All Forum Posts by: Chris Weaver

It's really hard to give a close price. Wells and sewers can be extremely expensive if there's no town hookups. Custom homes can be very expensive to design, engineer, finish etc. I built a custom home last year in Northern NH for about $180/ft but that had a private well and septic with higher end finishes (quarts, custom cabinets, radiant heat, wood floors, ceramic tile, cathedral ceilings)

Looks pretty nice for the price. I would've liked to have seen what it looked like before.

I am looking to buy a house worth about $140,000. It needs a little work as it's a 70s ranch and I would hope to get it for less than $100,000 (around $90,000) and put a little money into it, being right around $100,000. After a little work it might be worth around $160,000 or $170,000. I know it would rent for $1100 but I'm not sure if anyone would pay more than that. The biggest issue is that the taxes are $3,000. $100,000 with 20% down over 30 years at 4.5% is $655/month including tax and then obviously we have maintenance, capex, insurance etc. So with taxes being that high would it be better to rent it out for pretty much no cash flow or try to sell it immediately after repairs?

To me it doesn't seem like a good deal if you're going to spend $350,000 on a home and only gross $3100 monthly. It doesn't take much for rehabs to go over budget either.

I would raise rent to $1200. But if they are only willing to pay $1100 then you have to decide whether or not it's worth finding new tenants. I know some landlords rent to tenants that make more money than them, particularly with higher end properties...however, are they more financially intelligent?

Honestly, I think it's important that people in sales or with their own business at least drive presentable cars. It doesn't have to be anything fancy but something relatively new, clean and presentable. If a landlord clunked up in an old piece of junk, I would question how the building would be taken care of. To me it's just as important as wearing nice clothes...doesn't have to be an Armani suit but just something clean and professional.

I have a steady but low income with a DTI of around 25%. I'm looking to buy a rental property but I'm not sure how to obtain financing. I have excellent credit with a down payment. Should I look for a property with rental history or would banks lend based on future rental income (with comps)? Not really sure if I should look for a house or financing first. Any advice is appreciated.

I think 1200 square feet can be a good size if it's one floor. Honestly, I like the layout of a lot of double-wide homes where you have the master on one end, living room/kitchen in the middle and other bedrooms on the other end with vaulted ceilings. A traditional, stick built home with that kind of layout is appealing to older people, younger families, etc. It seems to be an efficient design and is appealing in a lower price range. 

I think many realtors tell sellers to list for a higher price than it's worth because they don't understand every expense associated. They hear $30,000 gross income and think that's taken home when in reality it's nothing even close to that.

@Jake Thomas would you suggest waiting and trying to find a deal in my town or would you suggest going where the rental market is stronger?