All Forum Posts by: Christopher Collins

While reviewing their website I found alot of misspellings and bad grammar. I am not a stickler when it comes to small errors but these errors give me pause. Are there other firms that are comprable?  

I find that GRM is less subjective than cap rates where sellers/agents may use unrealistic assumptions on expenses and repairs. Having said that, what are your target cap rates / cash on cash returns for Bridgeport? General range that is.

Secondly, what do you budget for capex/ normal upkeep repairs for many of these 80 year old multis?

Thanks,

Chris

What do investors in Bridgeport target for first year gross rent multiple (GRM)?

I am used to a gross rent multiple target of around 8.6 for places in Stamford but in Bridgeport that seems to be very easy to get. Based on historical appreciation Bridgeport lags Fairfield and has higher taxes so you would expect a lower G.R.M., but what seems to be the current going GRM in Bridgeport?

Thanks,
Chris

Hi, 

I am starting to look into Bridgeport houses and was wondering if anyone had some good demographics on neighborhoods and area's within Bridgeport. 

Any links are appreciated as well as personal opinions of good neighborhoods and bad ones.

Thanks!

Chris

Hi Josh,

I am not overly experienced with flipping but my suggestions is always to be conservative. Even more so on your first flip. Start safe and manageable to get your feet under you till you know and can identify the risks clearly. Better to be safe and build in extra margin and room for error when you haven't perfected the technique. It may "slow you down" in the beginning but losing your flipping capital on your first flip will surely slow you down much more.

And total agree, if your open to a broad search like 3 hours just keep looking, you'll find an area that gets close to what you want.

Also, Ive read and heard repeatedly, certain areas have certain wants. Some areas are dominated by SFH rentals and some are dominated by apartments/multifamily. I would not try to fit your investing style into the area but rather look for an area that supports your investing style.

If you are focused on SFH, find an area where many of the rentals are single family homes, i don't personally find that very common in stamford, darien, nowalk, greenwich, westport.

The renter base tends to be younger and wants apt, townhouses, or can't afford to buy so they want affordable housing - leading to multifamily houses.

My exposure is limited to the greater Stamford area, but parts of Stamford and Norwalk can sometimes produce 1% (my properties current do, but they are apt and multifamily)its much more rare for a SFH though. Bridgeport gives much higher cash flow than Stamford and Norwalk and can easily get into the 1% range, but I don't think they are known for their school district and the area in general can be lower income. Many good school districts you will need to pay a premium for, likely hurting your cash flow. Since many people choose to buy in good school districts because they perceive there to be less risk and more stability/demand in prices, you will have to pay a premium for the lower risk.

This is a same reason places like NYC are so expensive. People "know" the price won't go down so they accept less cash flow for security since there will "always" be a demand for housing in NYC, less risk = less return. 

I would look to find a SFH that may convert to a two unit multi family. This may give you the ability to have a SFH styled house, but with better margins.

Also, I am not really sure how accurate zillow is. I think its a great starting point but I personally don't trust it with "zestimate" because it is algo based and as we know real estate can be very micro depended. Does anyone else rely on zillow for their research??

Fingers crossed that it goes like that! Thanks for everyone's response!

To add a little complexity to the issue they do not have a lease and are tenants at will who are there from the past owner. This property is a recent purchase.