All Forum Posts by: Sally Peltz

@ John. I'm planning on buying and holding longer term for appreciation. Yield is a secondary goal. I will expand my search area and get my real estate agent to give me listings sooner.

@Joe & Matt thanks for the input. Great ideas on higher escrow and being the highest bidder. Getting pre-approved with the bank should shave 7 days off the closing timeline. I'm in process of getting that done.

@Gautaum. I'm looking at duplexes or four plexes in Knox-Henderson, Oak Lawn, M-streets, Lakewood. I'm shying away from lower-income areas and suburbs. I have cash for 25% to 40% down, and have secured bank financing for the remainder. I have a financial analyst / business development background that helps with building the business plan. It's a tough market for individual non-cash buyers like myself.

@Andrew. I would prefer to pay cash, but don't have that as an option yet. But, I do like your idea.

After looking at overpriced duplexes in Dallas, I found a great property that had been on the market 3 days. I put an offer on it for full asking price which was unusual for me since I usually start lower than asking. My strategy was to use the inspection report as leverage if I needed to reduce the price. On day 4, the seller had 3 cash offers and accepted the one for full price with a 10 day close and no appraisal. My offer had traditional 30 YR financing with 25% down. We are getting pre-approved vs. pre-qualified from the bank. My next choice had 8 offers with less than 5 days on the market, CASH won the contract. Any other ideas on how to compete for properties?

Ciro I am also looking at 5 condos in a blue collar neighborhood with a great location. Your deal looks great. Cash flow of $3650 per month is nice. The only reason I am still shy about condos is the tenants and tenant turnover. Consider the turnover vacancy percentage into your calculation. Also, advertising rental will that be you or a realtor. If it's a realtor, I think they charge 1 months rent to find a tenant, plus the cost of rehabbing the condos with paint and cleaning for tenant changes. 6 month leases on 5 units may cause a lot of leg work. I'm looking at 4 plexes with 1 year leases. Good luck.

@203 loan is that an SBA loan

I am also looking at financing my first property using our traditional mortgage bank. They require 30% down Ouch! and 1% loan origination fee. The interest rate is 4.6%. Ideally I would like a 20% down loan but don't think I can get that these days on investment properties. Good luck.

@ Andrew and Andy. I agree and am looking more for cash flow. I am going to expand my search area to more more solid blue collar areas that Andy mentioned. I thought hard about investment strategy and decided for cash flow vs. building equity. My realtor is helping me out. We will expand the area where we are looking maybe into commercial apartments. Thanks for being a good sounding board.

I am new to Real Estate but have a financial analyst background. Real Estate is my second career. The duplex I found and like is in this great area in Dallas next to everything and in a great neighborhood. However, my cash flow after taxes, expenses, and debt service is $700 per month on a $500,000 duplex with garage apartment. Based on what I read on this blog, others are getting this type of cash flow on a smaller investment of $300,000. This is my first investment property but when I look at cheaper properties, I don't get the rental income to sustain all the expenses. It's slim pickings on properties for sale.

I had created my own worksheet but this one is more detailed. It's so important to get into the details.

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