All Forum Posts by: Andy Sturm

When I am looking at a property I may want to purchase I look into the market to determine what I think I could get for rent. I use the 50% rule saying that 50% of gross rents will be used for taxes, insurance, maintenance, and cap ex. You are left with a remaining 50% of gross rents this would be your cash flow/Income/profit per door. If I am going to carry some debt on the property the debt service cannot exceed 30% of gross rents. Therefore, I sent a minimum cashflow per door of 20%. There are many other factors with rental property you may want to consider such as depreciation, accrued equity, and appreciation (I don't count on appreciation) These are more future benefits and not as instant as month to month income. Some may take less month to month income based on the other factors. As for a solid way to analyze a property for cash flow is 50% expenses, 30% debt service, 20% cash flow. 

The 1% and 2% rules for determining gross rents are good rules of thumb. The better the area most likely will require less management you're going to be closer to the 1% rule. In a rougher harder neighborhood you should be in the 2% but it will take much more time to manage. 

Your load is most likely very little since there is no living space above the wall. Even though it may be little I would not use a 2x4's for the header/beam. I would use a 2x8 with the plywood/osb in between as Jeremy suggested. Things to search for on google would be king stud, jack stud, header, and beam. You can easily come up with some images to give you an idea on how it should be framed. One thing to remember is not to just set the jack studs on your floor or bottom plate. You changed the way the load is distributed and therefore that weight needs to be correctly supported. Make sure under your jack stud is correctly supported.

I have used a company call John Davis Concrete to install a concrete driveway and side walks. Dont know if they do stamped concrete or not. He stuck to his word, got the job done quickly, and it looked great. John Davis

I am currently licensed in Ohio and am interested in also becoming licensed in GA. Since I'm already licensed in OH do I only need to schedule the state exam in GA or will I have to take the national exam as well? Do I have to take any course hours before applying to take the exam?

Are you sure there are no lintels? Sometimes people think of a lintel as a large concrete block above the window, but sometimes it can be smaller piece of angle metal that's hidden. It's not uncommon to have some cracking in mortar around windows and doors. If there really is no lintels and the windows are supporting the brick alone I would be surprised that the brick didn't break the windows over 30 years, or at least be more damaged then some cracking. It may be best to have a professional give you their opinion first if you're unsure. Unless you can 100% tell there are no lintels, I would make the assumption that the builder who built the house put lintels in and look for additional reasons why they could be cracking. For example how the ground is sloped and where water is running. The house could just be shifting and settling over time. I have also seen where ice can dam up a valley in a roof causing water to go under shingles and get inside a brick wall. The brick and mortar aren't water proof so they absorb moisture. That moisture expands and contracts over time damaging the brick. You could be completely right and there are no lintels. Just wanted to give you some different ideas on how to look at the situation. I wish you luck and hope the deal works out.

I'm close to finishing my first 5 unit apartment building. Each unit is about 350 sqft. I have additional storage closets in the utility room that I could lease to the tenants. If you have additional storage in a multi family building do you find that tenants are willing to pay for it? If so what do you charge?

This kind of tile on the wall is one of the most annoying to remove. There is the tile, then about an 1"-1.5" of concrete that is held up and together by a very sharp metal mesh. It's very strong and to take a hammer to bash up the tile tends to also damage the plaster/drywall in the adjacent rooms. You need a 7" angle grinder along with hammers, and pry bars to remove the tile successfully. I have done this many times and recommend if removing the wall tile you take the plaster/drywall on the walls above the tile off too. Just re-drywall all of the bathroom walls, because seaming the old plaster with then new drywall  isn't easy or worth the time. Tends to be different thicknesses everywhere and you'll need furring strips... not worth it. 

You can re paint the tile with the kits they sell at home depot. This will temporarily make it look better but probably only last 2 years max before scratches and chips show the blue and pink. I recommend just taking the walls out. In the long run I think you would be happy you did.

As for the floor you can lay ceramic tile on top of the existing ceramic tile. Yes it will raise the floor higher than the floor outside of the bathroom, but only about 7/8". You can buy thresholds for this to make it look ok. 

If you did decide to leave the walls and lay ceramic tile on the floor, get the tile as close as possible to the wall and use grout caulk that matches the grout to fill the seam. 

I have also seen People liquid nail wainscot to the wall tile and put a brick mold on top as a chair rail to cover the gap. The only issue with is the wall tile probably goes into the shower. You would then have to reglaze or repaint the shower tile and tub.

Hope this helps

@DL Martin, for some reason the company you were trying to post is not showing up. Do you mind re-posting please

I have already completed the education portion to obtain my Ohio real estate license. Now I am interested in becoming sponsored by a broker. Are there any specific brokers that are more friendly to investors? Is it typical to negotiate commission percentages?

I don't want to be an agent for hire and wont be pursuing clients. I hope to buy at least 4-7 houses a year for at least the next 2 years. Is that amount too low? Would a broker not be interested in that? I would think that broker would want as many agents as possible, so they could potentially have more sales and more commissions. Although I don't know what kinds of cost they incur by sponsoring an agent.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I'm guessing it is a lower grade laminate flooring 7mm thick? All laminate and hardwood flooring will expand and contract. A higher quality (thicker) laminate flooring will have a stronger connection between each separate piece of flooring. That way all the pieces connected expand or contract as one unit. I prefer a 12 mm laminate flooring. There is also a durability rating associated with laminate flooring called an AC rating. It's a scale 1-5. 5 being the strongest and most scratch resistant. 1-3 is considered residential, 4 and 5 are commercial grade. I have installed some 12mm ac rating 5 in a rental and they really hold up well. Hope this helps.