All Forum Posts by: Evelyn Roper

This is a picture of the exterior

Last month my husband and I bought a 1955 3 bedroom, 1 bath brick home on two city lots. It sits between two fairly new (post 2008) homes. 1380 sq ft. I would consider it a B+ location in our town. The central heat and air has been updated, it has newer vinyl windows, a good roof, electric and plumbing (pex) have also been updated. It still requires some work (about 10K, flooring, water heater, paint, bathroom updates) There is a stand alone (20X20?) Garage on the second lot. I paid $22,000 for it. Bought off of craigslist (FSBO) with a cash offer and didn't have much competition. They were asking 25K and it had been listed a while. I expect my "all in costs" to be around $35K. We are doing most of the renovation ourselves. This is in small(er) town Oklahoma. We have a strong rental market, a good school district and properties for rent don't generally stay on the market for long. I expect rent to be least $800 although Zillow says $850.

After reading the other post, I am a little more skittish of what I might find since this is our first property solely for investment. I still believe we've made a good purchase. We are hoping to hold long term but may consider selling if the numbers work out better. ARV is upward of 75K.

*water hose.

A neighbors cat used to come in my yard to do her business in my flower beds.  I searched online and learned that if you sprinkle cayenne pepper on the ground, cats will avoid it. I had good results but my area of concern was pretty concentrated to the flower bed.  It may not be feasible since you have such a large area to cover but it is cheap and worth trying.  Spraying cats with a warehouse is also pretty effective :)

Any real estate agent should be able to help you find a lender for an FHA mortgage, I think. You can usually close within 30-45 days if the property meets FHA guidelines. The guidelines are fairly reasonable, has to have heat, floor coverings, paint on walls, working plumbing and electrical, etc. Not sure of all of the exact requirements but If the house is suitable to live in, (and you plan to live in it yourself) it is reasonable to assume fha would be an option. I am not a lender but we bought our first home with an fha loan. It is a good program and definitely worth looking into! I agree with the above poster that said make sure you don't go over your budget as you may end up "house poor". Better to buy what you know you can afford and never have to struggle for payments. @Cory Parish

You can get a free credit report online from creditkarma.com. I believe that these don't count against you on your report because the are a self initiated request but I may be wrong. Check online to see what the credit requirements are for fha. If you need to clean up your credit, it is best to do that before applying because you will likely get a better interest rate. You will also have to have a down payment saved for the property if you get approved . I am not a lender but have bought through FHA before. It is a good program if you can qualify. Also, keep in mind that the estimated payments on most real estate sites don't include property taxes or insurance, nor do they include maintenance so you may want to add those to your expenses.

You can get a free credit report online from creditkarma.com. I believe that these don't count against you on your report because the are a self initiated request but I may be wrong. Check online to see what the credit requirements are for fha. If you need to clean up your credit, it is best to do that before applying because you will likely get a better interest rate. You will also have to have a down payment saved for the property if you get approved . I am not a lender but have bought through FHA before. It is a good program if you can qualify. Also, keep in mind that the estimated payments on most real estate sites don't include property taxes or insurance, nor do they include maintenance so you may want to add those to your expenses.

  Yes, that is what I do.  Start at 50%.  If it seems to be cash flow positive, I schedule to look at the property. If I am interested in acquiring it, I do my "legwork" and itemize and adjust the numbers as I work through a specific property to see if it makes sense for me.  You can also find tax information on zillow (for specific properties).  Glad I could help.   Good luck and happy investing :) @Account Closed

I don't have any tables or calculators that I use.  I just do my own due diligence.  I call my city (small town, all city-managed utilities) before closing to get the average monthly electric, water, sewer and garbage bills on specific addresses   I just tell them I am interested in purchasing and need to check the average. I have done this several times, several years apart and had no trouble getting the information.  Keep in mind that each individual property has different utility bills (due to energy efficiency, possible water leaks, square footage, number of tenants, etc)  Calling the utility company will at least give you a starting point.  The most recent property I checked into like this was only a month ago so there are not laws banning it (at least in my state).  If you have a good relationship with your insurance agent, they should be able to give you a pretty accurate estimate on insurance.

Sorry, I overlooked the fact that you want to fix/flip.  If you are going to live in it for,at least a year, I think conventional/or fha 203k would work but I am not a lender.  Just  a newbie but have read blogs about it.