Buying Rental Properties - What To Look For

[JT Taylor]

I'm a new investor working on my business plan. I'm in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, specifically Hurst, Euless, Bedford, North Richland Hills, and I'm wondering what numbers to look for in rental properties. I'd like to get cash flow of $300 month after all expenses, including property management, vacancy reserve, maintenance, mortgage, taxes and insurance (did I miss anything?).

Is that possible/realistic. If so, what kind of numbers would purchases on a typical 3/2/2 need to look like?

[Steve Rozenberg]

I would first look to decide what your end goals are with your acquisition model. For example is it cashflow, appreciation, debt pay-down, tax depreciation.. are you looking for negative geared properties or positive geared.. 

These question are so vital to ask and know the answers to prior to buying anything.. Its like driving around without a map or destination in mind. 

The odds of anyone on here telling you what is and is not a good deal without knowing what your goals are seems very hard to imagine. At best they can tell you what their buying rules and goals are but that may not have anything to do with your goals.

Take the time and figure this out first before you buy your first piece of property or you may end up like I did and buy 35 of the wrong homes and lose a lot of money getting out of many of them all because I did not have a plan or criteria prior to buying, the odds of me succeeding were extremely low in not impossible.