All Forum Posts by: Christopher Bunge

That is not unusual but there are variations here: one month's rent charged to change tenants, another without that charge but $400 to set up your account initially.  What you describe is typical but all the charges for every other service is where things appear unexpectedly.  

I listened to an interview with Doug Bibby who is the President of the National Multifamily Housing Council on a podcast called Leading Voices in Real Estate.  One significant take-away was the number of pension funds that have huge chunks of money invested in rental housing.  Not only is it mom-and-pop owners who are going to be smacked in the head by this there will be a noticeable negative effect on retirees' money.  That is one degree of separation farther from the 'greedy landlords' they think they are legislating against.  
It won't be long until plenty of property owners are going to get hit another way and in this case deservedly so, I would argue.  Tenants of crappy landlords will have some confidence to complain about problems, legitimate or not, without the fear of being booted out because of being seen as troublemakers.  Everyone here knows slumlords that deserve every bit of heat they get for rotten properties but tenants are afraid of becoming homeless.  Owners that have run-down places that aren't up to code should expect things to warm up for them starting in about 45 or 60 days when some tenants figure this out.
Signed the petition, for whatever good it will do.

Maybe there are cities where every piece fits into place but Columbia's hiccup is taxes but with one caveat: if you let them be one.  Most investors look at the higher-priced parts of town and stay entirely away from places they believe are B- to D neighborhoods.  Taxes are cheapest in those cheaper neighborhoods of course.  Columbia works very well and very consistently every day for a lot of people but every property, here or on the Moon, has to stand alone and you have to assess each by itself.

The simple answer is that Columbia has some of the highest rents anywhere in relation to what one can buy a house for.  That is great news.  The bad news is that Columbia is the state capital and those buildings, all the universities, Fort Jackson and hundreds of churches do not pay property tax.  Those taxes are scraped onto the rest of property owners here and non-owner-occupied are the worst.   Plenty of investors do very well here because the economy is stable and there is a surprising amount of growth here.  But look carefully at taxes on any property you consider here.

Chris,

We call them "half-backs' here in South Carolina.  Folks who move from the Northeast down to Florida, realize that most of Florida doesn't have the weather, the low cost of living or the culture they assumed it had and end up moving half-way back home.  Thus ending up in one or another Carolina.  
But having lived in Boston for years and loving it I agree with Theresa: there are plenty of people who want to live in a city and not one like Atlanta or Charlotte.

I am in Columbia and know about that package.  It was for sale a year ago (for somewhat less money) and they are what they will always be which is cheap, edgy rentals in a C- neighborhood.  But the cash flow looks good.  I have had a couple of calls on these as well as 2413 Gordon which is nearby. I think that one is seven houses for 200 grand.  These callers ask why these people are bailing after a year and I tell them that my guess is that they bought them because they could afford them but the buyers had very little experience with properties like these and the tenants that rent 450-dollar apartments here.  
If you have lots of experience with cheap rentals then these will work.  They worked for the previous owner, Tyler, for many years.  I am curious what you plan to do for property management?  Check carefully with managers who do this sort of management because there aren't many around.
I looked last night at my emails about these from last time and I told my potential buyers to expect 8-10K per door, not per structure, in rehab. Maybe you have better contractors and a more coherent plan than the current owners apparently did.  The numbers look great and I hope they do well for you. 

Jesse,
It didn't surprise me to see that post but it did surprise me when you pointed out it was from years ago.  I had to read the post carefully to see if I could figure out what area I was talking about back then and I figured it out.  That was Colonial Drive and the Columbia College area, among others.  
To give you an idea of how things are now in that area, we have done so much business there that last year I moved nearby in order to be knee-deep in the changes and improvements and to better understand the neighborhood.  As I write this I am within walking distance of the houses I described then. That was a C neighborhood then but is a solid B now.
Moving here and continuing to evangelize about the city of Columbia for profitable investment real estate reminded me of something.  If you are old enough to remember the TV commercial that played 35 years ago you'll recognize the tag line enthusiastically thrown out there by some guy wearing a divot (as we used to call them), "I'm not just the President of Hair Club For Men, I am also a client!".  Same here in regard to the city.  Not only am I more enthusiastic than ever about the opportunities here, I live here.

It also occurs to me that I should check to see if Hair Club for Men is still around.  You know, for a friend.

Will,

No problem finding BRRR properties in Columbia and I should say it works with small multi-family properties at least as well as with SFH. But the reason I am continually pushing buyers into less expensive homes is that the numbers are dramatically better in the 40-80K purchase price range than 125 and up. There is such intense competition for suburbs from large funds that seem to be happy with a 4 % CAP rate that I keep urging buyers into transitional areas, solid neighborhoods and workforce housing. Places we used to call 'blue-collar' and now call the working poor.
There are others but it is most consistently good and Columbia is nothing if not consistent.

Layla,

If you will look up Andrew Lucas here on BP he organizes an effective, well-attended REI meeting here in Columbia. That is the place to start.

 I have experience selling to people who rent to students and IMHO it is a very different business than regular rentals.  Will Gaston is your man, look for his name on BP.  He probably has 100 doors rented to students and there isn't a more helpful gentleman anywhere.  His posts will give you a more complete picture of that business.  
I learned that a decent property manager is worth a lot, far more than the 10% they typically make.  I personally wouldn't do that job for 50% of the rent.  I'd have to make enough to pay bail when I inevitably started throwing everything, including tenants, out the second-story window in an eviction.