Vacation Rentals as Passive Income

As a real estate professional I get a lot of questions about the value of real estate as an investment. Real estate has become the foundation of my savings and investing, mostly through the acquisition of long term rental properties. 

One of the strategies that some investors use is owning vacation rentals, or short term rentals. I've had clients that have made quite a bit of money through vacation rentals, but you have to make sure to buy in the right area and it takes more maintenance than a long term rental, since you have to clean up and change linens after every tenant, and tenants stay from one night up to about a month at a time on average. Rent can go a lot higher if you buy in the right area, and even though there is more upkeep through cleaning, etc. your equity will often grow faster on vacation rentals. 

This is the tiny house of an artist friend I made in Costa Rica earlier this year. He used a shipping container as a base and other modern tiny houses as inspiration. He told me that renting out the loft above has been a great source of side income for him ever since he built it. 

Home Equity

Home equity. Every month homeowners are making their mortgage payment they are adding to their family's overall wealth. 30 years worth of home ownership ends up in a paid for home with 💰💰💰 real equity. 30 years of renting and you're lucky if you even get your deposit back! The earlier you can start, the better. It's not the best fit for everyone to buy now, but it might be for you. 

As you build up home equity your purchasing power increases. If you decide to invest in real estate in Logan or elsewhere in Northern Utah, you might be able to dip in to your home's equity to come up with a down payment. Starting now could give you a huge leg up as you progress throughout your career, wether that means you buy now with an FHA, USDA or conventional mortgage, or start a rent to own program to get on the path to home ownership. The time is now.

Logan & Cache Rent to Own F.A.Q.

Why rent to own in Cache Valley?

Rent to own is ideal for families that are not yet able to qualify for a regular mortgage, but that should be ready within about a year. In stead of moving from apartment to apartment, it's a way to get into your home now, and you can rent it until you qualify for a mortgage. 

What costs are associated?

If an applicant is accepted into the rent to own program, they pay an up front option money deposit. This deposit is like a down payment, and goes toward the purchase of your new home. It can range from a thousand to a few thousand dollars. From the time a rent to own buyer moves in

Why don't I just get a mortgage and buy a house now?

Part of the pre qualification process is meeting with a mortgage loan officer. If the loan officer tells you that you qualify now, there is no reason not to get a regular mortgage. We are able to help you through the home purchase process, and some buyers are able to skip the rent to own process altogether. 

Stuck on the Financial News?

The charlatans in the financial markets media have been spreading fear about Chinese politics, and how they're devaluing their currency right now. Do you know someone that's been taking part in the hand wringing? Are you suffering from whiplash while watching your stock portfolio over the last 10 or 15 days? I find that the best way to track a market is to have at least some money invested in it. I've watched the limited stock portfolio I have do the Harlem Shake over the past few days, and it's interesting to read all of the stock pundits' reactions.

My knee jerk reaction is to come on here and tell everybody that they need to take control of their portfolio. "Sell your stocks and buy real estate!" But I'm not sure that's my real goal. More than anything, I think we need to understand our portfolios. If your securities broker sent you an email this week telling you that China is launching a hostile attack via their currency and markets, make sure that they clarify for you what that means. How does that change their overall outlook on the market? What can you do in the next 3, 6, or 12 months to protect yourself and be ready if it gets worse? Sure, you can't control the stock market in the same way you can affect the real estate you own, but we've seen that real estate is subject to market forces just as much as anything else. Figure out what your risk tolerance is. Limit your exposure, and only invest in things that you understand. Don't understand how to protect and grow your net worth using real estate? Give me a call. Let's talk.

Financial Education

The topic of financial education has been on the front of my mind quite a bit lately. As I work with a lot of potential home buyers and sellers I find that there has been a lot of misinformation spread and there are a lot of misconceptions that are being perpetrated by people in the news and media. 

I believe that lack of financial literacy is one of the primary causes of the stagnant poverty levels and slow wage growth in the country. I remember sitting in a class in grade school where the teacher was telling us about the stock market. She said that it's unlikely that your stock portfolio will outpace inflation as time goes on, so the risks of investing in the stock market were simply not worth the rewards. The fact that she was wrong is not what frustrates me. Sadly, she might've been speaking from direct experience. Her losses in the market were probably more caused by a reluctance or inability to take control than by poor money managers.

Owning real estate takes work. It is naturally less passive that investing in stocks. Even if you are not the one unclogging toilets, you probably know the name of the company that manages your property and does that for you. When you buy real estate vs. stocks, you're much more likely to pay attention to the purchase process, and the condition of the asset you're buying. I understand that it is tough to manage, but it's not as tough as some think - and per hour, sometimes it's better than any side job you can get. 

I have met so many real estate investors that didn't understand real estate before getting in, but stuck with it and learned a ton in the process. That's how I got started too! That said, I think there is a much better way. I feel that lack of good financial education in schools is keeping a whole lot of people out of the market unnecessarily.

What are your thoughts? Are we in need of better financial education in grade school & college?

Cash Out Refi vs Line of Credit

Here's a question that came up recently, and I felt like it was good enough to share here. 

The question was "I have a lot of equity in my first rental property, and I'm ready to cash out refinance and buy another property with the cash I pull from the rental. My problem is that my commercial lender is quoting me 5.5% on a mortgage that has a 5 or 10 year balloon. Is that what other investors are seeing as far as commercial loan rates?"

You're on the right track if they're sending you to the commercial lender at the bank when you ask for a cash out refinance. Even though it's not a commercial loan, their retail lenders are all just going to offer the Fannie/Freddie options.

I don't see much of a problem with getting a new loan every 5-10 years if the money is good. You are still maximizing leverage, and the money ought to cost something! My suggestion though is that you ask if your commercial lender will give you a line of credit on the property. You didn't say why you want the cash, but my guess it's to buy more real estate! The credit line will still probably only have a 10 year term (sometimes you can borrow for 10 years and then you have an additional 5 or 10 yr period to pay it all back) but there are some huge advantages. 

• Many banks will charge very low or no closing costs on a credit line
• You only have to qualify for the credit line once - if you're flipping or cash buying and refinancing, you can rinse and repeat without even notifying a lender!
• Though the rates aren't fixed, you only pay interest on the cash you're using. That way you only have payments when you are actually using the credit line, and any additional cash flow can just go right back in to paying off the line.

This is pretty much the infinite banking concept, but with SO much more control. The property is throwing off so much more income than a bank account would, so why not just become the bank and collect all the interest for yourself?​

Home Inspections

Home Inspections. Do you need them? When do you order them? Some important info coming in from a question that I got from a client working on purchasing an investment property. This is important if you're investing, or buying your own home - Don't miss something before it's too late!

When buying a house, you have an inspection period wherein you are able to order all the inspections you feel you will need, and if there's a problem with the property you can pull your offer with no consequence. Power to the people! See the vid for additional details :)

Many Logan and Cache Valley home buyers have this question and others - stay tuned for more answers to common questions about buying a home in Logan, Utah.

Bear Lake Cabin for Sale

New Listing for sale - 962 Gammil Lane, Garden City Utah

$449,000

Bear Lake

Come breathe in the immaculate view of beautiful Bear Lake from large windows all throughout this home. This is an exciting opportunity to join in the excitement of Bear Lake real estate. Bear Lake is located in Northern Utah, surrounded by beautiful National Forest and is a growing vacation spot for national and international guests. Find out more about Bear Lake recreation and opportunity.

Snow Meadows Nightly Rentals

Snow Meadows is one of the few neighborhoods that allows homes to be rented out nightly. That makes for the perfect location of this investment, wether you plan to rent it out or live in it full time, or figure out the mix that works best for you! You could join in a rental pool on the nights you're not using it or take over management and list on VRBO or Airbnb as a nightly vacation rental. Earning potential for this ideal location is $550+ per night!

Two Full Suites

With three bedrooms upstairs and three bedrooms downstairs, you can split the suites for rental purposes. Or if you'd like to live here year round, you could rent out the other side as a vacation rental to minimize your housing costs!  

Beautiful Brick Exterior

One feature not to be overlooked is the fine masonry and brick work on this home. Winter weather in Northern Utah can be hard on wood exteriors and wood cabins can require constant maintenance and attention. The sturdy brick on this cabin home is designed to be worry free so that your investment will require the least amount of upkeep necessary.

Click Here for the full gallery

Other Important Features

• Price - $449,000
• 3656 Square Feet (1578 Basement, 1578 1st floor, 500 2nd floor)
• 6 Bedrooms
• 3.75 Bathrooms
• 2 Family Rooms
• 2 Dens
• Brick & Stone Exterior
• .34 Acres
• HOA fee $25/month
• Dimmable Lights Throughout
• Custom archways inside
• Knotty alder framing
• Walnut floors
• Maple cabinets

How much money do you need to retire?

How much money do you need to retire? If only there were a one line answer to this question! I see this discussed on a lot of blogs and news articles. In a recent post, I talked about the value of investing for equity growth vs strictly cash flow as a young investor. The goal with that is to grow a portfolio that will be large enough to accommodate the cash flow you hope to achieve in retirement.  

How Much Monthly Cash Flow do you Need to Retire?

This is an easier number to divine, though is going to be different for every person’s situation. Ideally there will be social security in place, and potentially other sources of income at retirement. I think it’s safest to plan for the worst and take care of all of your financial needs and goals from your retirement portfolio. Let’s say for this example that you want $120,000 per year in order to feel secure in retirement. That translates to $10,000 per month. 

Work Backwards to get your Equity Goal

Now we take our goal of $10,000 per month, (or whatever the number is you wish to make monthly in retirement) we can work back to look at what our target portfolio should look like. Look at what apartment buildings and other real estate assets return on their investments in your area. You’ll want to find the return on your investment, which essentially is going to be the net annual income divided by the purchase price. This is often called the “cap rate.” If the average cap rate in your area is 10%, then a typical $1,000,000 property owned free and clear should produce $100,000 per year, or $8,333 per month.

If you need $10,000 per month in retirement, and you feel like you can get a 10% cap on an investment property, you can calculate the size of property you’ll need like this: 10000 / .1 * 12  where $10000 is your cash flow, .1 is the 10% cap rate, and 12 months in a year. In this simplified example, you will need $1,200,000 worth of real estate in order to get $10,000 usable income per month.

Make your Plan to Work up that Equity!

So how do you get from where you are now to your goal? It would require a lot of properties to get to your goal if you’re just planning to get $100/month on each one. My suggestion is to take all of this into consideration while you’re investing along the way. What if you could get a property that is appreciating quickly? Or say you get a property that you can easily add a bedroom to or improve the rents, to force equity? That’s probably the best way to reach your goals. Find ways to accelerate your equity while you’re young, and prepare to sell off and reposition your equity for stable cash flow when you get to the point that you’re ready to live off of the income from your portfolio. Failure to see how this can happen, or to plan this out can leave hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table when you’re ready to retire.

Conclusion

This is a 100MPH drive by of a fairly complicated topic. Many investors develop this mindset over many years of looking at deals and planning for their future. All I’m trying to do here is plant a seed for understanding wealth management. If you start to take these ideas and follow what they mean to you and your portfolio, you can proceed in your investing career as well as your professional career with confidence that your future will be as secure as possible.

Want out of the Rat Race? Don’t Start out Buying for Cash Flow

Start with your Goals

Many new investors tell me that they want to get out of the rat race. Build up enough passive income to quit their job, or flat out retire. I’m right there with them! One thing I always suggest with new investors that I meet with is that they outline clear goals for their investing. There are a variety of reasons why I think this is important, but today I would like to focus on the importance of picking investments today that will benefit you most down the line.

Cash Flow may not be King

For all of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad readers you will know that a common strategy pitched for each one of these solutions is to buy rental units that bring in cash flow. For every unit that cash flows, you get closer to your goal of getting out of the "rat race" and living off of passive income. All you have to do is keep adding units. While I believe that this is a viable investing strategy, and one that I held when I was getting started, I no longer think that this is the most efficient way to invest for future cash flow.

Take Cues from Cash Flow 101!

I don't mean to throw Robert Kiyosaki under the bus here, in fact if we were to corner him right now I'm pretty sure he would agree with me. Along with reading his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I have also played his game, cash flow 101. I will describe it for anyone that has not played it. You start out as a rat with a career that is handed to you - like “Doctor, Lawyer, Janitor, Police Officer, etc.” In this game, you run around a tiny wheel, called the “rat race” and are given a pay check, required to pay bills and “doodads” and also given opportunities to buy “big deals” and “small deals.” When you buy a new deal, you can add any passive income that deal generates to your balance sheet. Once the passive income on your balance sheet is greater than your expenses, you are out of the rat race, and you don’t have to rely on your job any more!

Spoiler Alert! Here’s How to Win

Here’s a tip for anyone that plays the game. If you keep picking up small deals that bring in a little bit of cash flow ($100-200 per month) and hold them, hoping they’ll add up over time, you will be hurting by the time everyone else is out of the rat race. The way to win the game is to pick up small deals that appreciate quickly (e.g. buy a 3 bed, 2 bath single family home for $90,000), and flip them for a massive profit (sell for $150,000 just a few turns later.) You can also make these big capital gains deals in stocks, precious coins, and bootstrapped business startups. Once you have amassed $50,000 or more from capital gains off of these "small deals," you can start looking at the “big deals.” That’s where you find apartment complexes that bring in $1,000+ per month of passive income after all expenses. Take a look at your own balance sheet. Do you have a balance sheet? You ought to make one! How many deals that cash flow $100-200 are you going to need in order to quit your job and live exclusively on passive income? Contrast that with investing for equity growth at the beginning, and repositioning your portfolio every 10 years to fit your goals at the time.

Conclusion

I think that it is important to begin with the end in mind. Make sure that the moves you are making will get you to where you want to be! Think 5, 10, 50 years down the road, and make sure that the deals you are looking for today fit with that future you envision. Take this example from Cash Flow 101 and apply it to your own life, with your own finances and market. I’m interested to hear your thoughts! Please share them in the comment section below!

#1: Closing Costs

Many Millennials don't even know about closing costs! Listen in to hear more. This is from my podcast feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/SkylerSmithRealtor

Mobile Homes and Investing

Yesterday I had a conversation with a girl who runs a mobile home park. She's selling off one of the more run down homes in the park to replace it with a new one, to rent out. The home will need to be moved, and doesn't really need much more than paint and carpet, though new siding could do wonders for it.

I think that mobile homes are a very interesting investment, though I don't own any yet. Rent for a mobile home inside of a park isn't much cheaper than it is for a similarly sized home, yet a mobile home typically costs much less than a traditionally built home on a foundation.

This is the only mobile home park I know of in Cache Valley that rents their units out, most parks are exclusively owner occupied (they require that residents own the home they live in, and they make their money in rent for the lot.) I'm sure that management becomes a lot easier if you don't have to worry about filling homes with tenants, but the business model of a park that can make money both off of lot rents and also renting out homes really intrigues me.

I don't know - I do want to use mobile homes to leverage a land purchase, but I want to investigate the rent market more, that seems like it could be a risky move. I'd maybe consider renting out a unit like that while renting the lot it sits on, just because the exposure would be very minimal. More to come if that idea goes anywhere.

How to Get Started Investing in Real Estate

One of the best ways to get started in real estate that I have found, is to maximize your leverage with the bank using an owner occupied loan.

This is a technique that is used often by people who are buying their own houses to live in. The bank usually only requires between 3% and 5% at a minimum of cash down payment in order to buy your own home. They do require that you live in that home for a specified amount of time, often only a year or more. One thing that is often overlooked though, is that those same banks are willing to loan with the same low money down options on a duplex, triplex, or four unit building. Remember though, you will actually have to live in the unit for at least the required amount of time.

Normally, a bank will require 20% to 30% down on a loan for an investment property. That money can be borrowed, and as you expand your portfolio you'll want to use those options, but getting started with only 3-5% down is extremely attractive compared to this. In some ways it can improve the return on investment greatly. If you don't have your own home to live in yet, this is an excellent way to get started.

This is how I got started, and it worked out really well for me. I bought a 4-plex for $150,000, put only $6,000 down. Closing costs were wrapped into the loan, so I didn't have to put anything else down. After paying the mortgage and all expenses, I was getting $150 per unit per month in passive income. If your expenses aren't unusually high, you will recoup your initial investment in the first year with those kinds of numbers.

Many real estate investors that I talk with look back on their first couple of buy and hold deals as sometimes the best investments they've ever made, because they were able to use this creative strategy to get their foot in the door with relatively very little money down. If your family situation allows you to move into an investment unit like this, do it!

Low Dollar Land Banking in Northern Utah

The US dollar continues to fall, and regardless who holds the blame, it’s a problem that any saver will need to address. Saving large sums of money in a bank account, or under the mattress, or in the back yard can be terrible, as the hard earned money you put away every month is slowly whittled away by inflation year after year.

My goal is to get millennials excited about real estate. Between a bad job market and crushing student debt, it’s an asset class that is tough for millennials to afford. I would argue though, it’s also an asset class that’s tough for millennials not to afford (cue trombone slide.)

We say that the dollar is falling, but we need to remember, it’s falling compared to what? Prices are all relative. The dollar is falling  in value compared to gas, bread, milk, and just about everything we spend our money on. What causes this type of inflation? Generally, the excessive printing of money, which inflates the money supply. The trick is then, to hold your assets in a commodity that will not lose its value over time. We can see very easily that the dollar loses its value over time. Why do people keep dollars? Well, they can’t go bad like milk and cheese, so they're a better savings tool than those. Storing up wheat is not a bad idea, but it’s hard to get off your hands when you’re ready to “cash in” and spend your wealth on something else. I know some who are waiting for the zombie apocalypse and have stored their wealth in ammunition and blankets. That’s a cool and fun idea, but I choose to store up my wealth in real estate. In general, I prefer to buy up apartments that are ready to be rented out, but there are many ways to bank on real estate. Today I’d like to focus on using land to preserve the wealth you bring in from your career. Raw land is a very viable savings vehicle which rises against inflation and can be a very effective personal bank if used correctly.

Example: Bear Lake, a recreational area in Northern Utah currently has a lot of land for sale, with many cabin lots listing between $15,000 and $17,000. It is not unreasonable for a millennial to save up enough for that type of investment, or even to qualify for a loan to acquire the property. In Bear Lake, you could set up your very own land bank, with which you could easily short the dollar. The dollar value of most land is likely to rise at the very least along with the rate of inflation, because the dollar’s value is sinking *compared to* land. (Let’s not even consider the fact that all of this land is ready for development and the development of neighboring lots will likely cause values to rise.) Taxes are about $150 per year, and some of these lots have a $20 HOA fee to maintain roads and stub out utilities, but that could very easily be offset by renting out a tiny house or small cabin on the property. We’re talking something •very• simple, you wouldn’t even need one on a foundation to get started. Rent it out a half dozen nights a year and you cover all of your costs, and stay in it with friends and family all you like! I love vacations, but what’s more enjoyable than a vacation home that pays you to be there?

I mentioned earlier the problem of liquidity. If you’re storing most of your wealth in land or real estate, many would think it hard to access that wealth without selling off the whole asset. Many banks are willing to lend you money if it’s backed up by an asset you own outright. So if you need to buy a new car or make some other large purchase, you could borrow on a home equity credit line, sometimes called HECL or HELOC. Interest rates are usually lower for this type of credit line, and if you did indeed put that little cabin on your land, you could use the income from renting the cabin out to make the payment for you! I can’t be the only one tired of seeing .01% interest from a savings account. I prefer an asset where I have more control. I prefer to be the bank, at least whenever I can.

Deal Analysis Update

That condo I posed about last month still hasn't sold. The auction has ended twice now and I was once the second highest bider, and the highest the second time around. It looks like the reserve price is $45k, which is still a good deal for that property.

The only real issue is if there's meth in the home. After I went through, it looked pretty good inside, and it wouldn't take much to get it up to retail quality.

The auction is active again this week, and I'm thinking about bidding up to the $45k mark this time around. Hopefully they haven't changed the reserve price, I'm surprised nobody has snatched it up yet!

Deal Analysis - 2/25/15

Deal Analysis

$49,000 Condo on west side of Logan. ARV $55-60,000.

Price drop on this condo today! It was previously at $54,180 and will show up on my alerts tomorrow morning, but I happened to see it pop up tonight while looking at some other properties. Been casually watching this one, it's a bank owned "REO" and has dropped in price over the last couple of months. I think that with this new price drop it'll go pretty fast - there is very little inventory in Cache Valley right now compared to the normal level. Pretty much nothing is listed below $50,000 - but distressed properties have been taking a heavy hit lately. Seems like a lot of owner occupants are buying at the moment.

The Plan:

I placed a bid of $36,000 on this tonight, which is the opening bid. I think I can make this work if the pictures on the listing are accurate. I'll think about bidding more, but need to see the property first.

Fix & Flip?

Seems to be the quickest option. It's a great time to sell, I would want to make about $10,000 after everything. Not the most glamorous way to make a living, but this would be my first flip, and you've got to start somewhere.

Fix & Rent?

Depending on how high the option goes, this is my number one choice. The price is so low that the barrier to entry is also low. I'm not thinking of holding this for much appreciation above current ARV, but this will probably rent for 550-600, so it makes for a good cash flow property. I would buy with cash, there is a potential that I could get a line of credit secured by the equity later on down the line. This would pay better as a bank account than any FDIC insured nonsense. This could be my version of land banking, folks!

Photo cred to my pals at WFRMLS