Category Archives: Real Estate Investing

Buying, Rehabbing and Renting

Buying, rehabbing and renting is a great way to build a real estate portfolio.  We are finding that even with the unusual and tired hurdles that it takes to purchase these potential rental properties from the banks’ foreclosure inventory, or worse yet, HUD owned homes, (or perhaps because of) you can really set yourself up in a sweet equity + cash flow position.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE
On May 25 of this year we closed on a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch foreclosure property.  Our first contractor fell thru and we had our other contractors on other houses so we didn’t even get started on this house until nearly 2 1/2 weeks later!  Yet, it’s a great buy.  It sure didn’t look like it when we first walked in.  It needed everything.  The carpet smelled and the kitchen was a greasy wreck.  Broken bathroom tiles and leaky water pipes and gutters falling and on and on and on.

Purchase Price (including all closing costs and my buyer’s fee)
$30,473.00

Rehab Price (including all mentioned, my oversight fee and more)
$16,199.32

Total invested is $46,672.32

We had a tenant move in on July 27 for $875/mo after having put the house on the market on July 14.

This was a cash sale.  So let’s figure and investment return.

Expenses wise, we’ll add in $60/mo for property management, a lease-out fee of $437.50 (they get a discount because of the dozens of properties we work with them on), property taxes of $1,290/yr and insurance of $800/yr, $1,000 for future repairs and $200 for misc and we’ll come up with a year’s worth of expenses at about $4,450.

Income on this property for the next year will be $875/mo with no vacancy since we’re starting this clock on the day it’s leased and our previous vacancy time was built in to the rehab.

So, Gross Operating Income is $10,500
Total Operating Expenses is $4,450
Do a little math and you find that your Net Operating Income is $6,050.

There is no debt service (cash buy) so the Cash Flow Before Tax is $6,050.
There is no Principal Reduction
Tax benes help.  $6,050 – depreciation of approx $2,150

You can learn more about the 4 Benefits of Real Estate Investing here.

Therefore:

Cash on Cash return is 13%

Two important items to note;

  1. This is an all cash sale and rehab for this income property.  No leverage was used.  Therefore I didn’t calculate other ways of measuring return as Cash on Cash is the primary focus here.
  2. We haven’t spoken about “mine-able equity” down the road.  Within the previous 12 months two homes have sold that have pretty much the same floor plan and are in pretty much the same condition as the house we have (post rehab, of course).  One sold for $70,000 back in July and one sold for $82,500 back in May.  That means there is, at minimum, an additional $23,300 equity gain on the money!!!  No, you can’t get it out immediately or easily.  But it is there and it is real.

Want to talk about what we can do for your real estate portfolio here in Kansas City whether it be for buying, rehabbing or property management?  Feel free to give us a call.  We’d love to talk about it.

913.568.1579

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Filed under Investment Property, Real Estate Investing

Growing, Expanding and Working out the Details

As the real estate business continues to morph and change to keep up with the current realities I thought I would bring you up to speed on where I (we) are at.  And I also want to take a moment to apologize to a few of you who I wasn’t able to get back with these past 60 days because of all that has been going on.

I have been training Melissa Nickerson to come on board to help me stay compliant with all the various real estate requirements that demanded of licensed agents here in Missouri and Kansas.  She is working on getting licensed very soon and will be able to help out with any would-be real estate investors because I am and will continue to share with her my knowledge of real estate investing here in Kansas City.  Two of me has got to be better than one.  🙂

Melissa is also helping me to launch our property management business.  Yes.  I’m finally committing 100% to managing investment property for real estate investors looking for professional management.  The website isn’t all it could be, yet.  But heck.  We’ve been busy working.  I’ll share more about that in the near future.  I have a couple of young and excited agents ready to help me there.

As most of my readers know I specialize in working with real estate investors looking for professional help.  Now we will also be able to offer property management services to our listing, buying and counseling services.

And I would also like to remind people that we help people buy and sell “regular” real estate, too.  In fact, a real estate investor client was kind enough to recommend me to his folks and we close next Friday on a home over in Raymore, MO.

Thank you all for reading and supporting what I do for a living.  I hope you will like some of the changes headed this way.

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Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Property Management, Real Estate Investing

Now What is HUD Up To?

Received by email today concerning a HUD owned home we have an accepted bid on;

PEMCO has reviewed your contract for the above referenced property and has approved it for signature; however, HUD has issued a stop work order in the State of Missouri.  This stop work order only impacts new contracts being assigned to the current HUD Closing Agent.  Once HUD has advised PEMCO to proceed with new assignments to the Closing Agent, we will execute your contract and email it out immediately. 

Please note the time allotted for closing does not start until PEMCO has executed your sales contract.  At this time, we are unsure of when the stop work order will be released.  We will continue to notify you as information becomes available.

So what does this mean, exactly?  No time frame what-so-ever?  You just get to keep the $1,000 EMD until you decide differently?   Hell of a way to run a business.    Oh, I forgot.  Government doesn’t know how to run a business yet constantly offers advice on how we should.

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Still More Properties Than Available Money, But…

I am still finding more properties than the money able to buy them.  Seems you either need to have cash to purchase a Kansas City investment property or you need to have a full colonoscopy.   The rules for lending on an investment property are getting marginally more reasonable.  But still so many silly, reactionary rules that make no sense.

For instance, I had an underwriter tell me it’s Freddie/Fannie policy that if we are getting the rent deposits and pro-rated rents transferred on a HUD-1 Settlement Statement then we need full documentation and trace back to the original taking of the application or it’s considered a seller contribution.  What?

The only way to assure that the Buyer receives from the Seller the transfer of rent deposits and/pro-rated rents is to do it on the Settlement Statement.  But no, we’re told by the very same people (underwriters and Fannie/Freddie) to handle this transaction out of closing that prohibit financial transactions outside of closing!!!!!?????!!!!!!

Seriously, what is to stop the Seller from saying, just after closing, “That’s it.”  After all, he’s now complied with his obligations of the sale and is no longer bound to transfer those dollars.  Fannie/Freddie….you are making a huge mistake here.  But then again, you should be used to hearing that by now.

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High Maintenance or Low? Decide Carefully

I went out with some experienced Kansas City real estate investors today.  And it’s always an eye-opening experience when I do.  First, I learn from my clients as much as they learn from me.  Second, sometimes I’m shocked at what people are thinking.

For instance, we saw 5 houses today.  Four of the houses for sale were all pretty similar and would make great rental property.  They were all ranches (three had basements) and were all fairly simple to maintain.  The 5th house was by far the cutest.  It had that Grandma’s house feel to it.  Easy resell, which is certainly worth quite a bit.

But the roof had at least 3 layers.   The outside was stucco.  And the walls were plaster.  And the basement was rock.

No biggie.  There are lots of houses like that in the Kansas City area, and probably your area, too.  But the plaster walls and rock basement and many layers of roof mean a lot of maintenance issues as the years will roll by.

When you are looking at buying investment real estate do you keep maintenance in mind?

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Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Real Estate Investing

Passive Real Estate Investing Vs. Job Replacement

By in large I work with people who are interested in passive real estate investing.  To be sure I also work with real estate investors who are looking for rental property to generate enough cash flow that they can replace their income.   But honestly, that’s a lot harder than people even begin to realize.

What is Passive Real Estate Investing?
Passive real estate investing is looking for quality rental properties that are self-sufficient as far as paying for themselves, in neighborhoods that will move along or a little ahead of whatever economy we are in and will attract a large, stable tenant pool.  These rentals will generate some cash flow every month…especially with the financing requirements for real estate investors today.

The passive real estate investor is an individual that may manage these homes him/herself but is just as likely to turn the income property over to a professional property manager.  This person is well employed with enough disposable income to afford down payments for Kansas City real estate investing.

Can I Replace My Income Investing in Real Estate?
Maybe.   But not likely.  Not anytime soon, anyway.  I work with a few investors that buy lower end rental properties ($50,0o0 and below) that have an eye on “retiring” from their jobs someday.  But as time moves on they begin to discover that the bar always moves.  They use their professional incomes to finance the acquisition and rehab of these rentals and in order to gain more of these properties they need to keep their income.

One young (just turned 30) real estate investor I’ve been working with for nearly 6 years has acquired 34 doors.  A solid mix of fourplexes, duplexes and single family homes.  He generates quite the cash flow.  But in order to get to his income goals he has to manage himself on top of his professional life.  Little time is left for a girlfriend and social life.  I keep trying to get him to hire a property manager and meet a nice girl.  🙂

“It’s harder than I thought to get to $10,000 a month in rental “profits.”   Duh, it’s very hard.  But then again, a six-figure income is always hard.

real estate investing workshop = freePassive Is the Way To Go For Most Would Be Real Estate Investors
I work with professionals each and every week looking to secure a retirement, not replace their income.  Passive real estate investing in perfect for that.  You don’t have to own 20 properties.  You don’t have to chase rents.  You certainly don’t have to fix toilets.

What you do have to do is find the right rental property for your situation.  You have to hire and manage a quality property manager and you have to understand that wealth through real estate comes through the passage of time and cannot be found on some “SYSTEM” you found for only $299.95.

Passive real estate investing is conservative.  It’s boring.  It’s not something you’ll really brag about at parties.  But twenty years later, you’ll wake up and realize your retirement is so far ahead of those that didn’t do anything.

Do the math.  Prove me wrong.

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Open Letter To Kansas City Real Estate Investors

Are you looking to buy or sell investment real estate in the Kansas City metropolitan area?  Then I’d like to talk to you about your choices.  Selling is tough, but can be done.  Buying is ripe.  Never have I seen investment property numbers work as well as they do now.

NEED or WANT TO SELL?
Multi-family homes are a tough sell now days because of the financing standards for real estate investors.  They are much more stringent than a few years back.  Having said that, multi-family homes still move if priced with today’s reality in mind.  If you are at a point in your real estate career that you are looking to trade up, trade out or just looking to liquidate your holdings, I’d like to give you a full market analysis on what you can expect.

real estate investorNOW REALLY IS THE TIME TO BUY
I’ve seen the commercials, too.  It’s always the time to buy, right?  I can tell you that I believe we are about as flat as we will ever be in the KC market.  Oh, we may lose another one to two percent (market wide) but that risk is far out-weighed by the current opportunities available.   The real rewards are for investors looking to buy, rehab and hold.  Other opportunities exist, as well.

INVESTMENT PROPERTY WORKSHOP
I will be holding an Investment Property Workshop on February 26, 2011 from 9:30 to 11:30 am.  There is no charge for the workshop nor will there be materials for sale.  It’s an opportunity for us to discuss the basics of real estate investing and what to look for in a quality rental property.  To reserve a seat please give us a call or an email.

ABOUT CHRIS
I have been a licensed, professional real estate agent since May of 2002.  I have specialized in working with real estate investors from pretty much the start.  To date I have assisted hundreds of REI buyers and dozens and dozens of REI sellers with their needs.  I believe in conservative, math based real estate investing.  A little bit of art mixed with a whole lot of science, if you will.

You can read more about me and my real estate beliefs on my Kansas City Real Estate Investing website that you can find at http://www.BBQCapital.com

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