All Forum Posts by: William H.

Hi, Matt.

What do you mean when you say historic?
I've seen a lot of very supportive folks who work for Historic Preservation, either a department or a commission, or maybe a couple planners assigned to that kind of work.

You may know all this already, but if it's in an historic district, you may need their oversight when replacing windows. Or otherwise altering the streetside appearance. This is nice, because in one city I know, I could literally call up a city guy and he'd say, "You need a three color paint scheme. I suggest x, y, z." Or, "Here are a few painters who have done work in that neighborhood." Then I get an estimate and a couple color opinions.

I just re-read my post above and would like to clarify a few things.

Rents I mentioned are per-unit rents. (!) Buy a house for 20k and see 1200/month low end, adjusted, without tons of work.

As we all know as investors, a list price is a starting point. I know the guy and I know he's willing to make it work. That didn't come across in the original post.

Utilities are separated.

The property is on a corner lot, more acreage and more desirability.

It can be backconverted to single family and a separate rental.

Hi all,

I have no stakes in this property, but the owners are personal friends. Not a good fit for them, it was acquired through family. It is way out of my region or I'd be looking at it.

Town is 10,000 people, unemployment slightly below state average, pretty solid for a small town, no stories.

Property is 1903 sfh converted to a 2 bed and a 1 bed. Third unit is detached 1 bed. All three need some work to be rent ready. Lower and detached units habitable, but could be prettier. Upper needs flooring in kitchen, a few windows.

I would be looking at a roof but am not 100% sure. Water has been off to building.

Rents range from $450 to $560 for this type of property in this area. Property is listed for about 20k.

Hi, Rob, and welcome!

It's a long welcome thread already with a lot of good info, pros and cons. I think your business's direction sounds good. I have limited (but some) experience renting to military, and wish to add that even within military some folks are going to be aspirational, looking for nice touches and sense of stability; some aren't, and those are the ones you want to screen out somehow. Building your brand, being excellent at stuff, is very expensive not to do because it's related to tenant happiness, longevity and referrals.

In my observation, when people talk about living or not living in the places they rent out, they are touching somehow on this concept: that the area, house, schools, whatever, match their (undefined?) matrix for what a good house is. This is also where accidentally spending much more money on reno can sneak in-it's a direct link to emotions in the middle of your business.

I don't hear you doing the above, but wanted to explain thinking behind my advice that it is possible to avoid crappy tenants in every area and it's easier to do that now (early) by defining core competencies and systematizing those into touches that tenants can "get".

So while the rental market is a commodity market, I tend not to think of it only that way. No mistake, I do know the numbers. Yet it's nice providing something somebody wants, not just needs. I like what we do before it's a product (it's an old house, a neighborhood, a community and all these are part of my end product) so it's natural to look for tenants who want more than a place to drink cheap beer.

Welcome aboard.

It all starts with one. Haha. Wish you the best.

Some jurisdictions have a time period like 180 days when you can bill them for damages. Same principle as if the city injured your yard while working in the right-of-way. I know a guy who was billed $15 for the city boarding up an apartment's front door after a raid, then was told how to proceed in re: the broken windows.

I'd assume the detective knows what's up but it never hurts to check with another department that might actually handle the billing/administration. Suing sounds expensive compared w dollar amount of windows.

Well, welcome! @Lisa K.

If you've been listening, then you probably have thick skin about the investments up there, haha. Many of us love the town. I do.

There's a right way to invest in Detroit. Well, more than one I'm sure. But it's the same as everywhere, think through it thoroughly and be careful. I mean, everybody has to be careful if they're looking for their first investment, and especially if the strategy includes "risky" areas.

I feel I could talk a lot, but I tend toward long posts anyway...

1. Most importantly, do it. Go for it.
2. Second, No Problem with a risky area, just know how to gauge how risky (turnaround time of the area, patience and what you have to do in the meanwhile)
3. When you are young and doing something dicey, it pays to know yourself and add extra margin for learning curve. (How long to renovate as a diy, how much cost overrun, i.e., how do you save $ in the process.)

I made the discovery about a dishwasher sized cabinet not too many units ago. (What @Scott K. mentioned.) Honestly we were unsure about putting one in even in a gutted kitchen reno, so were going to put a placeholder in until we felt it was a good financial call. The tenant who got it afterward loves it and it's a smaller space (smaller unit). Very glad we did it.

Some people expect that stuff because they're in people's houses that have all the normal things suburban houses have. Others hope for it because it's a cool convenience that helps them see the property as maybe a bit nicer than they were expecting-of course everything else has to be buttoned down too.

So @Max Householder Yes I think ppl will choose a dishwasher equipped unit - but not always for the dishwasher. I will put them in wherever I can.

@Al Williamson Well It didn't highlight you so here's another shot at the @ thing. See above..

@Jynell Berkshire Thanks for the professional contact. Always great to hear of a pro who's in it personally. Also, I'll look around on here to see if you discuss economic development corps much because I'm interested in that. That was really cool to see in your profile.