All Forum Posts by: Calvin Kwon

@Billy Sarno, looks like a great opportunity. Just want to check - why did you include the electricity cost? Wont the tenants pay for them? And who will be the target demographic for the rental? If you are targeting students, I would think the vacancy rate & repair costs might be a little higher as well. I am still looking for my first deal but I am roaming deal analysis from others to learn more : ) Hope everything works out for you!

@Brian Beck @Heather Skowronsky - really appreciate your feedback. I got a real number from one lender and it came out to $5,700. 

I haven't had a chance to reach out to the county or a property management firm but in your experience, where would you check the demand for section 8 housing? Also, my understanding was that section 8 housing rates are based on the # of bedrooms... could you clarify why the home own rent for $2100? The HUD website indicated that a FMR for 3 bedroom home in that zipcode is $2100.

Would love to connect with all of you at some point! Will send you a separate message!

Hey @Nicholas L., I thought the closing cost was 1% of the purchasing price. It is not an actual figure. I should get that and see. HOA is what's on the listing... I didn't even think to check the real figure - thank you for the heads up. I agree that it is alot of money to tie up for such a small cash flow.

@Fabian Friedrich - great idea as well. I just want to keep the management fee in there but I get your point. I am going to the property with a realtor I met last month. Not sure if it would make it awkward(?) for you to come, but I'd definitely welcome your company if you are interested. We are meeting there at 11am. 

@Paul Defngin that is a great advice. I will check the county for more information.

As for financing... I am looking into traditional lender. So 20% down payment. Do you recommend some other types of financing?

@Paul Defngin, thank you so much for your feedback. Yes, I am thinking about managing it myself but wanted to build the buffer in. Do you happen to know how easy/hard it is to get a Section 8 tenant in a specific area? And I thought closing costs come to 1% of the total purchase price.... am I mistaken??

Hello, I am a first-time investor and would like feedback on an analysis for a rental property. This is my first time analyzing a deal so I would like to get your feedback on what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong.

Property: 3523 Cranmer Mews, Woodbridge, VA 22193

Link: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Woodbridge/3523-Cranmer-Mews-22193/home/9228154

Analysis: The property is up for sale for $190K... and comps in the area goes for $225K ~ $250K or $1495 ~ $1600 as rental. Based on the photos, the fixes look cosmetic in nature and I will be visiting this property on Saturday to have a closer look. 

Here are the numbers, assuming 20% down ($38K)

Income
- Rental: $1550

Expenses
- Mortgage: $700
- Property Taxes: $200
- HOA: $60
- Insurance: $60
- Vacancy: $85
- CapEx: $100
- Repairs: $100
- Management: $150
-Total Expenses: $1455

- Cash Flow: +$95

Investment
Down Payment: $38,000
Closing Cost: $1900
Rehab Cost: $10,000** (could be higher - must check)
Miscellaneous: $500
Total Invested: $50,400

Mortgage: $152K
ARV: $230K
Cash on Cash Return: 2.3%

Conclusion
So obviously not a good number... Do you have any idea of ways to make these numbers better? One idea is an inspiration from the podcast with @Joe Asamoah and accepting Section 8 tenants. The FMR for 3 bed home in this zipcode is $2100... which will turn my meager 2.2% to a monstrous 15.3%. The only question is... how easy is it to get Section 8 tenants in this neighborhood? Is there a way to find out?

Are there any other jedi real estate strategies that I am overlooking?

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I am visiting the property this week. If anyone would like to join, please let me know!

I would love to meet new folks! I am in Tysons Corner and will be purchasing my primary residence this year, which I will house hack to get my feet wet. Currently looking for rental opportunities in the area! 

Thank you very much @Eamonn McElroy. After reading your post about "arrangement" and "substance" I realized it may not be as straight forward as I thought. I will get an advice from a tax professional. If you have any colleagues in Northern Virginia you recommend, please do let me know!

@Dave Meyer, I've been putting together a list of data that might be relevant to real estate investing to create a tool for myself. But given that I have limited REI experience, I was looking to get feedback from real investors on what they find relevant.. and discovered your thread!

I would like to help where I can. I am a geospatial engineer with a company called Esri. Commercial real estate firms like CBRE and others already leverage our tools to create their proprietary market research services. I already have a good idea of where some of these data is managed at federal/state/local level and have access to curated datasets that is freely available online. I was toying with the idea of using the same tools + publicly available to create a real estate data exploration/analysis tools for myself, but if BP is looking to do something with this, I would love to explore where I can contribute so that the wider community could benefit from it.

Let me know if there is an opportunity to help - I would love to hear your vision for this service and could also prepare a demo to pilot how the data could be explored on the web. 

@Eamonn McElroy, thank you for your reply! I am looking to rent to a friend who is interested in staying at my apartment short-term while he finds another place in the area. We don't have any official lease agreement.