All Forum Posts by: Braden Hobbs

Hello. I have a 4-plex that I had planned on updating and re-spraying the lines for the large parking lot in front of it. While preparing for this, my property manager was given an easement by a neighboring unit's owner that was created that makes the lot shared use for the 2 neighboring buildings (also shared maintenance and cost for updates etc.). This easement was missed by title so we have grounds for a claim.

My question is how would you go about determining the loss in value for owning the parking lot outright, versus it just being a common space? 

@Thomas S. I hadn't thought to put a guideline on how long it should take an improvement to pay itself off. I like your guideline of 2 years. Especially for items that date quickly.

Thanks for the input @Sam Shueh . I'm trying to put an actual number on the ROI of doing the updates, but not sure what I should include in that calculation.

Let's say updates cost me $10,000. I then get $200 in extra rent per month or $2400 a year. That's 24% ROI for a year, and after 4 years it's paid for itself. Am I on the right track there? Do I incorporate the expected decrease in the vacancy rate in my calculation?

Hey all, I want to get some opinions on how you all decide if updating rental property is worth the investment.

I have a four-plex that could use kitchen updates to make the place more appealing to renters. I’m trying to decide if it’s worth the $. So far I am thinking I need to see what the potential increase in rents would be but also the potential decrease in vacancy rate.

What is your process to determine if an update or rehab is a good investment?

I read the same thing and downloaded the app for that reason. Maybe @Mindy Jensen can help us out?

@Bruce Runn

Your feedback is great. It's always good to hear from the perspective of the person getting these mailings. It's also very amateurish that you would get multiple mailers from the same person on the same day for different properties (I hope they didn't use a company for that).

I would challenge the thought that Direct Mail is a total joke. Many people (countless BP podcast guests included) have used direct mail successfully and it's used by almost every business with a service or product to sell.

What would be your recommendation for someone trying to find more MFH properties to invest in? How did you come about your properties? 

@Alex K.

Before buying a list, make sure the unit filtering you use is pulling the correct data. My county lists MFHs in a weird way, so if I select the way my brain would filter (unit #s) I get inconsistent results.

Research and confirm as best you can before spending the money is my advice.

@Jelena Volfa this is not correct in any area I invest in. The Water utility  is attached to the property and past bills become the owners problem. 

Is this not the case where you are? You are correct in regards to other utilities (at least where I invest) being tied to the tenant. 

Investment Info:

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

Purchase price: $300,000
Cash invested: $75,000

3 - 2 bed 1 bath units and 1 - 1 bed 1 bath unit with a pay laundry unit attached

Update:

They are out now but left the yard and house a mess. I'm guessing their entire deposit will be used for those 2 items.

As for collecting rent or a fee for being in the house for 2 extra days, I'm not going to even bother unless they have money left in their deposit I could pull it from. The time and money it would take to go to court and get a judgment in my favor isn't worth the couple hundred dollars.