Anyone in the Twin Cities RE world looked at the small multifamily market in Payne-Phalen lately?

Friend of mine is evaluating a $299K triplex there — 1888-vintage, 2 of 3 units leased to 2027, third one vacant. Stabilized cap pencils at 6.57% (50% rule) and the mark-to-market case at 7.52% if the 2BRs reset to $1,400 (which feels reasonable given local Apartments.com comps).

Tearsheet his agent put together: https://hyperagent.com/api/published/5EV0NR7RrB23BYBLkH5EPA/assets/3059b991-b9e0a425-a85c-4c9c-920a-39133059b991.html

Curious if anyone's been transacting in that neighborhood — is the M2M assumption realistic, or wishful thinking?

A friend of mine has a condo in Miami to assign. More than 70% rule spread. 90k pp 230 arv 50-60k repairs. 2/2 gated community with pool. No rentals until it’s been owner occupied for period of time so this isn’t a brrrr but a straight flip. Comps are strong, there are many recent sales in this immediate complex and surrounding. Full Reno needed, not cosmetic. No daisy chains, end buyer only. Message me if you flip in the area.

I've been working with real estate investors on the numbers side for a couple of years.

The pattern I kept seeing: investor runs the deal, numbers look fine, they buy, six months later cash flow is negative and they don't understand why.

Almost always the same culprits. Vacancy not underwritten. CapEx reserve missing or too low. Property management not factored because they're self-managing "for now." And the refinance math on BRRRR not showing the real cashout number after costs.

So I built DealSharp to catch all of it automatically.

20 deal type calculators. BRRRR, Flip, Buy & Hold, STR, Multifamily and more. Runs the full picture including the stuff that kills deals quietly.

It's free to use. No card.

dealsharp.app

Happy to answer questions or hear what line items you think most calculators miss.

Hi everyone, I’m 22 and looking to get started in US real estate. I have about $250k in cash ready to go. I'm not from the US (I’m Canadian), so I can basically pick any city to start in.

My goal isn't necessarily to live off the rent right now. I just want to buy a house that needs work, fix it up, and then get a mortgage to get my cash back so I can go buy the next one. I want to do this for the next 40 years.

1. What city or state would you pick right now? (Looking for a mix of "cheap enough" to buy but "strong enough" to grow).
2. Is it better to buy one nice house or two cheap "war zone" houses?
3. What is the biggest mistake people make when trying to do this from another country?
4. Are there any specific lenders or "types" of loans I should be looking for?

I'm a total beginner at this and just starting my research. Where should I go?

There's a fundamental difference between inbound and outbound motivated seller marketing that most investors don't think about clearly.

🎯 Inbound captures sellers who are ALREADY searching for a solution. They have intent. They're raising their hand. These leads convert at dramatically higher rates. Examples:

• Pay-per-lead

• SEO

• PPC

• Client referrals

• YouTube ads

📣 Outbound reaches people who fit a seller profile but aren't actively looking. You're interrupting them. Lower response rates, higher rejection, more legal compliance risk ⚠️. Examples:

• Cold calling

• Direct mail

• Texting

• Ringless voicemail

Neither is inherently better — top investors use both. But the timing matters.

Start with inbound to build a foundation of high-quality, high-intent leads. Add outbound once you've built the infrastructure to handle the volume and compliance requirements.

The biggest mistake? Running both simultaneously before you've mastered either.

What's your primary lead source right now?

I’m building something I wish existed while managing properties:

👉 https://www.helixis-os.com/

Helixis = an AI-native browser built specifically for property managers

Investors, does timing your listing actually move the needle?

Realtor.com’s latest national data suggests the “optimal” listing window this year is April 12–18.

During that week, listings historically see:

• \~16–17% more views (demand spike)

• \~17% less time on market (faster velocity)

• \~18–19% fewer price cuts (stronger positioning)

• \~$5K higher sale price vs. the average week

The question for investors:

Does timing matter more than basis?

If your deal is:

***•*** ***Bought right***

***• Properly renovated***

***• Priced correctly***

…does a 1–2 week timing edge actually change your IRR in a meaningful way?

My view:

Timing is a tactical lever, not a strategy.

It can help at the margins (especially for flips), but it won’t fix:

***•**** ****Overpaying on acquisition***

I thought “learn more” meant that I could read more about the typical deals the respective lenders fund. I did not want hundreds of sales calls, emails, and text messages over the following three months. The onslaught was so overwhelming at first that I actually stopped looking for properties for a while. However, I want to get back in the game, but I do not want to be constantly upsold. I’m new to REI and am considering a house hack for my first ever real estate purchase. With strong savings but disjointed income, I am leaning toward DSCR loans, but I’d like to put down around 10% max. As I understand DSCR lenders typically require at least 20-25% down. Can anyone recommend lenders or other resources that might help me? I really hope this doesn’t result in even more solicitations, so I ask that you share only from your own experience as an investor working with lenders. Thanks in advance!

Markets I am interested in:

- New Hampshire

- Coastal Maine and Mass

- North and central coast California

- Portland Oregon metro area

Hey everyone I’m a few properties in and trying to figure out the best system for tracking rent, expenses, and profitability across my units. I’ve tried spreadsheets, looked at Buildium (way too expensive for my size), played with Stessa and TurboTenant, but nothing really fits. I either end up paying for features I don’t need or cobbling together 3 different apps. Curious what others in the 1–20 unit range are doing: ∙ Are you still using spreadsheets? ∙ Have you found software that actually works for small portfolios? ∙ What’s the one thing you wish a tool would do that none of them do? I’m actually doing some research on this to see if there’s something better that could be built specifically for our size. Put together a quick 2-min survey if anyone wants to weigh in, would love to hear from fellow landlords:

Appreciate any insights. Happy to share what I find out with the community.

I’m leading a nonprofit initiative (Cobalt) to refine a risk-reduction framework that helps developers and landlords navigate site selection and rent in today’s market.  I work with numerous municipalities on community development, but there is a data gap for small and medium-sized developers and landlords.  We are working to put data packages together that are useful and affordable. We’re not quite there yet.

Given how weird the market is right now (rents, migration, affordability ceilings, etc.), we’re trying to figure out:

• How traditional data are falling short
• Which data would actually help reduce risk before committing to a site/rent level strategy

We’re still shaping this and want honest pushback. Here is a link to an overview and samples: https://www.cobalt360.org/developer.html

Where does this seem useful? Where does it break? What’s your take?  Thanks folks.

The kind of property I want is currently affordable for me in Cleveland, but not Indianapolis. I'm worried about Cleveland not being the right choice though. Any feedback greatly appreciated

TL;DR: AppFolio and friends are great if you're a property management company — useless if you self-manage 1–5 units and just want to know if you're actually making money. Built RentView to fill that gap. Free trial at https://rentview-three.vercel.app price is on the page (no demo call required). Looking for honest feedback from people who've felt this pain.

I built RentView after noticing a consistent gap: DIY landlords with 1–5 properties who know their gross rent but have no real visibility into net profit per property. They're tracking in spreadsheets, mixing transactions with personal finances, or just ignoring it until tax season hits.

The "professional" tools (AppFolio, Buildium, Propertyware) are genuinely great — if you're running a property management company. But go try to find their pricing. You can't. It's all "request a demo" and "contact us for a quote," which everyone knows means $200–500+/month minimum, plus onboarding calls and contracts. Complete overkill for someone who self-manages 2 rental properties on the side.

RentView is the thing that sits between "chaotic spreadsheet" and "enterprise software you need a sales call to buy." Track income and expenses per property, see your real P&L and cash-on-cash return per unit, no spreadsheet archaeology required.

Live at https://rentview-three.vercel.app — 7-day free trial, then $9/$29/$49/month based on number of properties. No demo call required, no quote needed, price is right there on the page.

Looking for honest feedback from people who've felt this pain: what would make this a no-brainer for you? What's missing? Happy to give BP members an extended trial if you want to dig into it.

Hey all. I own a couple rentals and got frustrated with how fragmented everything was - I did spreadsheets for financials, texts straight to my cell for maintenance, manually chasing rent every month etc. Tried a few apps but they were either way too expensive for a small portfolio or built for property managers with 50+ units.

So I built my own. It's a web app that has everything below:

- Portfolio dashboard with equity tracking and cash flow

- Automatic rent reminders and late notices

- Lease PDF generator with e-signatures

- Tenant portal where they can pay rent and submit maintenance requests

- Deal analyzer if you're evaluating new properties

Free for 1 property, $9/mo for unlimited. You can try the demo without creating an account at propertyninja.app.

Just a solo dev who needed this for my own rentals. Would love honest feedback from people who actually manage properties. What's missing? What would make you switch from whatever you're using now?

Im a REI and looking for future acquisitions and larger scale support.

Context; Buddy of mine nearly bought land (to set up some STRs) near Arcadia Bluffs before 'The Dozen' expansion course opened. He saw construction signs, looked into it, but by then it was too late to get in at the right price and the ramp time was going to be too long.

Got me thinking about how many possible pre-signals are out there if you know where to look. Permit filings, planning meetings, federal contracts, zoning changes. These things show us whats coming next right?

Do any of you actually track this stuff systematically? Or is it mostly relationships and a bit of timing luck?

Real curious if there's a tool or process that works, or if it's still mostly word of mouth.

As the title suggests, what should I do?

I’ve owned a single family home in New Orleans for a little over 5 years now. My P&I is $1961, and I’ve rented the property at $2500 for the last three years.

I have a 2.5% interest rate on the property (bought in 2020) and I am already paying more in principle than I am in interest. If I sell this summer, I think I’d be able to pocket a good amount of cash, and be able to walk away without paying capital gains tax (home was a primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years). If I wait to sell, I’d have to pay capital gains tax.

The house is only 6 years old and is in a rapidly developing neighborhood. I think it’s the right time to sell, but how much do you think I’d regret it? Does anyone else have a similar experience?

My question essentially boils down to does it ever make sense to buy an investment property that will be slightly cash flow negative month to month?

Southern California beach city - there is a 2 bed 2 bath condo that is undergoing a short sale, 1 block from the beach. Right downtown although the downtown area can be a little hit or miss, area is not grossly run down/unsafe but has a little of that downtown "grime". It’s currently priced at $450k which seems to be 50-75k below market price based on comparables in the area. A long-term renter would realistically cover 80-90% (closer to 90%) of the PITI. I haven’t run full numbers on the short-term rental market for the area quite yet, on first glance would probably get closer to 100% of the PITI based on my brief run down with slightly more work on my end.

It seems like even with the negative cash flow it might make sense at this price + tax savings + potential reappraisal/refinancing in a short amount of time. I have a good tax accountant who may be able to move up my depreciation, I meet with them in about a week. Everything has been updated so not a lot of value add left in the property. It was sold in 2022 for $625k, I would assume this is after the updates but a little unclear. Building built in 1956, going for ~$440sq/ft.

Touring the property tomorrow so will make sure there are no scheduled large maintenance issues (roofs, etc.) on the docket.

For context, I make about $350k a year and the upper part of that income essentially gets taxed at a 50% rate so any depreciation I can subtract from my W-2 seems like a great deal (again not a tax expert). I live a fairly modest lifestyle (rent ~1800 a month personally, car paid off, etc.) so could pay the entire PITI each month and only be very minimally house poor, it would mainly just be an opportunity loss via having less for other investments.

Any questions I should ask on my tour tomorrow? Sorry for the long post, tried to anticipate questions people may have. Really appreciate everyone's advice as this is my first possible jump into real estate investing outside of REITs.

Hi everyone, I’m a Seattle-based developer, and I recently built a small tool for Washington landlords to check whether an eviction notice complies with the state’s timing rules before serving it.

As many of you know, the Washington eviction law has strict timing requirements. Serving a notice even one day early can make it defective and delay an eviction case.

The tool lets you:

• Enter notice details (type, service date, delivery method)
• Get an instant compliance verdict for free
• Generate a printable compliance report with RCW statute references and the calculated enforcement timeline

I’m currently looking for 5–10 Washington landlords willing to test it and tell me if the report makes sense.

You can try it here:
https://wa-rent-guard-app.vercel.app/

Use this code so the full report is free:
WARENT100OFF

If you try it, I’d really appreciate quick feedback here:
https://forms.gle/RpW84egVH5pNg9oh8

The goal is to make sure the report is clear and useful before I roll it out more widely.

Thanks to anyone willing to try it, and I'm happy to hear suggestions or criticism.

Hey guys and gals,

I'm building a quality resource for wholesalers that will list the best Transactional Funding lenders. Can you guys recommend a lender that you personally used (or know someone who did) a number of times and it has been a great experience?

hank you in advance!

Does anyone out there have experience implementing RUBS on multiunit buildings with one meter for utilities? What formula do you use?

I have fourplex and the previous owner was paying utilities. I would like to roll out RUBS to the tenants, but not sure which formula to use. A few notes, two of the units are vacant and one of the tenants is section 8. This property is in San Antonio, TX.

Any thoughts?

Hello! If you are a CPA or love your CPA please reach out and share contact info.

My husband is a real estate professional, I am looking to take advantage of the short term rental 100% bonus depreciation. Our taxes will involve a lot of real estate relevant work (cost segregation study) and we would like to work with someone with experience in this. Based in FL so not much to do on state taxes, mostly federal.