All Forum Posts by: Geoffrey Tanudjaja

Hi BP Community!

I am currently shopping for insurance's quote and I am confused with what they have to offer. The property (duplex) is located in Detroit, MI. The size is around 2,000sqft and was built in 1928. They just rebuilt the inside and currently working on the exterior. With that being said when I call them to quote for insurance, there are couple of things that they mentioned: replacement value vs select value. The premium for replacement value is ~$4k (with $3000 deductible), while for select value, the premium is ~$1.6k (with $3000 deductible). I don't exactly know which policy I should go with (intuitively, I would go with the cheaper option, but not sure whether this will be the best)

I'm planning to house hack with this property (this house will be my first property!) and potentially rent both units down the road. As a buy&hold investors, do you guys have any recommendation regarding best insurance policy? What kind of things that I need to make sure that my policy covers? Or maybe what kind of requirements that I need to tell the insurance provider, so that they can give me the policy that tailored to my needs?

I am completely lost and any recommendations or advice are welcome!

Cheers,

Hi BP Community!

I am currently looking for a contractor serving the metro Detroit area. I need them to quote on structural repair (replacing a steel beam and adding additional support on the joist). Can anybody recommend a contractor that is willing to take this job?

Thank you and any recommendation is much appreciated!

Warmest regards,

Geoffrey Tanudjaja

@David Stevoff

Thank you very much for the wealth of information! I did read through some of the articles that you posted here. I will read them and make my decision based on that. Thank you again David!

Cheers,

@Michael Harris

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on EEV! Do you currently invest in Michigan? If so, do you have any recommendations on which neighborhood I should look into? I currently looked at EEV, Bagley, and Dearborn area.

Cheers,

Hi BP Community?

I'm looking to buy at East English Village, Detroit. Does anybody have any opinion about the neighborhood?

I looked through a couple of forums and they have mixed reviews. Some of them said it's good, some of them said not really. I did my own drive through and it seems pretty okay to me. Though the one closer to East Warren Ave and Cadieux seems to be a little bit bare.

Any opinions are welcomed!

Cheers,

Hi BP Community?

I am currently looking at a potential duplex in Detroit. The property that I'm interested in is fully renovated, however, it doesn't have any detached garage. Although, there is a space to build a small garage in the future if I needed one. How important it is to have a detached garage for rental properties in Detroit?

I read through BP forums and the majority mentioned that the detached garage is mostly used as extra storage space. If that is the case, this property does have a very spacious space for storage in the basement. I also checked through the houses around the property. Some have it and some don't. So, I don't know how important it is.

All opinions are welcomed!

Cheers,

@Robert Leonard

Thank you very much for your input! In your opinion, what is the good range for CoCROI? 

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Hi Biggerpockets community!

My name is Geoffrey and I am excited to start my real estate journey! I am currently looking for a duplex to do house hacking.

I found this house that interests me.

Feature of this house:

- Finished basement (1 bedroom and private bathroom)

- 1st Level (2 bedroom and 1 bathroom)

- 2nd Level (2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, there is a potential to convert the living room into a 3rd bedroom)

My assumption:

- I did not include the potential rental for the basement room which I will explain below.

- I assume tenants will pay for utilities, so I in my monthly expenses, I only include $120 for insurance and $200+ for taxes.

The reason why I did not include the basement room into my calculation is because I am not sure how to rent this out. Based on the layout of the house, I might be able to turn this house into a triplex (where the basement room can be its own studio). They have cabinets down there and space that I might be able to turn into a kitchen down the road. However, this house only has 1 common room for laundry. My second option is to rent the lower unit as 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and 2 bedrooms and 1 bath for the upper unit with common laundry space for both. (I assume $850/month for each unit, total $1700 in rent per month)

The upper unit requires some TLC (either refinish the wood floor or just put a new laminated wood on top). Assuming that I am only renewing the floor, I put $5k as my budget (including labors and materials). Currently, the central room can potentially be converted into a room (it has closet inside there, the room only needs a door). However, if I do this, the upper unit will have limited space for the dining room (right in front of the range and fridge).

I have attached as many pictures as I could, so that it will help all of you to visualize what is the house look like.

What do you guys think about the analysis? Maybe I am too lenient on certain things? Or maybe the way I look at this house is completely wrong? I would love to hear any opinions from the community!

Thank you for all of your help and time beforehand!

Hi BP Community!

I moved to Detroit last July for a full-time job and I am thinking of doing house hacking in greater Detroit area. However, with the news that GM is closing some of their factories, which 2 of them are in Detroit area, I start to wonder whether my investment plan still make sense. I guess my biggest main concern is the potential drop in property value as well as higher vacancy rate with so many people got laid off from this closure. I understand that there are other factors that affect real estate markets, but, what are your opinion about this? Maybe I overthink this issue and its potential impact?

Your opinion will be much appreciated!

Cheers,

@Marlon Walls Congratulations!