All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Sher

Cheryl, the son sounds like a "professional" tenant. I would be careful

Mark, welcome. I am also 23, received my BS BA in Finance and Real Esate, have read a ton of books and this forum and am ready to jump into the real world of owning property. I am currently looking at single family homes in the Saint Louis area. I will be renting these. It looks like you already mentioned you are interested in rent to own options. Any particular reason why?

Seems like an unfortunate and headache situation to be in. Your fault or not, if your tenant were to sue, you would probably be dragged in it by their lawyer. Name everyone in the lawsuit you can, and ask questions later.

I feel comfortable there currently, I think the thing that worries me is a longer term horizon, people always talk about "area's changing". I also have 2 other partners, so we all have to agree. It will be interesting.

Simon,

Thanks for the reply, I am interested in renting, I'm not expecting this house to be worth 50k in 5 years, It would be a cash flow opportunity. The County has it assessed around 49K, I know that you can take that with a grain of salt. I have done more research and I think rent closer to 750 is valid. I have a family friend that has 5 houses in the same area that rents his similar houses for 725-750 a month.

Found a 2 bedroom 1 bad SFH in the Saint Louis area. House was built in 1949, is listed as 800 sq ft and has a finished basement. asking price is $26,000. House probably needs 4,000-5,000 in cosmestics, (painting, new counter top, new kitchen floor, several fixtures..)

Pros:
1. New roof and decent curb appeal
2. New plumbing pipes in the basement
3. No signs of water damage in basement
4.Recently painted on the outside
5.I have been told from a reliable source that rents are around $750 a month, I would go more conservative and estimate $675.

Cons: Not the most desirable area, neighboor was pretty quiet though, no suspicous lottering, kids playing in yards, people relaxing on front porches. Median household income for the area is $35,000. I think the numbers are fantastic... but this would be my first property. Any wisdom or thoughts?

I like to think of this as positive news.. Over the last year, we have heard, double dip, double dip, double dip. Now that it has officially declared, maybe people will feel more confident in purchasing a house? This might signal to people that the bottom is in. Just my opinion.

I'm in the same boat, I've been searching for software to manage my small Real Estate company. I came across this software yesterday. I downloaded the free trial, so far I love it. Check it out.

http://www.landlordmax.com/

I have been looking in the Saint Louis area for single family/multi-family housing. When I search HUD listings, A lot of the listings are in a specific area of town. What can this possibly forecast or mean? Is this an area that you should stay away? It this area so bad economically that people in the area can't afford houses? some of the houses are halfway decent, for example, they aren't boarded up 120 year old houses. I would probably be buying single family homes and renting them out or flipping. I know it would be hard to flip a house in a distressed area, but what about renting? What should I be concerned with or consider? To my knowledge, these areas are not war zones.