All Forum Posts by: Jim Marks

I'm ready to lose it tonight. I feel stuck where I'm at and not sure what to do.

I can't seem to find the properties that yield the numbers that beat the market. The best ROI I seem to find is 9%. I don't know if it's because I need to save more or if I'm listening to the wrong people. I have 10k in cash and assess to a HELOC for these efforts. But I keep thinking to myself I should just save more, so I don't use the HELOC. Another part of me says buy with what I have and get something coming in...

Thoughts?

So they countered with 55k and nothing for closing.

Closing costs + prepaids + down payment are $8720

I don't have an estimate for insurance, taxes are $980

Repairs are $1k + fence

I'm my property manager, but I'm paying $150 finder fee and $150 for MLS listing (should I bother with MLS).

My lender is talking about rolling closing into the loan for a higher %. On the fence with this, I have the cash.

Monthly P/I, taxes, $900 ins estimated at $450, leaving $400/month. Was going hold back $200/month for operations. (Going to setup the house with a 5k starting fund). But the house is only 6yrs old, I think what's going to hurt most is the damage from tenants.

So I shouldn't do this?

Thanks for the welcomes! Adam Johns I'm looking forward to the PM! Andrea P. How on earth do you manage from Italy? Are you in the military or are you Italian? If you ever need someone to check out your investment to verify you PM is doing their job, let me know.

I'm new, to the site and to social internet mechanics (forums) as a whole, so please forgive me if I put this in the wrong place or something.

Here is the deal:

Current offer $54k (1st offer was 49k)

1570 sqft house

Built in 2007 by Hunter homes. (Think really cheap with open floor plans).

Corner lot, no fence, needs paint (in and out), outside trim repair, curb appeal, and carpets cleaned.

Qualified for Homepath.

If your not familiar with Homepath, for investors, you only need 10% down, No MI, no appraisal, and they are authorized to pay up to 2% toward closing. Of course this all comes at a cost of ~1.5% higher APR than a 25% down conventional.

The neighborhood is 1/2 investor owned or in foreclosure. I'm planning to build a fence, due to the rough look of the neighborhood and it being a corner lot. The average rent is $850/month for that size house in this neighborhood. Only one house not under contract, but my realtor says the PMC is horrible and most realtors avoid them.

As it stands now, I'm in violation of the 50% rule and the 2% rule. With P/I,tax,&ins I'm looking at $250 left over for maintenance and profits... Granted, it's a new house so I don't think I'll have any big expenses coming up for a while. But I don't see how I could find a property that would meet the 50% or 2% rules.

Please tell me if I'm being too conservative or if I should be concerned.

Thanks,

Jim

Hi, my names is Jim and I'm an investor...

Technically speaking, I've been investing since 2009 when I bought my first SFH and rented 2 of my rooms to my roommates I shared an apartment with. It's hard to really count that, as they are both more like brothers than tenants.

I'm a buy and hold investor for now, with the goal of having a $100k/yr income from investments in 15 yrs, pre-tax.

I'm now in the buying stage of my first rental property. Although I feel like I'm doing something wrong because I'm not able to find a property that follows the 2% rule or the $200/month +50% rule. My current deal is using HomePath for investors from Fannie Mae.

Can I get advise on the deal here or do I need to go to a different section?

I have really enjoyed all the content and podcasts over the last 3 weeks of reading this site, I guess now I need some mentorship.