The one who asks is a fool for 5 minutes; the one who doesn’t - for a whole life.
Islander, I’m impressed with your dedication. I’m very new at this, actually done alot of reading but too scared to jump into it. Well, where could I get leads like you Islander? Or would you like to share your 15k leads? I’m looking for an investment property that can build equity over time and does not have to bring me any income, but I do not want to pay out of pocket expenses every month though…
Appreciate any suggestion…kv ???
Why settle for one that doesnt bring you money? 
Well like the rest of the crowd Ive been following the story line and those that have noted my posts may have thought campbellgroup is about to do the same thing.Well your right .Im about (I think) 2 weeks away from my last day on the J.O.B. Our plan is to take $150,000 heloc on our home and buy a 14’ X 40’ commercial building that has a 2/2 house with it in a small town and rent the 2/2 for $500 + utilities & open a laundrymat for cashflow ,Building and house asking price $56,000 total out of pocket $9000 for down and closing on bldg. and $40,000 to install laundrymat .Plus purchase a hud home cash $35,000 needs $5,000 rehab and $9,000 holding costs for 1 year ( I hope it doesnt take that long to sell)retail value low $70s plus buy another 3/2 home with a tiny 14’ X 20 commercial building for $35,000 this we would mortgage also ,total out of pocket $5000 + $10,000 rehab and $20,000 to install arcade in building for cashflow and rent 3/2 for $600 plus utilities
Lets do the math
Building 1 out of pocket $9,000
Hud house $54,000
Laundrymat $40,000
Second House and building $35,000
SUBTOTAL _________________________
$138,000
Now I need a place to live
buy house for $90,000 total cost $8,000
TOTAL ___________________________
$146,000
Cost per month
Bldg 1 $0mtg covered by rent on house + income from laundry
HUD covered for 1 year
Second house and bldg +$200 from house rental +arcade income
Our house $900/ month hopefully covered by income from laundry and arcade
cost of heloc $1100/month covered by laundry and arcade
Flip hud for $15,000
Buy another
and another and another
some facts - Town pop. 8500
- 1 rundown laundrymat with 1/2 the rusty old machines not working
- Just built new hospital and middle school in last 5 years
- No arcade in town
WELL WILL IT WORK?
ps. islander I feel Im in the same boat as you, so I thought I would throw my idea with yours since you have so much activity here and to maybe give ya a different perspective .dont mean to steal your steam.
Campbellgroup,
This looks VERY optimistic to me. It seems to me that you’re counting on a LOT of income from the laundrymat and arcade. This seeks improbable to me in a town of only 8,500 people. You talk about the broken down existing laundrymat, but what do you think they will do when you start building one? The may just upgrade their facility and compete more aggressively. At any rate, if you haven’t done a thorough cash flow projection, I’d strongly suggest doing so. Where will your money come from for living expenses? Who will loan you money once you’ve quit your job? What are you doing for reserves if anything goes wrong or you are over-budget? Have you budgeted for higher energy costs (laundrymat). Energy costs could dramatically increase with the Iranian problems on the horizon.
Good Luck,
Mike
The heloc is already secured and my thought was this . in a town of 8500 and 3914 housing units 2110 families you would think that 200 people had to use a lundry mat at a minimum the average house hold has 2.5 people that should equal at least 4 loads of laundry so lets do the math if I only get 1/2 the customers and Joe laundry dump (which by the way has been in the same location in a remote business area on the south side of town away from the housing areas for 30 years who just may be thinking God I wish someone would open another or buy this one so I can retire )gets the other 100. Lets see 4 loads of laundry X 100people at $1.50 per load = $600 + $1 per load to dry, $4 X 100 people = $400 + the pop and video game and laundry detergent dispenser say maybe $50 per week now lets see
Washer $600
Dryer $400
Misc. $50
$1050 per week
X4 Weeks
$4200 per month
( Mortgage pd by house next doo remember )
- utilities $1000
$3200 per month
I could live off that comfortably ;D
Now the arcade which by the way is 2 blocks from the High School.
there there is approxamatle 3000 people under the age of 18. if say 100 of those kids like to play arcade games and come to our little arcade with $3 in their pocket and they spend it on pop and arcade that would be $300 week X 4 weeks = $1200 month - utilities $500 thats $700 a month plus this buildings mtg is already recieving a $300 + cash flow from the house next door that came with the little arcade bldg. so now we have
arcade $1200
rent $600
$1800
- mtg $350 and utilities $500 $ 850
$950
+ laundry $3200
$4100 /month
dont forget +$15,000 from hud flip which gives $70,000for
reinvesting in other income producing property
I LIKE IT 
What Ya think ?
ps .I have $30,000 in the bank for bail money
and IF and notice thats a BIG IF my master plan falls apart I can sell a lundrymat ,arcade & 3 houses for hopefully a heck of a lot more than the $150,00 initial investment - a couple mtg payments and head on home Knowing I gave it my best shot. :-\
Im not looking for approval , although that is always reassuring. Im looking for Great minds to give me logical reasoning ideas and creative criticism to make sure I have all points covered to the best of my ability.
I’m still not seeing a proper cash flow analysis. I don’t see any figures for maintenance, taxes, insurance, vacancies (for the houses), etc, Other deductions need to be included for fuel (if you’re driving to the laundrymat each day to take care of it), vandalism, legal fees, office expenses, security, accounting/tax preparation, etc. All that stuff does add up!!!
It is a common mistake made by newbies to not consider all the miscellaneous expenses, but these expenses literally make the difference between being successful and failing.
In my little corner of Ohio, you can easily buy properties with excellent cash flow. However, new “investors” are going out of business in large numbers, because they didn’t do a proper cash flow analysis before buying their property.
You may or may not have a great deal going here, but I’m not convinced that you’ve properly analyzed the situation yet.
Good Luck,
Mike
Dave,
There have to be better ways to go than puchasing a HUD home and using up a lot of your funds on a potential time bomb. (uh-oh, that word probably alerted Homeland Security). Why take on a rehab project when you are trying to establish two new businesses?
There’s an old and valuable expression: KISS. “Keep it simple, stupid”.
You may be able to talk to the local banker and pick up an REO for very little cash down. Once you have it, I would put it in a land trust and triple net lease it so you have no responsibility for payments, maintenance and repairs, etc. You will have saved a ton of money to have in reserve and will have a second revenue source, because I think your $3200 profit figure is probably double what you will actually make, at least at first.
Don’t rush and put yourself in an untenable position. Be good to yourself, take one step at a time and you’ll succeed. Best of luck to you. Keep us informed.
Why take on a rehab project when you are trying to establish two new businesses?
I like to tinker.Prop mgr, Im the maint. man and say you take $1000/month for repairs /office/accounting/etc.I will be driving around any how .Remember there’s only 8500 people in the town ,I could walk around the entire perimiter of the city in an hour 
The biggest crime there was a purse snatching last year .Your still looking at $3100/month not to mention the rehab profit.$15,000/12 = an additional $1250/month :DNow we’re up to $4350 .Even better.Good enough for me,to start.Once the business is established the $70,000 could be used for local bank discounts which there are a few.
One more thing you may want to consider is leasing your washers and dryers. Saves your upfront cash and provides a contingency reserve for you.
I thought about that, but its like renting a home and leasing a car.Why rent when you can buy? I think I have enough reserve to float along for a year .If this thing doesnt take off in a year I will take my tail and tuck it tightly and go home.But Im the kind of person that doesnt give up easily and Ive made things work that just shouldnt have due to determination .Like my persistant pestering here for every angle anyone can think of.I agree at times I almost anoy myself. ::)Again ,Thank all the great minds for your input and keep it coming I need to be sure of this.
Leasing equipment frees up cash and you are the eternal optimist. Expect the best, but prepare for the worst. That extra cash may very well come in handy.
I agree mtnwizard but that eats into profit.And according to propertymanager Im probably going to be eating a lot of peanutbutter and jelly so I need the cashflow I can get to start.When all starts to go well I can toke the money out and then reinvest.
Looking through the archives I found this
Now that to me is risky Business.But then again I may be missing something.
Well its been a while since my last post, and man have I been busy.
I have found a duplex asking price is 89,900 100% occupied each tenant has been there for over 5 years After ins, taxes, pest, mortgage and a pecentage for repairs and vacancy this property will cash flow 250 a month.
I feel I have cam a long way from the day I first joined this site. I have learned so much I can’t began to put into words how I feel right now, I thank each and everyone of you who have replied to my posts or if you just took the time to read them. This site is priceless.
I made it my first property we should close in 30 days or less.
;D ;D ;D ;D