All Forum Posts by: Ed Florack

@ Anton, thanks!  I'll do a little bit more digging on the rental prices for a similarly priced home.  

@ Jason, thanks for the intel.  My conclusion has also been that appreciation is basically a non-factor in the area.  Most of the homes I have spotted have not increased in value in the past 10+ years.  I'm trying to play the balancing act between finding a home that suits my wife (i.e. newer kitchen, hardware, fixtures, open floor plan, etc.) vs finding the perfect "rental" deal for future use when I inevitably get a new assignment.  If it were completely up to me, I'd be pursuing a foreclosure or similar property with an eye for some sweat equity to increase future rents but it has been a tough sell to date.  My plan, tentatively, right now is to try to pick this home up provided they come way off the price and set up for a long term rental down the road.  I might pick up a secondary, strictly investment property to cut my teeth in the rental business in the next year.  It's definitely more daunting not being from the area.  I'll PM you some more details this week about the situation, if you don't mind.

I'm moving to Valdosta, Ga in mid to late September and am looking to purchase my first property. My assignment lasts approximately three years. The goal is to purchase a single family home for my family, and then turn it into a rental property after I leave. My problem is trying to figure out how to analyze the deal vs. renting knowing that I will live in it for three years and then turn it into a rental or try to sell. Do I project my cash flow based on equity, loan pay down, etc based on the property status in the future (3 years out?)? I'm also having some trouble determining market value for the home because the neighbourhood is relatively new and their don't appear to be any homes rented out currently in the development. Zillow is estimating it at 1200 and the overall average for the city proper is less than that. The home is a newer 4 bed 2 bath at 1911 sqft, built in 2013, and is currently being offered at 184,000 w/ 3.5% mortgage and 10% down on a VA loan. My realtor said I might be able to walk it down to 179,000, but that's it. This is comparable to most of the homes in the neighborhood, on the low end, but not substantially lower than normal. I used dealcheck, and am not showing a positive ROI until about year seven with no positive cash on cash return until year 21. Is there a way to account for the 3 years of home ownership? Should this affect my numbers at all or no?