Example of monthly Expenses Northern NJ 3+ Family

[Joseph Scrafani]

Hello newish to BP. Still learning and plan on buying first multifamily (House Hack) late next year. I am a Cash Flow Analyzer that I found on BP. Says brought to you by Chandler-properties.com.

 First as far as buying in in Northern NJ I see alot of how hard it is to cash flow. I see this if I look in towns with mostly SF (ex. Saddle Brook, Fairlawn, Paramus) I cant not find anything with the numbers that work, but when I plug in properties that are 3+ units from town with more MF (ex. Garfield, Bellville, Clifton) i can make them work. Is this what people mean when they say NJ is hard to find properties, you just cant find many properties that are SF or Duplex where the numbers will work?

Second I am analyzing properties and want to see if I am doing it right/making a accurate estimate. I put in the Property/ down payment cost which provides the mortgage (30 year 6% int). Plug rents which i get from a zillow search of surrounding rents, vacancy rate for the town which i get from bestplaces.net, taxes, management (1 months rent per year?), Insurance (I put 2k year for a standard 3 Family Clifton type?), Cap Ex, Maint & Repairs. After all this I find that as long as I stick to 3+ Families I can find properties (not a huge amount) that work $100 - $150 cash flow per unit. I this sounding right?

Third and final is since I do find properties while a lot of people say its hard I am think I am too low on the Cap Ex and Maint & Repairs.  On a typical 3 family built WW2 era (I know no property is the same but think Clifton type) do these numbers look like I am at least in the ball park:

Cap Ex

Item	Cost	Lifespan	Cost Per Yr	Cost Per Month
Roof	$6,000.00	25	240.00	20.00
Water Heater	$600.00	10	60.00	15.00
Appliances	$1,050.00	10	105.00	26.25
Driveway	$5,000.00	50	100.00	8.33
HVAC	$3,000.00	20	150.00	12.50
Flooring	$2,000.00	5	400.00	100.00
Plumbing	$3,000.00	30	100.00	25.00
Windows	$5,000.00	50	100.00	25.00
Paint	$2,500.00	5	500.00	125.00
Cabinets/Counter	$3,000.00	20	150.00	37.50
Structure	$10,000.00	50	200.00	16.67
Total Per Month	$411.25
Cost Per Yr	$4,935.00

 Anything unit specific (ex. Appliances) I factor in the number of units in the property.

Repairs & Maintenance I have no Idea so I just assume its same as Cap Ex so ~$4900.

Do these sound expenses sound right, am I missing anything?

Thanks in advance.

[Sunny Burns]

@Joseph Scrafani I like the Capex breakdown.

Yea I’m NNJ you gotta go for a 3-fan or 4-fam to have a chance of cash flowing while living in one of the units for free. 

Here is an example of some number for our quadplex we bought in Garfield No back in 2015

Listing Price: $475,000
Offer Price: $480,000 [offer sent on 6/22/15]
Purchase Price: $430,000[closed on 10/7/15]
Down Payment: $43,000 [10% down, No PMI]
Closing Costs: $9,842
Mortgage Loan Amount: $387,000
Interest Rate: 3.99%

Expenses for the House

Home Mortgage: $1845/month
Property Taxes: $10,912/year
Home Insurance: $1,978/year
Sewer Bill: $120/quarter
Water Bill: $120/quarter
Utilities: ~$120 month[Electric is separated, but we pay Gas]

Total Expenses: $3400/month (Excluding Vacancy, Maintenance, Property Management Fees)

Income for the House [4x 3Bedroom Units]

Unit 1: We live for Free
Unit 2: $1000/month (Discount to In-Laws)
Unit 3: $1700/month
Unit 4: $1700/month

Total Income: $4400/month [Excluding CoinOp Laundry and Parking space Income]

So cash flow would only be a couple $100 a month after maintenance and vacancies are considered. We self manage. Best of luck!