All Forum Posts by: Ariella Cohen

DH recently purchased and is finishing renovations on a SF home and the plan is to buy and hold for a few years. The house is in his name only, and will get moved to an LLC soon.

I finished the Property Management course (you need a license in SC) and am planning to sit for the exam.

We had the idea of me opening up a PM company in order to manage my husband's property.  Anyone have opinions of whether or not this is an okay idea? Are there legal or tax issues that would over complicate trying to keep money in the family?

1BRs in a College town is considered a dinosaur? This is an up and coming neighborhood withing biking distance to campus.

1 Unit is supposedly vacant supposedly to make showing the unit easier. I haven't yet seen the property, but I asked a realtor to look at 3 properties, and this one is the most well kept.

They've also dropped the price by 10K now. I do wonder why it's been on the market for a year. Could be the tough market, or could be something more serious.

Hi Scott,

Yeah, I'm in Israel, so yes it will be managed long distance. The main reasons that I'm looking at Columbia, is that I grew up there, know the area and the fact that it is very close to the University campus. I also still have some contacts that might be useful. I've seen some great looking investments in other places, but since I don't know anything about the area it doesn't seem like such a great idea.

They are 1Brs.

Here in Israel, there are tons of ads for buying property in the US - FL, OH, IL - all over. With the prices here so high, it's very appealing. I think average yields in Tel Aviv right now are in the 4% range, and require a pretty substantial down payment and mortgage. This duplex that I'm looking at is about the same price as a Honda Accord with the extras here. Maybe this isn't a "great deal" but given the circumstances, isn't it "good enough"?

Thank you!

What kind of closing costs can I expect to pay on an all cash deal?

I'm looking at a duplex listed for $60K in columbia, sc. 1 unit is occupied, the other vacant. Monthly rent $495 per unit. Management $1100, Taxes $1245 and Insurance $1000. This is a cash deal, so there's no debt service. All of the income is going straight to an account that won't be touched, and will basically serve as a reserve fund. I haven't yet seen the property - still trying to figure out the numbers and how to make it work, but I am planning on viewing some properties soon.
I know about the 50% rule, and even so, the numbers still make sense for our goals.
Have I left anything out?

Todd,

Yeah I know. That's the scary part. The whole idea sounds quite far fetched except that I know people that bought investment properties in Paris and Berlin, and do quite well for themselves.

Small investors have completely been priced out of the market here in Israel. Prices have doubled in the last 5 years, and for 62.5K I might be able to buy a storage room or parking space. Lot's of people are looking abroad right now. I fell like I have a slight advantage since I know the area and am fluent in English.

I digress, but I think it is really interesting to compare the markets. Thank you for you videos btw.

I plan on flying in, even thought I know nothing about buildings. I know it sounds crazy to buy a property without seeing it, but I'm also not sure what I should be looking for that can't be through an inspection report with lots of pictures.

I'm in the process of getting operating data etc through an agent right now, and maybe hold things up until after the tax bill is due in January.

Okay, I get what you guys are saying. I was just really surprised to see this when I've heard a lot of complaints about property being assessed to high. From a tax standpoint, this is very good news. Two other properties I'd initially considered in the area are paying double the amount of this one.

I'm currently looking at a duplex in Columbia, SC which is assessed at 48K. The sellers are asking 62.5K. Most of the units in the area are priced to sell for about 10K less than their assessed value.

My question is should the assessed value and asking price be a little closer together, or are they numbers that are just set by different interests and have no real relation to one another? How can I use this information when I go to make an offer?