All Forum Posts by: Chase Louderback

Costar, listsource and local tax records.  Depending on your area, list source and the tax records can be a pain to comb through. 

I would look for the larger ticket items:  Roof, Foundation, Structural damage, water leaks, Signs of termite damage, mold, electrical systems, plumbing, etc.  As always, have a trusted general contractor take a walk through with you if you are just getting started or need confirmation on what needs to be done on a rehab and its budget.

You can try widening your search radius on the MLS since the comp approach is the way the 4 and under multifamily units are valued.

If that still isn't good enough, I would compare the rents to what I am paying per unit.  If say the average for duplex's and triplex's in similar age, location, etc are 35k/unit then that could be a very rough estimation of the 4plex you are looking at.

Finally, for my location, I would look at the tax assessment and make sure I'm not paying way over that amount.  This isn't relevant to all markets, but for mine the tax assessment is actually pretty accurate with the sales price generally being within 20%. (i.e. $140k tax assessed property would at most go for ~$168k)  You could see if this is something applicable to your market or if it's not even a consideration.

Hope that helps

For 2-4 units, you can do fine with just the bigger pockets calculator.  I would suggest searching the site for other topics on evaluating those size deals.  They aren't too complicated, but you learning how to analyze deals in any market will be vital.

Also, as someone above suggested, it would be good to get pre approved for a loan.  If properties in your target area are priced to high for you to qualify, you may want to find a partner for the down payment.  Another option would be for you to "House hack" and live in one unit while you rent out the others.  This way you can get in a property with much less down.

Sounds good @Mike Zhou, happy to help if there are any other questions.  

Depend on the amount of time you have left before your due diligence time ends, you may want to do the test ads and other "free" due diligence work.  No point shelling out money for an inspection if the market isn't any good. Just my 2 cents.

Best!

Absolutely! I have a couple of different posts for sourcing off market opportunities if you'd like to check them out.  Salt Lake is a tight market from what I have heard so you may just have to be persistent and ready to move when a deal comes along.

Maybe @Ben Leybovich and Sam Grooms could help with this?

@Mike Zhou You may want to do another test ad with it in the local paper.  If you still are only getting 4-5 responses a week, I personally wouldn't do the deal.  The demand just isn't there and you many options to choose from in terms of tenants.  Also, this will effect your ability to not only rent the property, but push rents in the future.  

As @Scott Mac said, you should also check with the police as they may be able to give you more insight on the property.

Finally, what the the employment and population like in this area? It sounds very rural.

Hi @Matthew Miles

Where in Utah are you looking specifically? I'm sure there are deals nearby where ever you are moving. As you have been doing, keep an eye out on the MLS and 3rd party sites (such as realtor.com). I would also recommend using Zillow to search for a stellar agent that services the area you are looking to invest. Reach out and build a relationship with them so they can keep you in the know about properties as they come up.

For the cash flow front, it can be tricky to find deals that cash flow very well right now, depending upon your specific market.  Some investors are using direct to owner marketing strategies in order to get off market deals.  You can do this by:

• Driving for Dollars
• Direct Mail
• Cold Calling

Hope that helps!  Let me know if you have any other questions

Agreed with @Ariel K.. It may make sense for you to do the deal, but why would you go through all of that work if the ARV is what you will have in it? You should be able to refi all of you money out and have solid equity in a deal that requires as much renovation and legwork as this one does.

Finally,  did you say you were using $1k/yr repair estimate?  I didn't see anything in your first post on expenses so that jumped out at me.  Also, since you didn't have a PM fee I'm going to guess that you will be self managing?  You can definitely do it but it may wear on you being an hour away.