Exploring the Reno market & looking to connect

[Nick M.]

Hi everyone

I'm Nick - reasonably new to the game with 1 deal in Arkansas.  I'm looking to relocate to Reno in the next few months and do a house hack. I've carved out some time to do some 'boots on the ground' exploring in the first week of October.

I'm very keen to connect with others who are active in the Reno market and may have looked at multi-family properties in the last ~12 months and discuss pros and cons and help me dial in my numbers. I'm also trying to wrap my head around which way the path of progress is heading and had a few questions.

Anyone up for a coffee? Either in person or virtual?

A few of the questions I have right now are:

1. Midtown looks like its booming, and pushing east towards S Wells Ave, and south towards Plumb Ln? Do I have this right? Is there a line in either direction that people generally don't want to go beyond?

2. North of 80 seems near the university to have a lot less multi-family, is it all students splitting SFHs?

3. Ballpark rents for a 1/1 look to be about $1000-$1200, or a 2/1 maybe $1200-$1400. There seems to be a pretty big gap between property prices and rental rates (very few properties get close to the 1% rule) which I guess means that either rents need to catch up a bit or values have appreciated due to a lack of supply.  Bit of both or are there other forces at play?

Cheers!

[Lana Sheta]

Hey @Nick M.! Welcome to Reno! I've done one house-hack in Reno and my boyfriend has done 3! I'd love to grab (virtual) coffee with you at some point and discuss the market. 

1. You're definitely right about the midtown popularity growth, though some parts are cleaning up faster than others. I'd avoid going east of Wells or much further north than Ryland. The blocks surrounding Plumas down to Plumb and further south are popular. 

2. NW Reno (North of the 80, West of the 395) has quite a few multi-families, but they don't seem to come on the market often. There are definitely a lot of students splitting SFHs. My property and two of my boyfriend's are in this quadrant. I'd recommend looking in this area.

3. You have to get creative to find deals that meet the 1% rule, and they'll probably be SFH. My property is a 4bed/2 bath walking distance to the university and hit 1% (2875 gross rents, 260K purchase price, bought last Aug). My boyfriend's NW property is a 5 bed/3bath, 340K purchase price, 3400 gross rent (bought last Sept). It's possible, but you'll probably be looking for 5 bedroom houses that need a lot of work. Reno is appreciating fast, but there is a LOT of demand for room rentals.