All Forum Posts by: Aaron J Latal

I think Nathans numbers are spot on! I have a duplex in St Louis and those are pretty close to the expenses I pay. I also think the mindset Nathan mentioned is valuable, even though you are paying some of the mortgage its still way less than what you would pay in rent pretty much anywhere AND your tenants are paying (most of) the property off. Additionally, I'm assuming at some point you would move out of the duplex and at that point you'll be making great cashflow and your return on Investment will look great because you only put down 3.5%

@Melanie Tucci, I had a wholesale buyer back out on a property I had in U City because he wanted to add a half bath. After his contractor walked it they noticed some knob and tube wiring,  U City would have made him upgrade all the electrical if he wanted to get a permit to put in a half bath which would have killed the deal. I did find a buyer for it but everyone was complaining about U City inspections/permitting process when they were looking at it. 

My thoughts are if you are going to buy something there make sure you get an inspection period and walk it with contractors familiar with U City and if the repairs you need to do to get up to code are going to kill the deal then back out...

I know someone that would be happy to talk to you a bit more about the short sale process and has at least one coming up that you might be interested in. I'll text you ;-)

I think like some have mentioned above 85k is probably close. If you do higher end finishes you might end up closer to 95k, I would definitely make sure you have 25% in reserves like was mentioned above. If you need a GC in STL I might be able to connect you, not sure if those I know are taking on new jobs like that right now. 

I'm not a lender, however I don't think you need a portfolio loan at 5% if you plan to owner occupy the property. You'll still have to pay PMI however it will allow you to get that next property. I have a few lenders I can recommend if you message me :-)

The above posts are offering great advice, I can't really add much there. However, my 2 cents are, I share your pain... My projects are behind and most others I know here in STL are also behind :-(

Why choose!?! Sell 2 and keep other 2 as STRs, if you own all 4 you can set HOA rules to allow it? Keeps your tax burden lower and allows you to have a smaller and potentially more manageable sum of money to invest.

Con: You still have to manage those 2 STrs and returns will be half what they could be... 

Pros maybe you can sell the other 2 STRs after (if) cap rates return to normal, but then maybe the condos wont sell for as much.

Option 3 - seller finance the condos to someone that wants to run them as STRs and get a 10 or 20% down payment from them. They might be interested in that because from what I hear getting financing on STRs is a bit challenging these days. Let me know if you like option 3, maybe we could work together ;-)

@Bennie Williams, thanks for the detailed reply! I'll keep that information in mind when I'm looking at historical rehabs

Could you expand on beware of knob and tube and galvinized pipes? I know some areas it seems you can leave knob and tube in place and others, like U city will make you replace everything if you are getting any permits. What area is this duplex in?

@Jason Rhodewalt, STL is land locked. There is no Mar here. It's Delmar. All one word. I see a lot of development there and am optimistic for the West End area, however there is still a lot of work to be done there.