All Forum Posts by: Anthony C.

@Brandon Frulla Thank you! The 5% program I used has similar requirements as an FHA with regards to owner occupancy. The differences are there is no formal inspection and PMI will go away after I hit 20% equity so I will not need to refinance. With FHA, PMI exists for the life of the loan.

@Cory O'Dell Thank you as well! The house was fully occupied by tenants with term leases in place. I will be moving in once the first lease expires. Also, the $24K I invested went towards a down payment and closing costs. Most of the rehab needed was performed before closing by the seller at my request (mostly minor things).

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Rochester.

Purchase price: $255,000
Cash invested: $24,000

Duplex in the South Wedge with two units each with 3-bedroom, 2-full baths, and 2-half baths. Current estimated monthly cash flow is $190 with room to improve. Plan to house hack once lease expires.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Wanted to begin my investment career with a multi-family that would double as my primary residence.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional Mortgage, 5% down

@Account Closed, thank you for sharing!

Russ, I have been hearing over and over again the importance of tenant screening. I will be inheriting tenants, but the previous owner had similar standards as I will have for future tenants.

Matt, Thank you for the suggestions. I have my managing system mostly in place. I have never heard of Roof and will definitely be looking into it. When additional fees are owed from the tenant, does Roof give you a way to handle collecting those? Does it allow you to send the tenants monthly statements?

Thanks again for the responses!

Anthony

I am closing on my first property in a couple weeks. It is a fully occupied duplex in Rochester, NY. I plan to self-manage and eventually house hack once one of the leases expires.

I would love to here any last minute tips for a new investor about to plunge into the world of property management. I have read a number of books on managing rental properties (@Brandon Turner's "The Book on Managing Rental Property" and Mike Butler's "Landlording on AutoPilot" to name a couple) but feel like most of the learning will come with experience. 

Were there any tips you wish someone told you when you got started? Any experiences that taught you a valuable lesson you didn't read about in books? Any response would be appreciated!

Thank you,

Anthony Cifarelli

@Samuel Rinaldo, in my mind alternate parking can be better, especially in the winter months. If it is not alternate parking, cars on both sides get buried when the plow comes through making it difficult to get in and out of parking spaces. If it is alternate parking, the entire street has a chance to get fully plowed over the course of a couple days, leaving the curb free of snow. This is just my opinion from having dealt with both scenarios over the last few years. Additionally, my schedule lined up nicely with the alternating times so it was never really an issue. I can see how others may have drastically different experiences with this topic. 

Nonetheless, thank you for your insight! I am definitely wary of comparable rental rates that have off-street parking, but luckily have very good income based on the current rental rates of the property.

Thank  you!

Thanks @Anya K.. I think if I answered all your questions, this property would have positive responses to most. For example, great neighborhood, not a busy street, no permit required, etc. I plan to house hack so I will get a first hand experience at the pros and cons of the property and will hopefully be able to market the property better in the years to come. The property itself is fairly unique with a lot of great features so I am not too concerned (hence why I am acquiring it). Just wanted to get a feel for other investors' experience. Thanks again for your response!

Thank you @Mark W., I appreciate your insight! It is a good point that being up front early in the screening process about the parking situation should weed out the prospective tenants that find off street parking important. The property is fully occupied now and the current tenants say that parking hasn't been an issue. Neither have lived there through the winter though so we'll see.

Hi @Shane W. Chapin, thank you for responding and congrats to you as well! 

I have lived in both Syracuse and Rochester without off street parking and what you say is very true. Off street parking means you better be good with a shovel in the winter months. However, it seems common for renters to have to park in the street in the city just due to population density. I am hoping minimal income effect but understand having off street parking may justify slightly higher rent. I am more concerned about turn-over rate of a unit without off-street parking.

Again thank you for your response and good luck with your first deal!

Anthony

I am in the process of closing on my first duplex in Rochester, NY. I have been learning and searching for almost a year now and finally found what I believe to be a good deal. The only problem with the property is that there is no driveway. I plan to house hack for a few years and then rent both units out later on. 

Has any Rochester, NY investor dealt with properties that have no off-street parking  (I'm assuming it is quite common)? If so, are those properties any harder to rent out compared to properties that do offer off-street parking?

I have been noticing more and more turn-key multi-family homes for sale in my area (Rochester, NY). The sellers are using the newly remodeled interior to justify ridiculously high asking prices compared to comps in the neighborhoods. I have seen asking prices $30/sq ft. or more over the neighborhood average. Although some still cash flow on paper, I have heard that it is never a good idea to buy "the nicest house in the neighborhood," or in other words, pay the most per square foot for a neighborhood. The reasoning's behind this come down to not leaving room to grow. This has me asking two questions:

1) Is it ever a good idea to buy a property that is overpriced for the area?

2) Are turn-key multi-family homes ever a good idea for an investor?

Thanks in advance for any responses!