All Forum Posts by: CJ B.

Wanted to share a little something that happened today. I have an out of state rental. I am one of the ones fighting "tooth and nail" to manage from a distance. No property manager. (Although I might surrender) So far, it has been a smooth ride......Except today. I'll get to that. Earlier this month, the tenants moved out. I got my crew in to rehab the unit, and all was going smooth, save for a couple little snags with the flooring which got worked out. So..ready to show. Been advertising the unit all month, and it's in a desirable location, so usually rents quick. Had some showings lined up, before coming to town. I only had the weekend to show and the first of the month is around the corner, so I was pretty eager to rent. The first showing was a woman, who said it would be for her and her fiancé. ( only met the soon-to-be wife, didn't meet the husband). Wife loved it. She said they will "definitely take it". We did the background check- sent a link to both the husband and wife, did credit-- all of it, (which cost THEM $70). They checked out with flying colors--Perfect fit. SO... I decided I would be a little relaxed on showing to the rest of the interested parties, but I went through and got some more applications anyway. Nobody else qualified, and these people wanted the unit, so I wasn't too concerned. We scheduled lease signing/deposit for this morning for 10am. I wrapped up some last minute painting yesterday, Spent two hours writing up their lease and at 9:30 am, while I was waiting for them AT THE PROPERTY, I received a TEXT from the soon-to-be husband, saying "sorry for the short notice, we are no longer interested, thanks". Well that's all folks! Flight leaves back to Cali tonight, and I have no other applicants or showings lined up, and an empty unit. Never count your Chickens before they're hatched, and never consider your place "rented" until that deposit has cleared the bank, and the lease signed in red ink.

Thanks for the laugh @Matt K.!

@Brian Schroeder thank you for the insight! 

@Cody L. No worries!  

It's MLS # 170041553.

This morning I was following up on a potential "deal" in San Diego from a property that listed yesterday. On the surface, it looked like a great deal, although the description in the listing was rather vague. It listed at 375K. Did the math would have rehabbed/sold at 550K all things being equal.  

Called the realtor this morning and he said they had 11 blind offers already as of 9 am this morning! 

He also mentioned the house was a short sale which hadn't even been finalized yet. 

But this one really made me laugh....."whatever the final accepted offer is, the buyer would need to give the seller a "cash for keys" payment of 10K ABOVE the final accepted offer--and that's not negotiable. 

Needless to say.....I walked.  :-)

Perfect @Matt McConkey. 

Yes, I'm looking at some houses through a realtor in the area. She's been great so far, but ethically, she's reluctant to tell me what kind of (demographic) area I would be purchasing in. Of course, I've looked at all the online crime stats, but it's nothing like physically being there. So, it's great to hear from people who are in that market to find out what's happening.

If I make an offer and it gets accepted, I'll be on a plane tomorrow to do the "hands-on" analysis. 

So far, it seems everything is checking out. But, if I'm buying in a "warzone", that's not what I'm looking for and I'll move on. 

@Matt McConkey Got it. The second property block? 1100 north 6th street area? Or did you mean 1800 so 8th street?

Thanks again for your input. Ya, seems like St. Louis is also a great market with a low entry with greater rents. Definitely worth a look. 

Great to know @Matt McConkey! 

I've been looking at low entry/ higher rent properties in various places. 

For me, distance isn't a factor as long as all the systems are intact and all due diligence is implemented. There are some drawbacks to buying in other markets- one being familiarity with area. 

I have a feeling the properties I'm looking at are in the area you said not to touch. 

 Properties of interest are in these neighborhoods. 

1300 North 9th street

1800 So 8th street

1100 North 6th street

Thoughts?? 

Thanks again for your feedback! 

Does anyone have any advice or insight on the market in Springfield, Illinois? Low Entry for buy and hold rentals but what about appreciation? Is the rental market stable? Any "war zone" areas or high crime areas to avoid? Any feedback would be great!! Thank You!

@Ben Wilkins Thank you for your feedback! This is a cash offer.

I didn't list repairs, as I am not sure what will need to be repaired just yet. I also failed to mention these properties are being sold "As Is". 

As for Cap Ex, THANK YOU AGAIN! Should have figured!!! Same with vacancy. With those calculations it changes the yearly cash flow number to $13,981, with your suggestion (8% vacancies, 10% CapEx).

My goal with these properties was strictly to generate cash flow. They are being sold under market value currently. I've asked the realtor/property manager to try to get to the root of "why", as I'm not fully buying into the reasons as to the sell. They were listed last week, 7 days ago at 36K, then dropped down to the current asking price. Also, the realtor/future property manager, due to her ethics clause, wouldn't tell me what part of town these properties were in and didn't really give me a sense as to income demographic of the people. 

But upon further analyzing crime in the area, they appear to be in high crime areas, compared to the rest of the city, so I am determining that these are "low income" rentals. I did ask about section 8, and no tenants are section 8. 

Raccoons.......tenants in that property said they don't store anything in the basement, as they "think they have raccoons down there". Backstory pending.......