All Forum Posts by: Chris Duzan

@Dawn Anastasi

The thought had crossed my mind but I wasn't sure if that was a reasonable assumption. Is that something you would do if you were in that position?

@Kyle Atans (it doesn't seem to want to make you name selectable)

I did take a look at that. And there's a decent elementary(8), middle(7), and high school(7) in the area(GreatSchools rating). I know the house is zoned for that district, but I can't tell which schools specifically the house is zoned for and if you're allowed to switch schools in the same district. (Haven't had the opportunity to have kids myself yet)

Hey guys,

I'm currently looking at property in a good area with a good private school in almost walking distance. The tuition runs anywhere from 8-15K depending on what grade your child is in. Does this mean rentals are obsolete in this area? Especially if one of my arguments for buying the house as a rental is that it's next to a really good school.

Chris

Congrats @Jay H. !

I guess I'll hop on the bandwagon. Any chance I can get a taste of that secret sauce?

Thanks,

Chris

Thanks everyone for all the replies! I'm back at it again with renewed interest. All my original goals are still my driving force, but now I also want to prove this guy wrong.

Thanks again and this just goes to show how great a community there is on BP!

Thanks for the replies guys

@Lynn McGeein I have been keeping an eye out for potential properties and running the numbers as much as I can, if anything just to get a feel for it. They're not exactly hidden gems, right now I'm just looking on the MLS and driving for dollars fairly close to my current location. No mailing lists or funneling people to a website. Anyways, I mentioned some of the deals I had found and he pretty much said that if they're foreclosed or distressed then there's a reason and that the will be money pits, even if the numbers work out with the 50% rule.

@Account Closed I'll try to cover your questions in the same order...

Worthwhile to me means giving me a return greater than another investment that I can get for equal or even less work. If I'm getting 5% return on my down payment I might as well throw that money in a mutual fund and not even worry about managing tenants. Time is a much an asset to me as money.

Cashflow, as I understand from all the articles I've read here, is the NOI-OE-Mortgage. What's left over is my cashflow. Though I understand that this can be taxed for even less value if I want to just pocket this.

I'm looking for immediate cashflow. I really don't want to assume that the rents will raise 2-3% every year, even if statistics are currently showing that. As long as I have cashflow from the beginning and the area is not declining then it's good.

I didn't know cashflow and profit were different. But from looking it up just now it seems that cashflow is profit with regards to a timeline. Rather than just saying revenue-expenses=profit, it takes into account the fact that the expenses may need to be paid before there is any profit so your cashflow might be negative at first. Which brings me back to your previous questions. I guess you meant am I willing to be in the "red" for 5-10 years(10-20% cash-on-cash return) before I will actually make a "profit" off of this house. And the answer to that is yes, but I want to make sure every month more money is not coming out of my pocket than what is going in.

Which makes me think your last question is asking whether I will take more cashflow in the beginning by neglecting maintenance only to have to pay big bills later on. If this is what your asking then definitely not. Maintenance is included in my expenses calculation. If it's only "cashflowing" when I don't include the cost of these repairs and replacements then it's not a worthwhile investment. Even though equity is building up I don't want to be paying out of pocket for monthly expenses. Otherwise I would just buy a house for myself and build equity that way.

Thanks for the food for thought. I really learned something just forcing myself to truly think about these questions.

Hey guys,

I need a little help from any investors in the Columbia, South Carolina area. 

I've been researching real estate for about 2 years now and have been building more and more confidence in my knowledge of small multi-family properties(2-4 units). Recently, I sat down with the landlord of my current residence to discuss his experiences and which areas of town he likes(he also owns small multi-families). He's no Donald Trump but I believe he owns about 10 properties in Columbia so I feel like he is a credible source of information.

Well, in the middle of our talk he asked what I wanted to get out of this. I told him I want to build equity over time but the properties need to cashflow from the start. He almost laughed at this idea and said that properties in Columbia just aren't going to cashflow, at least not for the first 5-10 years and if this was the reason I was getting into RE then I need to look into another type of investment.

I would like to get others investors' opinions of the Columbia market because this has really psyched me out. It's making me second guess RE and whether or not to look for another investment vehicle.

I don't want anyone to try and sugar coat anything for me, but I find it hard to believe that there's no worthwhile opportunities in this city.

Thanks ahead of time for any replies.

@Adam Rickard 

Is that the Columbia Real Estate Investors Association? I've been looking into that group and actually planned on going to that same meeting on the 4th but ended up not being able to make it out. I'm glad to hear you got a lot out of it, now I definitely want to go to one. I probably won't be able to make it out till sometime in March though. 

Welcome to BP @Adam Rickard !

I'm also in Columbia, SC. I'm still in the research process myself, but I'm looking into buy & hold properties. I'm sure we will run into each other in the future. Good luck and here's some stuff to get you started on here...

http://www.biggerpockets.com/tour - overview of the site

http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing - Ultimate Beginner's Guide Book

And make sure to setup your keyword alerts

Welcome to BP!

Most of the previous comments seem to cover what you need but a good overall view of the website is here...
http://www.biggerpockets.com/tour

@Lucas J.

Thanks! I will definitely keep him in mind as I start my search for a PM. What kind of properties do you invest in in the area?

@Curtis York Jr 

Haha, I agree, I feel like I don't get a lot of alerts about things going on in South Carolina.

@Dwayne Dwyer 

What kind of deals do you and your company work with and what are you looking to get out of the Columbia market?