread

Welcome to this monthly series. This post will repeat monthly, on the 21st of every month.

This is your opportunity to share your successes, accomplishments, as well as provide us with an update on your goals and strategies as they pertain to Real Estate Investing.

Example Questions:

1. What are you hoping to accomplish this month?
2. What method(s) are you using?
3. Have you closed any interesting deals recently?
4. What mistakes did you make, and what did they teach you?
5. Anything else you learned and would like to share with others?

Veteran investors feel free to provide useful tips and feedback to other people's goal, as well as some of your recent successes, or failures.

Just something I've observed on this sub when people analyze deals or ask for feedback. Lending rates on existing properties are anywhere from 2.65-7.8% depending on when the loan was taken out (going back 5 years). This has a profound impact on the total rate of return when you consider mortgage paydown.

For example one of my properties has a COC of 6.52% which is decent, but the TROI is 13.57%, which is great and largely thanks to the 2.75% mortgage rate. Whereas another property of mine has a 7.66% COC, but a TROI of 9.44% because the interest rate is 5.60%. So at first glance the second property looks like the stronger investment, but in fact it's much weaker than the first.

But this sub only ever discusses cash flow, and if loan rates are discussed I rarely see anyone ever actually calculate their value other than "that's a good rate, you don't want to give that up."

EDIT: I'm already seeing some confusion in the comments. TROI is calculated as "(net operating income + principal mortgage paydown) / property net value".

Basically the title. I know PE got involved… but man it sucks compared to what it was back in the day.

Curious how people here actually decide. Every time I finish underwriting something there's almost always one input I wish I'd been harder on. Vacancy, exit cap, rehab, rent. Sometimes I catch it, sometimes I don't.

A few things I'm trying to figure out:

Last deal — what's the one input you'd change if you could re-run it? And honestly, was it because the number didn't push back, or because you didn't want to see the problem?

Which of these do you actually trust most when you pull the trigger — cap rate, CoC, DSCR, IRR, monthly cash flow, walk-away price, something else?

Which one do you trust the least, and why?

Has someone ever talked you out of a deal you were already excited about? What did they catch that you'd missed?

For the BRRRR folks — how do you sanity check ARV before sinking rehab money? Feels like the biggest gotcha in the strategy.

Trying to learn. Want to know what the folks who've actually done a bunch of deals look at first. TIA.

Wholesaling five properties in a week or two. I need the cash to accelerate rehabs. I'm up to my neck in renovations on condemned properties I own.

Anyway, a friend's parents want to sell three of their duplexes. Example for one: The tax value is 190k, but I would need to buy it at 180k to meet my minimum investment criteria. So the only option is to wholesale it to another investor. Because they're not going to take less than the tax value.

Although, none of these are good investments above it. Example of that one under contract for 200k and I assign it for 205k... It only cash flows $80/mo with current rents and $280/mo at market rents. Cash on cash return is 8%.

Hi folks,
We have a small portfolio of 4 properties with 8 doors in total. A mix of SFH, Townhomes, and one MFH. We have low leverage at the moment.

At some point over the next few years, we are considering consolidating into a larger MFH, or potentially some configuration of multiple MFHs.

Can folks talk about what to expect during this process? The difficulty and danger of selling them all at the same time, using a QI, and the general risks that we might face? How do we best mitigate this? I we putting ourselves in danger of failure/large tax problems, or is it relatively common to do this? Maybe talk about timing as well? Like, do we meet with a QI well before the process starts... do we shop for the conslidation property well in advance, etc.

Any information, recommendations, and/or anecdotes you can give would be super helpful!

Thanks!

Real estate investing is a long game and nobody feels immediately rich after acquisition. But with years of rental increases, appreciation, and the tenant paying down the principal, it starts feeling "worth it".

So for you, how many years of holding did you really start feeling glad you held onto it (e.g., 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, 30+)?

I didn’t know whether to post this on r/personalfinance or here. The situation is that my wife and I are building a house, starting in about a month. Together our take home is $175k. With the house we are building, according to past monthly expenses, we are looking at having a margin of $1500 a month after both essential and normal non essential spending and retirement savings (stocks/non-realestate).

Here’s the issue… $1200 of the $1500 would be projected to be rental income. And we all know here that maintenance, vacancy or some other BS that cuts into your monthly take home from rentals seemingly every month. Bottom line is it’s unreliable and I am extremely nervous of the idea of the majority of my monthly savings margin being from this. Selling the property grants a source for a massive down payment. Or, a medium down payment plus cash reserves for thinking of another rental property closer to where we live.

That would be the other pain point. My rental is 1hr 15min from me and that alone makes everything so much more of a headache when it comes time for tenant changeover, fixing stuff, maintenance, etc. it’s pretty stressful to manage this way.

I don’t know, I poured my heart and soul into this thing to get it off the ground with many hours of sweat equity. I’m definitely not here to brag about it, but she is an absolute wagon of a cash cow compared to anything I would be able to buy today. Mortgage is 4%, only one side of the duplex needs to be rented to cover the mortgage, and it’s pretty nice inside. It would be extremely bitter to see it go away, but in reality with my situation, damn if it wouldn’t feel extremely sweet to not have to deal with it AND have the cash. What do you all think, take the money and run?

I bought this property a little less than a year ago. The tenants are 10 year living there, and the rent was significantly below. The tenants wanted to stay MtM so they can find a new place, I allowed it and then they came back to sign. They just renewed their lease, and it was a $150 increase to be closer to market rate. Still below market by $200~, but only because it’s not fully renovated. I paired the slight increase with LVP renovation.

The PM has been overly emotional about the tenants when talking to me, which is actually emotionally draining. The tenants are low headache, pay on time etc. I don’t think I’ve handled the tenant situation negatively, I’ve slowly increased rent, still below market, been patient with their requests on MtM so they can find a new place, paired increases with renovations, etc this place has been break even at best.

The PM sends me the signed lease for $150 below what we agreed on, I flagged this and also that there’s been no sign off on updating the deposit (deposit is the same cost it was 10 years ago). So I also flagged I need this updated.

He (the PM) gets back to me by saying they updated the rent to the right amount through an amendment but made the decision to not update the security deposit since they’re great tenants — I understand the strategy if the fear is they may leave, but I feel it is inconsiderate to the owner as I’ve asked explicitly. I would have been more fine with this had they consulted me on the decision first. Am I wrong to feel this way?

I have been buying 2-3 unit properties with low down payment, living a year then turning it into a rental and getting a new one.

I have no DTI or cash reserve issues. How many properties can I reach before lenders stop giving me the owner occupied loan?