All Forum Posts by: Chastity Cortijo

@Owen Dashner $51k on a Lake. 😊

How difficult would it be to ask for their list of vendors that serviced the property and manage from afar? 

Originally posted by @Sabra Nasri:

@Chastity Cortijo I’m in the process of picking one. Thinking buildium (over Yardi) .

Do you have any thoughts?

I currently provide admin services for a PM in Brooklyn. (Customer service, light bookkeeping via Buildium, among other things).

He originally hired me as a consultant a few years ago to help organize his business. He was on Yardi and for his door count it was too complicated, expensive and inefficient for his needs. I researched a few options for him and we settled on Buildium. He's since doubled his door count and it still serves him well,  me too considering I use it more.  

It's also simple for the owners to pay their bills, pull reports and documents, and submit maintenance requests.  

We enjoy Buildium.  

-C

Hi Blaine,

Have you found your PM yet? If not, you may want to consider someone like me -  a Virtual Admin. I currently admin for a PM in NYC. And it's all done remotely. 😉 Message me if you have questions! Good luck. 

-Chastity

Hello there! 

What Property Management software do you use?

I am very interested in this project. 

- Chastity 

@Jim K.

Yikes! 😳

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $51
Cash invested: $70

We purchased a house on a lake for $51,000. We have $70,000 invested via a 203k loan.
We are currently living it in. Waiting to take out the equity. And preparing to move on.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We initially wanted to invest in a property that we could enjoy along with short term renting it.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I photograph real estate & vacation rentals. I was sent on a job to the town we now live in 2016. I asked the owner quite a few questions and kept my eye on the town. This house was abandoned for over 10 years. It did not have a sign on the property. I found the house online and negotiated directly with the selling agent.

How did you finance this deal?

We financed the deal with an FHA first time home owner loan with a 203k loan.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

A lot! I would like to come back to this as I organize all my notes. 

Originally posted by @Alex Deacon:

@Chastity Cortijo when I buy a property I work backwards. What will the ARV be when you are all done? If it will be worth 300k when its completed and after all your research and estimates you will need to spend $150k in repairs then its a good deal dont you think? Find out what the ARV WILL BE and then the rest should fall into place. Try to remove any emotion from the deal its business and sometimes its hard to seperate the two when you love a property

Yes! Thank you. That is totally my thinking as well. Here's my conundrum - I have no comps to compare an ARV to. It appears all these shacks - particularly the ones on the lake - have already been renovated and updated for full time living = 3+ bedrooms. We are literally the only 1 bedroom [kind of a 2 bedroom] house ON the lake. So how do I pull a true comp? I can pull 2 bedrooms from off-lake homes. But then how much % do I add for being on the lake? Advice?

Originally posted by @Pat L.:

Up here the land alone would be worth $50k & you can't get a shack for <$90k.

We have had several local 'shacks' bought & then they built McMansions that are beyond impressive & certainly improve the area. One neighbor recently bought a barn type building that I bet he spent >$90k on rehab/septic/landscaping then another $35k for foreshore reclamation. 

 It took 2 years for the two of us to do a complete rehab, but my wife now has a new 23x13 kitchen that has 22x7ft of window(s) as a back-splash over looking the Lake.

Unless you're ocean side you can't beat the tranquility of a Lakehouse.

Do it!!!

Oh man, Pat. You aren't making walking away any easier! LOL 

Wish me luck on my calls and meets this week with septic and foundation specialists. Scary stuff! 

This is the kitchen. 

Not nearly as an impressive as a 23x13 kitchen. But once all prettied up, not too shabby for a little shack.  This place SCREAMS AirBnb. 

Small house on the lake. 50k. Inside needs paint and cleaning. Why is it so cheap? Septic needs replacing. Foundation has several vertical cracks. Been vacant for a lot of years. Because - and only because - the inside is in great condition AND it's 10 min from major skiing, water parks, hiking trails, brewery, wedding venue, Adirondack trail, and some other fun stuff, I am seriously considering it and everyone in my circle is telling me to walk away. I've gotten quotes so I know the dollars for septic and foundation. Wild. My issue is, because I'm using my BP calculators, im seeing as the possibility being beautiful. This would be most profitable as STR. I feel like my naysayers are being emotional and just looking at the upfront costs. I know sh*t always comes up after the fact, but I'm not afraid. I just keep looking at the potential. What would you do? Are you that daring? What other issues can I expect when a septic fails or the foundation needs repair?