All Forum Posts by: Gregory Hunter

Does anyone look at the percentage of renters to buyers in their areas? I just looked and one possible area has a 72% buy to 28% rent. Another is 66.2% buy and 33.8% rent.

Then for comparison I looked up Norfolk, VA (a huge Navy city) with 45.6% buy and 54.4% rent.

Wow thank you all for the replies, and the appreciation for what I do. I love what I do and hope to retire from the Navy.

Well it looks like I am diving in then. I told myself that if I get the response to do it and my numbers look good, then I would push aside my nervousness and go for it. I was honestly expecting some people to suggest not doing it because I am military and my life is not the most stable.

I am planing to follow as many rules to investing as I can. I want to try and negotiate the price as close as I can get to the 70% after any rehab I want to do. Of course the 50% rent rule, I can get fairly close if I were to turn around and rent right now. I know these 2 rules are for different goals, but I figured if I try to follow both as close as possible so I have options e.g. if the rental market tanks in 3 years I will hopefully set myself up decent to sell.

James Vermillion I have told myself from day one, that I am looking at this as an investment and I am not looking for my "dream" house as most call it. Also good idea about investing in one or two markets instead of everywhere I go. I had not thought of that, thank you. Hopefully my first attempt will go good and I can do a few more.

Lance Carpenter I thought about the "built in" tenant as well. The only downside is the houses I am currently looking at would rent for $1,100-$1,200 and BAH in the area is $1,050-$1,150 for an E5.

So now I have all other kinds of questions. I have searched this forum and google and the answers are unclear.
-How do I asses current market value? From the information I have gathered I have to compare current selling prices in the area with the same condition house.
-Expenses. I am assuming this is upkeep and maintenance on the house. How should I estimate this?

I had a feeling when I typed the previous selling prices I would get it. I am trying to base everything off today's market. Which is about impossible since I can only find 1 house sold for all of 2013. But I threw those figures in there to show how much of a hit this market took from the recent events.

I have been reading through this site for days basic guides, searching, etc. I have learned a ton from this site. But I have not made a decision so I figured I would post all this up and see what the experts say. So here goes.

I am active duty in the Navy, and my wife and I are playing with the idea of purchasing a house at my next duty station. The main reason is because the rent in the area would put us in a tighter monthly budget than we are used to since rent is high compared to my housing allowance. The low housing market and interest rates are a plus too. I will be going to the Dayton area to be a local recruiter, and I have been looking at the Huber Heights and Vandalia areas. The only thing that is holding me back is that I will be moving in 3 years and if I can not sell the house I will have to rent it out, or leave my family and go by myself to my next station.

My current scenario is using a VA backed loan financing between $110,000-$130,000 for a monthly payment between $650-$780 with estimated taxes and insurance. Before the housing market downturn houses in this neighborhood were going for $140k-$180k. Rent in the neighborhood is currently $1,000-$1,800, which is a big range IMO. I would try to rent for $1,100-$1,200 based on current market. So that is about 35%-40% to set aside for repairs, vacancies, etc. I will need to use a property manager if I need to rent it out. I have no idea what that costs yet, I am guessing 10% of monthly rent then a fee to place tenants.

There is so much more info e.g. what shape the house is in etc but I am trying to keep this short.

So to all the experts out there how am I really sitting in regards to selling after 3 years and my possible renting scenario. If rent goes up in the area after 3 years I should be sitting nice on that end since I am basing everything off renting right now.