All Forum Posts by: Tony Oliver

Credit cards would only be handy for things like closing costs if you don't happen to have the cash lying around. I'm in a similar situation since I'm in my mid 20's so just work on keeping low/no balance's on your credit cards and try to find tools to track the credit. Personally, I use a Capital One Platinum card. This was the first card I was able to get but because it was structured for someone with credit problems it was easy for me to have as my first card. Get those scores up (FHA requires 620+ I believe but regardless, the higher the better).

Ironically, my student loans helped me a BUNCH to get my credit started.

Other than that I would recommend staying in your job for a few years since this helps banks see that your someone with a stable income. Good luck bro! 

Hey Mike,

I dunno bro. It sounds alot like a $5k car and what I mean by that is this.

Lets say someone buys a car and they have a choice between a $5,000 car thats 14 years old vs. a 3 or 4 year old car that costs $15,000. The 5k car is going to demand at least DOUBLE the cost in order to get it up and running because of major mechanical problems that need addressing. Taking that into account, you can spend just a little bit more in my scenario and you will have a nearly new one owner car with modern safety, gas mileage, entertainment system, etc. 

In other words, I would look for another property because this sounds like somethign that will require A LOT of patience, downtime, and work to get it up to speed. It might be good to just demolish and rebuild from the sounds of it.

Hey guys!

Ive been listening to the podcast at work and decided to give this a shot. Below is the spreadsheet model that someone posted and I decided to do an analysis on the first property I saw on realtor.com for this area. I personally am interested in the area since it is IMO the dream location for me to live in one day. Anyways here's the details.

Property is a 2/2 townhome asking for $180,000. It is 1,225 square feet with a canal view. A lot of people like having canals in the backyard for casual fishing and can be a peaceful environment when a patio is set up properly. Im guessing the property was recently listed since there is no pics available but just by judging the neighborhood it sounds like a decent place to live (aka the "weston dream" as South Florida investors may know about). 

I am of the opinion that this may be a good starter property for investment as it would allow someone to get their feet wet and see what the game is like. Assumptions included an 85 down payment for someone qualifying for an 30 year FHA loan at 5%. I also plugged in the assumptions of the 2015 published millage rate of approximately 17 mills. I found this number on the Broward county property appraisers site. For some reason Weston has two millage rates. One is probably for another zip code. Either way my numbers take into account the higher of the two to be conservative. I also took into account 3 months vacancy for stuff like upgrades and repairs that could be needed as well as looking for and interviewing a tenant. I also thought about considering inclusion of either a new fridge or washer/dryer to add as one time operating costs (1,000 under repairs and maintenance)

I wound up getting a taxable income of 950 bucks after things like debt service and depreciation. I know its nothing to brag about but hey at least its a positive number right? Anyways questions and comments are welcome. What do you guys think of this deal??

Im a newbie so excuse my lack of experience but dont those rents sounds a little too low given the purchase price? Im from Miami and properties I have seen that sold for that ask ~1,800 in rent and up. But then again Im talking about Townhome-style properties. What's the market like in your area?