All Forum Posts by: Faisal Farnas

also stay away from Lealman!

hi Jared,

What areas of Saint petersburg do you have listings in? North of central, South? New construction?

I have recently moved here and acquired one property so far, but I am looking to expand. Feel free to PM me.

Faisal 

Thanks for the tips Scott! I was scouring Craigslist doing some research on projected rents in the area, and saw a ton of posts from skyline fifth. 

I was concerned that those big projects were going to drive small investors like me away, but it seems from your experience that that's not the case. Good to know.

Just curious, when you say garage apartment apartment, does that imply one bedroom one bath?

That's a great idea Mark! Thanks for the tip!

BP Members,

I am in the process of closing on a property that will allow me to change my living situation and save a good chunk of money. I am looking for your opinions on the next step.

Some background information:

- Currently renting a 1/1 for $1300 (long story, don't ask lol)

- Purchasing a 3/1 with a detached 1/1 with conventional financing (4.3% rate at 5% down )

- Monthly Payment will be $1250. Tenant exists in detached 1/1 will be paying $550.

- PMI is around $70. Lender stipulates that I live in the place for 1 year minimum.

I plan to live in the 3/1 for a while, take care of any maintenance items and make some cosmetic updates, and eventually rent it out. Conservative projected rent for the 3/1 is $1150.

My question is what should be my next major step in the coming 1-2 years? Here are some scenarios that I can think of:

1) Use the extra money from the rent to get to 20% equity and eliminate PMI. But then what?

2) Don't make any extra mortgage payments, but save for a down payment on another property, then rent out the 3/1 and buy another property with owner occupied financing (after 1 year).

3) Focus on aggressively paying off the mortgage as quickly as possible by renting out the 3/1 and living in the 1/1. 

What do you guys think? Any other ideas?

For the record, I live by myself and have a great job, so I can afford to "house hack" and move around easily. I can also easily afford another 5% down payment on another property within a year.

Thanks,

FF

So much great local advice! Thank you everybody.

Here is an update on the situation:

I was planning on buying a 3/2 bungalow in Kenwood with a completely detached 1/1 suite. Suite is 600 sf with a kitchen and living area, and nicely updated. Main house is not that nice... basic kitchen and basic bathrooms. Asking price... get ready: $260k!

The only reason I was seriously considering this is because I was planning on living in the 1/1 and renting out the 3/2. Perfect for my current situation. My agent told me that I could easily get $1600 per month rent for the 3/2. I ran some quick calculations without really verifying the correctness of my assumptions, and my emotions got the better of me.

Sent the roofer to inspect the roof. Turns out the main structure needs a new roof. Then I asked for a rental history from the seller, and turns out that the rent for the main structure is more like $1200! I quickly came back to my senses and used the BP analysis calculator and used conservative numbers (especially for maintenance) and it showed me that I will be losing $200 a month! 

I truly believe that Kenwood is a nice area that USED to be affordable. However, I think that with inventory being so tight, people are rushing into bad deals and sellers are asking for astronomical prices for their properties. 

I am looking at Gulfport right now for some more realistic options! 

wow! thank you all for the great responses! 

The prices do concern me, but what I am more concerned about is the maintenance surprises that might come up with these older  wooden homes. Most of them have termites.

I guess I will have to do a thorough inspection and negotiate hard if anything major comes up.

Hello,

This is a local real estate question so I am hoping some BP'ers from Saint Petersburg, Florida can help me out.

I am contemplating putting an offer on a bungalow single family home in the historic kenwood neighborhood, close to downtown st pete. What do you think of that neighborhood, in terms of its ability to attract good long term tenants? What about rent prices?

Thanks,

Faisal 

Great tips on negotiation, Will.

Sandy, you read my mind, my next question was about using a realtor to get the comps. It seems that Zillow has only 1 property that is almost identical, the rest are not really comparable. I think I am going to start looking for a local agent.

Thanks.

BP Experts,

I am currently renting a townhome in a desirable location. I am looking to to buy my first home. I emailed my landlord asking if the house was for sale and he replied that he would be willing to consider it.
The house is in a good location but it needs new carpets and some light fixes (the oven is old and the bath tub is old and needs replacement). It was built in 1994. A very similar townhome on the same street was sold last year for $115k.

I need help on what to do next in order to come up with a good offer. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Here are a few thoughts I have in mind:
1) They don't need to pay 6% for a realtor since I am already willing to buy.

2) If they don't sell then I will be looking for a different place which means they will have to go through the whole process of screening and finding suitable tenants.

3) The house won't sell or rent easily without renovations.

What would you offer if you were me? Should I get a realtor to help out?