All Forum Posts by: Joe Edwards-Hoff

So I guess I should just bring it up with my lender and see what she has to say. My DTI will get better at the end of the summer when my wife starts working again, but I have nothing that I can really fix in the short term.

So, would a lender factor in tenants already living in a multifamily unit when calculating my DTI? I am looking for a first home and my DTI ratio isn't so good right now because my wife went back to school. Anyway, we saw a duplex that we could easily make payments on and it already has one renter. With that rental income DTI would be fine... any suggestions?

Well-

Residential street, surrounded by other houses of its size and type. It is a historic type neighborhood. (Not zoned that way, but that's where all the old fancy houses are)

There are several other multifamilies in the vicinity. Seems like most of the town has them, being a college town.

Main driver- the house looks BA... I can't deny that I love old houses, and depending on the work involved, it has the potential to be a great deal. Each room would rent for 700+.

It is listed on the tax assessors site as being a multifamily, so I assume that everything if permitted, but I am not certain.

You're list of possible rehab needs is very realistic. It is possibly more work than I originally anticipated, but I also have done pretty all of things myself before. I'd probably plan to live in it and fix it as I go. Or at least after the main work was done. Maybe I could get a rehab loan? Who knows, it'd all have to be in the Lord's timing, but if it looked possible and I was able to get financing in the fall once my wife was working, it could work out. We'll just have to wait and see.

So, there is an old (1900) house near the college in my town. I don't know how I've never noticed it before, but it is sitting abandoned. It looks as if this 3300sqft home was converted into a triplex. The current owner bought it for $60k in 1988. They now like in Portland OR ( I am in Central WA). Frommy internet searching, the husband is a lawyer, I think. The wife is 68 and on their neighborhood committee. I got her email and tried opening a dialogue as to whether they'd be interested in selling. I told the truth that I am actually hoping to find something for my wife and baby on the way. Hopefully I hear something back.

Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas? One problem is that don't think I could get the financing for what the property is worth, or even for what it'd still be profitable at. DTI isn't good enough being a school teacher with a wife finishing nursing school.

Here is a pic

Anyone have anything to add to the yard work comments? Especially with SFRs in mind. Jon?

What about yard work? I am managing a single family home right now to a bunch of college kids and I have not come up with an effective plan yet. do you pay someone to do the work or do you have the tenants do it? If they do the work, do you supply the tools? I once had a landlord who was going to hold back deposit funds if the grass died.

Yeah, my primary tenants are college students. So, the granite counters don't apply here, but then, I didn't create this thread with just me in mind. I just thought it'd be good to get people sharing their thoughts on the subject. I have to assume that if you really choose your products you use in your homes wisely, as well as good landlord procedures, you can probably see 10% better net gains from your investments, just by not wasting money on things that don't last.

Well, after reading the reviews of the Allure vinyl planks on the home depot website, I don't know if I would go that route. They don't look much worse than the other cheap alternatives, but I am starting to be persuaded to just go the extra mile and get hardwood flooring if I need it. There are some places that I have seen 3/4" red oak for under $3 sq/ft. And from the sound of it, that will last a whole lot longer than any laminate of vinyl product. I figure if I went with those and some ceramic tile, I might not have to worry about floors for a long time.

P.s. Jon, if this were facebook, I definitely would have clicked "like" on your sealed concrete comment... ;)

One thing I am curious about is bedroom flooring. A lotof people say to avoid carpet, which seems logical to me, but I feel like I'd really want carpet in my bedroom. I guess now that I think about it, I've had hardwood bedroom floors before, but I have a hard time imagining tile or something like that. I'll look up the Allure vinyl flooring. In fact, I just did and it looks alright. It seems pretty similar looking and install was as to laminate flooring. Sounds like it would last longer though.

For a bathroom, would it be better to just get sheet vinyl? I was thinking about some of the loose lay tile looking sheet vinyl like this-

http://www.carpetexpress.com/products/vinyl/14-foot-wide/69445.html

Not that exact product, but something similar. It seems to be a bit cheaper than the Allure stuff if you are going for the tile look, but for a wood flooring the Allure stuff looks nicer.

Thanks for the good word.

I was durprised by your disposal comment. I've rented a few places in my town and none of them ever had a disposal. Maybe that depends on the age of the home?