All Forum Posts by: Andrea Castor

We aren't super new to investing, we have cash and yet I STILL feel bad that an agent is wasting their time. But not every showing is going to be a home run. I try to do as much of my homework as I can before asking to see a place, ask for realtors comps to compare with my own, and make a reasonable (yet sometimes it is considerably less) offer.

If you are not a cash buyer though that would for sure be my first step. Talk to the realtor about what you are looking for (and be reasonable), show how you are qualified to buy the property and go from there. I've found we've had to go through a lot of realtors though to find what we were looking for.

We are now using Transunion SmartMove and have found the service to be easy to use, more private (I don't personally like to provide my SS# to just anyone), and as a landlord very informative and accurate.

you've got some good solid advice but I'm just going to add one more thing. I worked and went to school full time. My husband and I also bought our first house to live in and fix up during this time. Then I got a "real" full time job and went too rad schools full time. We thought it was son hard. Nothing compares it to to our crazy busy life now. 

Also, school isn't everything. You can't walk out with a degree in construction mgt and get some awesome job. Chances are you'll start at the bottom just like everyone else. Don't use it as just a time to mature. 

Personally if I were you I'd continue living with the parents, minimize your expenses with a beater car, gas, and whatever amt of rent/food your parents make you cover. Work and get a job inside the career field. Work for a property mgt company, at a real estate office, for a builder, at an apartment complex. Pay down the debt quick. Learn. At night take classes online that will eventually transfer. If in two years you've paid off the debt and still feel you would benefit more from finishing the degree then finish full time without going back into debt. Start your careers still living with the rents, buy a multifamily when you have a down payment and now awesome credit, and let it build from there. I realize 4-6 yrs seems like an eternity, but it'll go by in a flash. 

I think you may want to first speak to the current property manager and get a feel for the tenants. From the looks of it, there is an older population in this area that could be reliable just on a low fixed income. That would be your best case scenario and probably the ONLY reason I'd ever even look at this idea.

Have you looked online at median rental rates in this area?

Zillow, and use a couple other sources you can see typical rents in the area are closer to $450-$550. One stat also showed a 14% vacancy rate.

Here is some of the stuff I found on crime rates, but like someone mentioned, there are better pockets of Tortwood that I think makes this sound better than it is (which still isn't good rating it at a 6 out of 100).

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/oh/trotwood/crime/

Thanks so much for sharing this. I am told at least once a week that our crazy life needs to be on tv, but it looks pretty much like yours. That's a shame that they want to script it so much when real life is really just as funny!

I'm new here but excited to take a look at your blog!

I also would put CC debt and student loan debt into two separate categories. If you were really sticking to a zero based budget and saving $500-$1000/mo, the cc should not be an issue. Knock that out and don't look back.

As for the car part, I really think that's a common mistake, that you HAVE to have a new car for it to be reliable. I also have a commute so that my kids can live in a safe suburb with the best schools, but for the past 10 yrs I've driven a paid for in cash Honda Accord. It now has almost 200k miles on it, runs like a charm, and has cost me very little in the way of repairs beyond basic maintenance.

Most first time home buyer options I *believe* require you to actually occupy the property.

Also, start small, you can always add things later. My husband and I have lived/held/flipped 3 properties over the last 8 yrs without any of the business materials. Just word of mouth. Even as we start out doing this more as a career, we don't even plan on getting business cards.

And just something else I'm going to throw out there, does your boyfriend stand behind you? I'd make sure he's fully committed to standing behind you on it and support you.

One last thing, if you go the flipping route, do you have contractors in mind? I won't say that I've never been treated differently even in a Lowes picking out tile because I was female. Its stupid and sucks, but its a reality.

I'm not saying what we did was right, but we have been in this same position. We had a potential lead on renters but they were very eager to put a deposit on something as soon to be newlyweds. When they saw our condo, we were just putting up the drywall. I had vanities, tile, cabinet/counter top samples, etc in the garage. I showed them what it would look like but obviously they needed to use some imagination too. Their timeline worked out because it was a month after we planned to be finished with the remodel. Like others have touched on though, we were working on it up until move in day but just little touches here and there, washer/dryer delivery, etc. In our situation, it worked out, but I could see where it would not more often.

With our next flip, we're looking at getting it on the market when we are about 85-90% complete. We may learn a lesson on this but we'll see.

Just came across this post now, but just a thought to throw out there. My husband actually works part time for UPS for our health insurance. The hourly rate isn't great and its hard work BUT, for our family it works. I think they have pushed back providing health insurance for you after 6 mo and your family after a year or 18 mo, BUT there is no cost for it, and our out of pocket MAX for the year is $2k. On top of that, my husband invests most of his paycheck into 20% discounted UPS stock, life insurance is extremely cheap ($400k is the max but ~$40/mo), and he'll get a pretty nice pension after 30 yrs (but we don't bank on this considering it is a pension). Just food for thought.

When first seeing this post and seeing Trotwood boarding Drexel I would have said no way. While I still think the price is fairly high (just by looking at Montgomery County Property records and seeing most selling under $10k). I also would account for a little higher vacancy and collection loss. If they are long term tenants and just want to stay put you may be ok, but I would think finding tenants without criminal backgrounds and even decent credit that pay on time to be difficult in this area. I'm also a little shocked that 800 sq ft for each side, 2 bed/1ba pulls in $650/mo.

I have a friend who purchased a condo at the height of the market. Purchased for $70k and 6 yrs later has paid mortgage down to $63k. She has since gotten married and moved into her husband's house. She has tried to sell 4 times, with 4 realtors in the past 6 yrs or so. Hasn't sold so she continued to rent it out. It's in good shape with no major repairs, is clean, but needs updated. Top market comps would be $80k, but she has no money to bring to closing and no money for updates. She's been renting it in its current condition at a lower $700/mo just to rent it out quick and break even on her mortgage each month, BUT she continues to have renters move out before their year lease is up. If the condo was remodeled she would have no issue getting $900-$1000/mo BUT she has no money to remodel. She wants out and done. What are her options? Come January she will have no renters, no way to cover her mortgage payment, and will have a hard time selling it at $63k + realtor fees to break even.