How many are Real Estate investors/landlords?

[Maidensong]

We used a bonus from my DH's job to fund our first rental property's down payment. At the time we lived in another state, but knew we wanted to RE in the town where the rentals are located. Since we were distance owners, we used property managers until my DH chucked his job and we moved to our forever home. Some managers were better than others, but none of them were total disasters or dishonest with us. They received 10% of rent collected each month.

We've managed all 10 units since mid-2014. Usually it doesn't take much time. We hire a lawn service at the ridiculously low price of $85 to mow all 10 units. We have established a list of trusted tradesmen--plumber, contractor, painter, electrician, HVAC etc--and use them instead of trying to jerry-rig things ourselves. Toward the end of the month, the DH puts together a "rent letter" because believe it or not, some folks forget that rent is due EVERY month. Half of our tenants pay their rent electronically through Cozy.co which is a great free service that pulls the funds out of their account and deposits it in ours. We can see when they have initiated payment and know its coming. The other half take their rent payment to our bank and deposit it there. We receive deposit slips by mail from the bank to verify payment. Very occasionally, a tenant will bring their rent to our home.

I'm intrigued by HaveEnough's real estate loans. I assume these are single family homes. I wonder what would be involved in turning duplexes into townhouse type properties so each side could be sold individually...

Are there are laws restricting private lending? It's an interesting idea I'd like more info about for on down the road. Any good websites with info on this?

 

[NgineER]

As someone saving for first investment property down payment:

-how much work is the first investment property while working full-time (40hr/wk)?

It depends, if it needs a lot of work or not. If you are hiring fixing out it is still some work, but less so than if doing everything yourself.

We do not use a management company, our properties are all LTR and we have 5 multi families currently.
Management companies usually want to take as much as possible, but some are good. I have self managed up until now on top of 40-50 hour work week. I recently reduced to 80% because my 5 properties make up for more than the 20%.

Our first property was not our primary. If I had started out earlier (before kids) that would have been the route I would have taken. Much more favorable down payment terms and interest rates. I would probably still favor multi family rather than SFR.

Good luck, landlord if has been very good to us so far.

 

[pjigar]

My first investment property was a previous primary residence.
I used property management companies for the others, it is still work managing the manager. A bad one will rip you off, fees for everything, don't care about your money only profit.
Mine were all long term.
I owned mine while still working, with the management company it was not difficult, just have to watch every bill, every repair and give them as short a leash as possible. For example, they will want a $300-$500 repair amount that they will not call for and it is automatically approved. I had a management company break up a plumbing bill into two so they did not need approval. I have also had three of these on the same property in a month.

I always joke that it's either owner who makes money or the management company! I have always managed my own rental and so far it has been a smoother ride.

 

[pjigar]

As someone saving for first investment property down payment:

-how much work is the first investment property while working full-time (40hr/wk)?

[/QUOTE It depends, if it needs a lot of work or not. If you are hiring fixing out it is still some work, but less so than if doing everything yourself.

We do not use a management company, our properties are all LTR and we have 5 multi families currently.
Management companies usually want to take as much as possible, but some are good. I have self managed up until now on top of 40-50 hour work week. I recently reduced to 80% because my 5 properties make up for more than the 20%. Our first property was not our primary.

If I had started out earlier that would have been the route I would have taken. Much more favorable down payment terms and interest rates.

Good luck, landlord if has been very good to us so far.

SFH are much less demanding for management. Must-family takes more time both due to number of units as well as churn. I haven't been to any of my SFH rental over a year. May be a call here and there for setting up remote work orders.

 

[Winemaker]

As someone saving for first investment property down payment:
-how much work is the first investment property while working full-time (40hr/wk)?
-Do you use a management company or do they take too much money and it's manageable?
-STR or LTR?
-Was your first investment property your previous primary residence?

1) Great initial work/planning helps mitigate future time. My w*rking schedule back in the day was 22/28 12 hour days. 6 days off in 4 weeks; not necessarily weekends or holidays, so I made sure I didn't have any midnight calls. We purchased a duplex in May 99, and got to work. We replaced all valves, supply lines, faucets, drain lines, fill valves in both sides. Put R38 insulation in attic, caulked all woodwork to make clean seams when painting, replaced all flooring and carpet. Made all windows operable and airtight when closed, painted everything with good paint not cheap stuff. Started taking applications that August. Rarely do we ever get calls, but I cut the grass when needed, to make my presence known that I'm watching my property. If I see someone, I ask if anything need done or fixed. Most of my tenants stay with me for years, if and when they move, I repeat the above, but would replace 3-4 windows with Andersens each vacancy.
2) No management company ever.
3) No, we purchased unit as an investment property.
4) The units coin money.

 

[HaveEnough]

...
I'm intrigued by HaveEnough's real estate loans. I assume these are single family homes. I wonder what would be involved in turning duplexes into townhouse type properties so each side could be sold individually...

Are there are laws restricting private lending? It's an interesting idea I'd like more info about for on down the road. Any good websites with info on this?

I lend on SFH, new construction and an occasional duplex, triplex or quad. Largest "complex" was 5 duplexes, although these were "cheap" duplexes in a small town. Total was about 300K. I'll lend for the property and rehab amounts. Rehab funds are escrowed and paid out as work is performed.

There are laws restricting, the largest issue is lending to individuals, there are various consumer protections. So, you must lend to a corporation, LLC, entity if you want to do this a lot. Do your research on it, I believe you are permitted to originate 4 loans a year to individuals, but you have to be careful of rates and usury laws. This can be risky, you have to know what you are looking for in property evaluation.

I had some good mentors, no websites that I used. I did become active in our local Real Estate Investors Association (TREIA) in the Triangle (RTP, Raleigh)

 

[tenant13]

I own two rental flats in Poland (where I grew up). Real estate market is completely different there (no property taxes for example) but the best part is being far removed from whatever cyclical mess US economy goes through. I charge slightly below the market but as a result I have solid tenants that pay on time and maintain those places in great shape. I'm looking at buying a property in Portugal and perhaps moving to Europe.

 

[partition1]

If you are a landlord, are all your tenants continuing to pay in full or have any of them stopped paying and essentially squatting on your dime at this time? Are you experiencing any cash flow issues as a result of tenants not paying and inability to evict them due to moratoriums in place?

We haven't had any problem collecting checks but did reduce one tenant's rent for the balance of the year to help her out (our choice).

She's a front-line worker holding two jobs to manage and did come down with COVID from one of her clients.

 

[iRent2u]

Out of 48 units. (41 residential 7 storefronts) One who has not paid in 4 months. (Antique Shop) no one needs antiques. One who still owes for this month. No mortgages, FT maintenance man. We stay on top of all maintenance. Our goal is to treat our tenants the way we would want to be treated. Feel very blessed.

 

[Archman]

We own a real estate ETF and a private REIT.

 

[aja8888]

We own a real estate ETF and a private REIT.

I hope none of them are invested in Shopping malls.

 

[gauss]

"Own and rent out single family home(s)."

Just 1 condo - inherited it from my father and thought it would be a good chance to learn about real estate investing.

-gauss

 

[Archman]

I hope none of them are invested in Shopping malls.

The ETF has a 2% stake, the REIT has O%

 

[projectmaximus]

We have about 80% of our NW in REIs. Which is actually down from about 95% not too long ago. This is spread out over REITs, vacation rentals, single or small multi-family, and commercial. REI is how we are "FIRE"

If you are a landlord, are all your tenants continuing to pay in full or have any of them stopped paying and essentially squatting on your dime at this time? Are you experiencing any cash flow issues as a result of tenants not paying and inability to evict them due to moratoriums in place?

It's not pretty, although it certainly could be much worse. 1/2 of our commercial tenants are behind by multiple months or had multiple months waived already, our short term rentals were down by about 35% across the board for March-June. Our traditional rentals are mostly unaffected (had a couple late payments that have been caught up) but I do think some of our vacancies have been longer than normal.

I hold two promissory notes on residential real estate. Does that count?

Yeah, notes should be an option as well!

 

[jkern]

My wife and I have a total of 4 rental condo's. So far all the tenants have been paying their rents in full.