All Forum Posts by: Christopher Bunge

Will,

Thank you for that recommendation!  We are seeing a number of families interested in Columbia, both to live in and invest here.  Many I meet seem a little bewildered that they are as serious as they have become about moving to a small city they hardly knew existed two years ago.  
This weekend a family from near Tacoma arrived and their retiring parents are moving here next week.  There are plenty of opportunities for methodical investors to do well in Columbia.  I tell all of our new investors to stop thinking about these sorts of purchases as real estate and start thinking of each one of them as a small business and they all seem to do well.   

Hello all! I have a Triplex and we were unable to separate the water and electric into separate meters. I'm curious if any of you have an ideas on how I can track usage? Did you put something specific in your lease stating the usage requirements and consequences for over usage? The issue is even if the usage is excessive, I can't track who is over using and it seems unfair to charge everyone for one persons ignorance. Any ideas welcome. 

I'm coming up with taxes at 4369 at a 250K sale price. $2700 is the current tax bill but it'll jump to the new rate after you buy it. CAPEX for an older building is low and especially when you look at the vague details on the property report. The fact that they do not put an age on the HVAC or roof suggests they are tired. The management of STR is minimum 20% as Andrew said.

I agree with Zev, I'm afraid.  $2000 will trash out and clean an apartment, some maintenance-type repairs and replace one of the kitchen appliances.  When someone advertises an occupied MFH around around market rents I assume $5k-8K per door. If it is advertised with the famous "value-add" or needing TLC I'd assume 10-20K per door to repair and update it.  And if we are to include HVAC or the pro-rated costs of, for example, a roof replacement then it goes up again. I can tell you that there have been plenty of 750 sf apartments that average out at $35K each if you are including everything shared by the property and grounds.

There is no reason you'd have to be on 24-hour standby.  You'll do great and spend less on a duplex mortgage than you will on rents in most student housing.  The biggest challenge will be finding someplace here that doesn't need significant work.  Your cash availability will have a bearing on what and how you spend, of course, but even a small house with a roommate or two is a win in Columbia.

Terri, 
I am an agent and our team buys and sells and rehabs properties for owners who are generally from out of this area.  Every agent has management leads. We have done business or watched management done by almost every company around and with mixed results.
I would prefer you to have a very specific menu of charges for different services. Most of our owners think they are saving money finding a 8 or 9% rate instead of ten but practically nobody talks about the entire fee structure.  If I manage to beat some poor property manager down to 8% a month from 10% then ostensibly I have saved money. But if the 8%er then charges me a month's rent when every client turns over and you are 10% but charge half a month or a flat fee, I am comparing apples to donuts without realizing it. 
Someone who never drives past the properties they manage will cause my owners a lot of heartaches if the rental is now a meth house and we don't know it til the police drag off the miscreants.   Yours is a much more complicated job than it appears. There are many options for maintenance and repairs that are rarely discussed or presented in a comprehensive way at the first or second contact.  
Bad management is a constant problem for me because no matter how great a job I do finding a property, no matter how good the rent-ready rehab is, bad management will wreck the profitability in a minute.  We sell over and over to people, year after year and I am touchy that your profession has such a profound impact on what I do.   I hope you do a fantastic job and make a bunch of money!

Doreen,
The answer to that is entirely subjective I'm afraid.  Columbia doesn't have war zones the way some cities do.  And I am the last one to steer you because the properties in one of the formerly-edgy, tired old neighborhoods are the ones with the most likelihood of appreciation and the neighborhoods I point buyers to.  Columbia is changing in many spots that five years ago could best be described as "neglected".
So the question becomes what your own comfort level is buying in an area likely to gentrify and where the returns are better compared to higher-end areas that theoretically have "better" tenants.  The returns in those spots will almost automatically be a little weaker because of  higher perceived value applied by others buying in places that look more like their own neighborhoods and the residents look more like the buyers do, generally speaking.  It's early and I am not thrilled with that last sentence buy you get the idea.

This is a link to the Richland County tax calculator and it is simple enough to use but with two caveats.  Make sure that you confirm it defaults to non-owner occupied and most important is that when it gives you a figure it is giving you taxes based on the last assessment.  You need to calculate it using your expected sale price as taxes will be based on that number.  It is a number that will have an out-sized bearing on your numbers here.  Good luck!


https://www6.richlandcountysc.gov/AssessorSearch/(S(xaenzjy4105hp3qhie53vo0l))/AssessorSearch.aspx

Bryan,
That description covers a lot of ground but it is hard to identify any "bad" areas where you describe.  Columbia is changing and improving in neighborhoods you'd never expect or realize that it was happening.  I moved into town off of North Main a couple of years ago to have a finger on the pulse here, so to speak, and you couldn't drag me away now.  Love it.
If you have a shot at multi-family in Columbia right now you would do well to jump in.  It's getting more competitive by the month, I'm afraid.  I wish you all the luck with that.