Real Estate in Oklahoma

[Adam Hawkins]

Hi, my wife and I are trying to get started in real estate investing. We have 20K to get started.  We have been looking at properties between 30-80K in Oklahoma.  

We have been looking mostly at 3 bd 1 bath / 3 bed 2 bath.   However there are some nicely maintained 2 bed / 2 bath or 2 bed / 1 bath from the 40s here.

Before we buy:

Can we have the tenants take care of the lawn in the rental contract or do we need a lawn care service?

Has it been better in your experience to rent to single families or young professionals room-mating together?

As a first investment should I be trying to buy a move in ready property or one that might need some TL?.   I am concerned as this is my first I don't yet have that reliable team of contractors and if I buy a distressed house the repairs will come with surprises and seek my corporation before we ever even see tenants.

[Cassi Justiz]

Hi Adam, 

If you are renting out a SFH in that price point, it is pretty common for the tenants to be responsible for the lawn care. I do know of a few people that include lawn care in their agreements, but you really won't get any additional return by doing that. You just have a nicer yard for your tenants.

As far as the roommate vs no roommate situation goes, roommates situations are typically going to be more transient where family situations are generally going to be a little more stable. But the desirability of your house it is also going to depend on what part of Oklahoma you are looking at. If you are buying houses in OKC in some of the cool hip areas with really low rated schools, you probably aren't going to get many families that want to live over there.  For roommates I would look more at the individual situation than the idea of roommates. If you have a group of medical students or graduate students applying, that's going to be different than a group of 21 year old frat boys.