All Forum Posts by: Cody Kitaura

Thanks so much for the detailed reply, Erik! Yes, our goal is to buy and hold.

Hi all, I'm looking at my first potential duplex and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to estimate some of the costs. This is in Sacramento, CA, so I think a lot of the costs will be pretty high compared to other posts I see on here, examples in the books, etc.

• List price: $420K
• Year built: 1950
• Time on market: 40+ days
• Repairs needed: New roof, according to current owner (it looked OK when we walked through, but I've budgeted $10k for it?)
• Recent capex: Both HVAC 5 years old, water heaters 4 years old
• Unit one: 964 sq ft, vacant, market rent $1500 (I saw an identical house down the street with a "for rent" sign at $1575)
• Unit two: 964 sq ft, rented, $1250
• Property taxes: $5,500 / yr

The seller seems antsy to sell (the owner is a realtor and apparently emailed our realtor twice yesterday asking if we're interested), so I'm targeting $400K, with 20% down.

The current owner provided these numbers:

• Annual operating expenses: $6,000
• Annual utilities: $4,000
• Annual insurance: $600

When I use DealCheck, sometimes it has positive cashflow and sometimes it doesn't, depending on what I put for vacancy, capex, maintenance, etc. I would definitely need landscaping (big front lawn and several small trees), so I've put that as $100/mo.

It definitely doesn't meet the criteria of things like the 70% rule or 1% rule, but I don't know how realistic those are in Northern California. The price is similar to others comps in the area.

Thanks in advance!

Hey Hayden, I'm in Sacramento and new to all this too. Would love to connect.

I live about 15 minutes from the property listed, and I'll echo the other comments about that specific listing. That said, I took John's post to be more about the general concept than that specific fourplex. 

I grew up in the area and have lived in Sacramento proper for the last 12 or 13 years. Rancho Cordova has definitely become a lot more family-friendly in recent years, but of course it has its good and bad areas. I'm looking to get started in investing soon but I'm happy to answer any questions about neighborhoods.