All Forum Posts by: Jake Engle

thanks for the reply,

When I say rural, it's surrounded by farms and a couple miles outside of larger cities. I was also concerned about the level of interest a rental in this area would receive. I placed an ad to gauge and received about 20 inquiries in a two day time span. I am not sure if that exactly proves demand, but it did surprise me.

Thanks again for your input and anything else you can think of.

I have found a property that I am very interested in and am prepared to move along with an offer. I am a first time investor and have just read a few books and researched this site as much as possible. I am a licensed agent and have a pretty solid understanding of my local market.

Now about the property. The property is a Triplex unit, with a two story single a couple feet away. These are two separate parcels being sold together. It is a rural property, so property is served by well and septic.

I believe the property can be purchased for $175,000. The taxes are $4,200. The Triplex has 1 4-br unit, 1 2-br unit, and an efficiency. The single residence is a large 2 br. When comparing possible rents, the units fully rented should rent for $3,300 per month. Two of the units don't need any work and are rented and bringing in $1,300 per month. The other two units need approx. 10-15k in rehab.

Does this deal seem to be a good deal to pursue. My main concern is having a well and septic system service the property. If either of these systems go bad, that is obviously a major expense. Any other info that I could provide to assist in analyzing the deal? I'd really appreciate any advice that you could provide.

I am looking into finding my first investment property, and have found a property that I believe has great potential. I am a little hesitant about the location of the property, as it is in a semi rural location. When I say semi rural, it is a country location with a short drive to many large towns/small cities. I was concerned with whether there would be enough demand to rent the property. I posted a feeler ad on Craigslist to attempt to determine the demand for rentals in the area. Much to my surprise, I received about 10 emails in a 24 hour span wanting to view the property.

Should I be encouraged with the amount of inquiries I received about the property, or is that pretty standard with what you would expect?

My other concern with a rural investment property, is the potential for disaster with on site sewage and water. Is this something that you would avoid at all costs with the potential large expense if one were to fail? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to documenting my journey on this site. Thanks in advance.

I am hoping to begin my real estate investing career in the very near future. I have a 60k Home Equity Line of Credit available at 2.25% (prime-1%). I found a property that is a steal of a price that doesn't need any major repair, just total cosmetics (flooring, paint, etc). It is a SFH listed at 59,000. After updating (15,000), I have run comps (I am an agent) and have figured the house to be able to sell at 100-110 k. I would like to purchase and rent the property for $1,000/ month, which is right on par with all comparable properties.

I have thought about utilizing my line of credit and making a cash offer hoping to be able to get the property for 40-45k, as it is a very motivated seller. After doing more research on the matter, would this be the wrong path to go down, and just obtain a mortgage with 20% down?

I am looking to utilize the line of credit in the smartest fashion, to be able to grow my investing career as quickly as possible. Does this deal seem like one that could profit enough to make it worthwhile? I would really appreciate everybody's advice and feedback. This site seems like a great tool with a great community.

Thanks for your guys input and advice. At what point can you use the positive cash flow from a rental to get a new investment loan on another property. For example, lets say I max out my debt/income ratio off of the HELOC. Obviously I will need more monthly income to be approved for an investment loan. When would the positive cash flow be taken into account for a new loan?

Hi everybody,

I am new to the forum and very intrigued by the level of support most of the users seem to provide each other. I am hoping some of you savvy investors could provide some insight on the best way I could utilize a 60 k HELOC.

I am looking to get involved in the rental world and have been eying up a property that is listed at 59k. I (being a RE agent) showed the property to a client and immediately realized the potential with very minimal work, strictly cosmetics. When comparing all rental comps in the area, the property (3 br) should rent for 1000/month.

I have the available equity in my home where I could open up a line of credit for 60,000 with a rate of prime minus 1%. Would a smart investment strategy for the long run be to offer a cash deal, which I believe could get the property for 40,000, or use the line as a down payment of 20% to have more available for a second property.

I have been doing as much research as possible with reading books and following threads on here. I would really appreciate any advice you guys could provide to best utilize my available line of credit. If going the direction of opening a line of credit is crazy, please advise and I will look into other options. Thanks for reading and I appreciate any wisdom you could provide.