All Forum Posts by: Christopher Cole

The podcasts are fantastic!! I'm a huge fan!

So what is best to nearly always contract out, and what is best to nearly always do yourself?

For example, anyone can paint a wall.  But is it always better to contract out because professional painters can usually get it done faster (maybe better)? @George P. gave a great answer to this - I'm curious what other flippers have to say.

@JILL DUSKIN I really liked podcast 20 and podcast 40 for a firehose of information.  As far as regular interviews, I took a LOT of notes on show 64 if you want a suggestion for a "regular" show.

Basically what I did is I went through the titles of all the podcasts, and then bookmarked the ones that looked most interesting/most pertained to me.  So I skipped some of the flipping, wholesaling, and commercial real estate ones, and zeroed in on the buy and hold ones.  I can honestly say that I have learned from every single podcast, as I want to fill in the gaps of general knowledge of real estate investing, I'm sure I'll go back and listen to a few of the others as well.

@Desi Arnaz I would LOVE to know more about how you are flipping houses in different states without ever seeing the property.  You said BP - but I'd like more details :)

@Bram Spiero The property manager is 10% of the rent, which I think is pretty standard.

This forums seems to be all about details and real numbers (which I like), so I guess I'll share on my duplex.

Purchase price: $295k
Side 1 (3 beds/1 bath): $1350
Side 2: (2 beds/1 bath): $1200

Basic Income 2550 - basic expenses ~2171 (water varies, mortgage, management fee, tax, insurance) = $379.  Take out occasional maintenance and moves, and its more like $150-200.  A full month of vacancy briefly dips into negative cash flow territory, but so far I haven't had anymore than 1 month of vacancy.

The duplex is in a pretty nice area, and is actually really nice inside (hence I was happy living there).  I installed a/c in both units, painted, and replaced fixtures (light switches, electical outlets with nice white ones, doorknobs with nice steel ones).  Makes a surprisingly big difference for a relatively inexpensive, DIY improvement.

Clearly my cash flow isn't so great, but with a ~.8%, but I am not under water at all.  The unit has actually appreciated in value as well.  I am developing a theory that you don't need as high a cap rate in A neighborhoods to cash flow because it seems tenant and maintenance related costs are lower.

With that said, for my next deal I think I'm going to try dropping my neighborhood standards a bit (C+ maybe?) and go for a much higher cash flow (> 1.5%) and see how that works for me.

@Lauren R. Yes, they knew I was the owner.  Kinda hard to get around it - I had to collect rent, do maintenance, etc.  Like I said - there were positives and negatives about it.  It was too easy to have to be a little relaxed with some things (I had to live with them by me after all).  Now that I'm moved out, I'm super happy to have handed all that part over to a property manager :)

I have been just reading in the background, but I figure I'll introduce myself now.

When I lived in Denver, I bought a duplex, lived in one side and rented out the other. Some good and bad experiences, but generally a great investment.

I've been saving up, I'm ready to invest again, but I decided to get smarter about REI before diving in this time. That's how I found Bigger Pockets! I especially have enjoyed the podcasts. I thought my Denver property was a pretty good deal, but I have now learned most of you investors would really cringe at my returns. I still think what I have is great, but now I'm much better prepared for a better deal!

One book I haven't seen much mention of is the richest man in babylon (but on the top books list). I've been automatically putting aside 10% of my paycheck for years.

I'll be looking to invest either in the greater DC area (Baltimore maybe? Or Richmond?) or in Denver. Thanks all!

@Antwon Austin I would like to be on your buyer's list as well.  I'm interested in property in Denver.