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Updated almost 7 years ago on . Most recent reply
Anxiety that I'm making a bad deal
Hi everyone - I am new to this site and real estate in general. I am currently in the process of purchasing my first home in Newark DE (primary residence) with the intention of using it as a rental after living in it for 1 year. A little background for context, I have been out of college for about 1 year with no debt, and have been living at home and saving up a lot of cash (as well as putting a lot into retirement accounts). My initial interest started when I heard how much friends were paying for rent and decided I didn't want to pay rent for my first place.
While expanding on this idea and reading about the concept of financial independence, I wanted to do something with all the cash I had sitting around, and jumped into real estate. I asked questions to local investors, got an agent, analysed properties, etc.. eventually I found a home that I thought fit the numbers and made an offer. By no means was it a 'great deal,' but I thought it would return a sizable enough positive cash flow to be worth it, and it would give me experience. I am relatively risk averse so I wanted something that would cash flow positive, but didn't require too much work as I work full time.
As the settlement date (4/27) is starting to get closer, I'm becoming increasingly stressed out and anxious that I made a horrible mistake and will have wasted the money and time I've invested into starting my business. I thought I did my predictions and calculations correctly, but the more I've been reading and researching, the more second thoughts I have about pretty much everything.
I am wondering if anybody can take a look at my situation and give me their take.
Here at the details:
-It is a single family home, 4 bed 2 full bath, 1300 sq ft but rooms feel pretty spacey. It was put up on market for $193k, eventually got an agree upon 185k with 3% settlement help (=$5550 in help), and warranty. Not a great deal I know, but being young and inexperienced it felt like a win when I haggled them for the 3% settlement help, meaning I essentially got the home for ~14000 off the listing price and lowering the amount of $ I needed at settlement...now that I write it out it doesn't seem that great.
-I'm doing a conventional loan with 5% down payment (loan is for $175,750), 4.75% IR, P&I, PMI, Hazard insurance, real estate taxes and HOA add up to $1120 payment a month.
-Typical comps in the area prove that I got the house slightly less than what it should be worth, I'll be redoing a few things as well (paint, carpets, and some other cosmetic fixes). The neighbourhood is generally blue collar, so probably a bit more crime and riff raff than I am used to, but generally about 25% of the neighbourhood is rentals so I figured with (my agent also owns 2 rentals in same neighbourhood and would be able to help me when the time comes). The fact that the neighbourhood isn't as nice as what I'm used to is part of the reason my dad is angry that I will be living there/making a mistake
-The house itself has a new roof, HVAC still has 5-10 years of life left at least, and in general everything is in good condition, nothing major was spotted in the inspection. The wash/dryer are brand new, microwave new, fridge is pretty new as well. There are nice hardwood floors in most rooms, some are covered up by carpet (gonna see what I can do about that...)
-The total amount i'll spend purchasing this house, down payment included, is $16,300.
-My expectation for rent, based off of similar rentals in the area, is that it will rent in the range of $1400-1675 (my home seemed to fall in the middle, nicer than the 1400s, but not as nice as the 1600+s). Will me fixing it up a little and living in it for a year before renting, I'm going to try and rent it between $1500-1600. I know this doesn't fit the 2% rule but it's hard in this area to find something that does, based off the numbers I used in my calculations I thought I'd be ok (now I'm not so sure).
-I expect the area to appreciate at a modest rate, nothing crazy but in general I think the area is starting to get a little nicer. There is a major university nearby that is rapidly expanding, the area is close to shopping areas and the high way
-Renting for 1500-1600 and paying 1120 monthly, tenants in this area pay for their own utilities, i'll have 380-400 per month give or take to put away for vacancy, maintenance, capex, and then 'profit' that'll be tucked away for another property.. This can't nearly be enough based off of what I'm hearing?
-I'll be looking for 2-3 roommates while I live there for the first year, and their rent will be based on numbers that at least allow me to live for free. I work full time and get a decent salary for my age and could afford to live alone if I wanted to, but obviously wouldn't do that since I have the choice
My goal of purchasing this property was to get my hands dirty and learn as much as I could, while making a profitable deal. I spent a month analysing properties until I found this one, which I thought would work. Ideally I would continue making deals and growing my wealth however possible so that I can reach financial independence, but being so young, I was excited to start and not get analysis paralysis. While many of my friends spend their time/money going out, rent, clothes ,etc., I wanted to be wise and invest in something that would grow my wealth for the long haul.
The problem is, now I'm realizing the revenue and NOI margin isn't that large and I'm growing increasingly anxious that it would have been better off for me to just continue living at home and saving money, rather than trying to start my business. They weren't kicking me out but I wanted to get my life moving in some sort of direction. My dad (who is very risk averse) seems to think I'm making a terrible mistake. I now think I might be too and am keeping myself up at night worrying.
Have I made a huge mistake? Do I need to get out of this immediately? (thereby eating the cost of deposits/inspection/etc)
Is there ways to make this deal work / I can be smarter about this? Lessons for the future?
Is this not worth renting? If so, what are my options?
Anything thoughts are appreciated.. good or bad as my anxiety stems from the uncertainty, if it's a horrible decision I would rather know so that I can make efforts to correct.
And if I'm missing any important info please let me know and I'll add! Thank you all so much!
Most Popular Reply
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The Good: youre a smart guy and obviously did your due diligence. Coming at it from every angle.
The meh: I personally wouldn't do it. Lets say you rent for 1500 conservatively. After fixed costs, you're left with 380. General Rules say 10% management, 10% CAPEX, 5% vacancy costs. that brings you down $375 in additional reserves needed. $5 in profit a month isn't that great. what happens if they raise taxes, your water bills go up, etc.
especially in a blue collar area you might have more troublesome tenants, higher turnover, etc.
Being young I totally understand the feeling of go go going, but sometimes you have to wait a little longer.
Good luck in whatever you choose