All Forum Posts by: Marcel Theisen

Hi Imadeddine,

Welcome to BP. You mentioned 'International' Real Estate, so are you also hoping to work with foreign clients investing in Moscow? I'm just curious, it seems a lot of Russian investors are buying property here in Southern Spain. Good luck with your new venture!

I second the recommendation on "The ABCs..." by Ken McElroy.

Another good book is "Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes and Quads" by Larry Loftis. 

These articles may also be a good place to start: 

Thinking About Buying a Multifamily? STOP! Wait Until You Read This!

6 Reasons to LOVE Multifamily Investments Over Single Family Homes

Things to Consider Before You Buy That First Multifamily Building: Finding The Perfect Deal

Hope that helps-

Hi Sagar, 

Did you try the 'Multifamily' option on Loopnet, that usually brings back some results with duplex, triplex, fourplex.  I've also had luck on Craigslist, if you search in real estate in your area with keyword 'plex' you can sometimes get good results if you are looking for 2-4 units. Trulia also has a filter (go to 'more filters') for 'Multi-family' that has given me some decent results in the past. 

Good luck. 

Marcel 

Thanks Bill,
That's exactly the kind of advice I was looking for.
I've plugged in different amounts for Maintenance/Cap expenses but wasn't confident on my estimates. I got last year's records from owner totalling $6K.
I don't totally trust any info I'm given but it gives me a starting point, they had a few large items (new furnace, etc) so I'm assuming that might be higher than average year- so 4K may be closer to average and at amount the numbers work (7.5% cap).
Good point on deferred maintenance, just had inspection and owner is agreeing to fix all major objections.

Thanks,
Marcel

Hi,
I'm working on my first investment deal so I would appreciate any advice.
4-Plex: $205K (already negotiated down as much as possible from list price).
Marginal neighborhood- relatively strong rental area but not expecting great appreciation.
3 units are renting at $600 (2B) and one at $800 (3B). Locked into 12 month leases.
Current rents are at market or just slightly below (comps at $625) so possibly $100 more total monthly income if raise rent after first year.
25% Down, 30 yr mortgage @ 4.5%

Monthly:
Rent: $2,600 (Coin-op laundry extra $100/month but I've left this out to be conservative)

Expenses:
$782 P&I
$68   Prop Tax ($810/yr)

$365 Utilities: Water, gas, electric, sewer (average based off past year bills)
$260 Prop Mgmt (10%)
$130 Insurance
$58   Trash (575 year)

Those are my known expense amounts. Tenants pay their gas/electric. Above utilities include owner-paid hot water (and electric from common areas).
I've run the numbers many times using different expense scenarios and figured in 10% vacancy. I've tried the 50% expense rule as well as testing other scenarios estimating higher expenses and major repairs and still come up with positive cash flow but would like to see what other people come up with based on the known amounts above to see if I am off on my calculations.

Thanks,