All Forum Posts by: Carini Rochester

See if you can make this work with 25 or 30% down payment. That could leave you the emergency fund and money for a good used car. Putting 30% down instead of 50% leaves you $80,000. Put $10,000 down on a $20,000 used car, and you would still have a $70,000 fund. It seems like you are making money in you job, as it seems like you've saved $200,000 (50% of $400,000.) So, making a mortgage payment and a reasonable car payment might work out fine.

Site planning and municipal approval processes are time consuming and seem to surprise everyone who does it for the first time! Too bad you borrowed the money and started to incur interest expenses before you really needed to. Your engineer or surveyor or town planning personnel should be able to give some idea of the timeline to having approval and a building permit. With that information, make a decision. If you pay it back, how easy will it be to get that equity turned back into cash? This might not have been the best kind of credit to use as a construction loan. Talk to your lender and a couple of other lenders. See who has the best product for your needs. Hopefully you have that HELOC money earning interest for you in the mean time.

A very encouraging post! Thanks for sharing the Dion Talk Binder link. I had never heard of this. At annual rent increases, I do scour Zillow for market rents in the area, which I share with my tenants. I think it puts the increase into perspective and I get no pushback or arguments from my tenants. I'll watch a few videos and see what I can learn. Thanks again.

"has foundation issues and got them fixed . . ." Way too vague! What were the extent of the issues? What steps went into getting the issues fixed? Was a licensed engineer involved to design to repairs? Was a building permit issued? Was the work inspected? If the remedy was designed by a qualified professional, the work carried out be an experienced contractor, the work was permitted and inspected by the town, then the value reduction would be zero. If shortcuts were taken, and/or your inspector sees problems with the repairs, then it might be the worst case scenario that you would walk away from. I have been involved in many foundation repairs and we get the improved foundation up to as good or better than new.

Nice looking little duplex! What's your cost/sq. ft.? (for the building) What's the site and site work cost?

I self-manage. I think getting a PM is the next step to allow me to grow. But I haven't begun that process yet.

I have a single family in Greece, NY. I've owned it nine years. I have found that careful tenant screening is critical. My current tenant hardly ever calls about any problems. Repairs and maintenance costs have been pretty low. Depending on your current financing and monthly payments, you might get this to cash flow once you get it repaired and get a better tenant in the house. It sounds like your property manager isn't doing his job. My house was appraised nine years ago at $95,000. Now Zillow estimates the value at $210,000, so Greece houses have appreciated nicely in the past three to four years. Double check market rents. Consider the fact that these areas are appreciating nicely. You'll probably do well whether you sell at the appreciated value, or hold on to it and get a better tenant at current market rent.

I think crime data is key. All the other economic and "do you feel safe" criteria seem intricately linked to crime. Here's a link for Rochester Crime Map.

Rochester Crime Map

good luck. I've got a guy who can paint, do yard work and cleaning. Plumbing and electrician are licensed skilled trades. I've never found a handyman who could do those.

The flippers in my area who are most successful are also very experienced. Some are contractors, some are real estate agents, some are investors. But, they all started inexperienced. See if you can find a contractor who will show you around their current project. Get to know people in the various trades (plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters, siding installers.) Start with one that only needs some cosmetic fixes (minimal drywall, paint, flooring) and see how you do. Probably don't start with a complete gut.