All Forum Posts by: Iman Yu

@Tom Keith The deal looks really good on the paper. Is the property tax and insurance under 1000 a year? I calculated the cash flow of about $125 a month based on your number and the assumption of insurance being $1200 a year, 10% vacancy, $800 property tax a year and 0 PM cost. 

Do you manage your properties in general? Have you owned deals like this before?

I'm seeing a few that cash flows about the same in duplex setting so it'd cost about 100,000 and cash flow about $250- close to $300 total a month. That's similar to what you are seeing here?

However, after asking quite a few other experienced investors/pm's in Houston area, I've gotten the feedback regarding things that's not on the cash flow analysis. It sounds like the extra cost/headache that come with this type of properties are related to potential higher in vacancy, higher wear & tear on repairs, crime rate, and problematic tenants. What's your thoughts on that?

@Hersh M. From looking a little bit more search and physically driving out to the area, I think there are some potential in the Pearland/Missouri City/Sugarland area, and I heard good things about Spring and Stafford as well. Keep in mind if you are looking for SFH, it'd be different than looking at multi. If you haven't looked at multi, I would take a look at that as well.

@Tim Shin I agree with you that if we are to find a good deal inside of the loop today, we would have to find a C class property and rehab it to a B or A. When you mentioned the neighborhoods from 610 to 290, what neighborhoods are you referring to? Are you referring to greater heights, timbergrove area? Do you have any thoughts on Stafford neighborhood as being a good value neighborhood for multi under 200k?

@Fred Heller thanks for your input. Just curious..in your opinion, would you classify the Alief neighborhood below more like a class C?  I found some decent cash flow duplexes in the neighborhood of Shannon Hill Drive, Dairy Brook Dr. S. Dairy Ashford Rd. They are all in the vicinity of Beechnut st.,  Bissonnet st., W. Bellfort and Synott Rd/Wilcrest Drive.

@Jimmy Chin no problem :-) I know Cypress area pretty good..I did my search before I bought/sold my own place there back in 2010. They are sorta heavy on the HOV side as far as when I analyze rental for cash flow. My #'s look better for duplexes that don't require HOA. :-)

@Jimmy ChinI think you got great feedback on this one. The only other thing I'd mention is HOA cost/fee. Cypress properties usually require a HOA fee and I'd add that on the expense side of equation when I calculate for cash flow.

@Jimmy Chin thanks for your feedback. I always appreciate feedback so keep them coming!

Are you listening to the BP pod casts? I think you would resonate with episode 101. Dawn Brenegen talks about why choosing the right neighborhoods is important for REI, especially for newbies like us. She also touched on 1% or 2% are rules of thumbs but not as rules to rule out good investment vs. bad ones.

As of now, I am only slightly interested in the Allison unit but even that's questionable because of what Steve R. mentioned. I personally would value the input from reputable PM because they've dealt with the problem tenants, properties that cause them more staff to maintain than others so if they say they can't make money off a property, you probably can't either. 

Good luck on your search! 

@Steve Rozenberg thanks for that input. That puts things in perspective for me. I think this type of investment deal isn't going to work for me as a newbie looking for a first rental investment property to buy & hold. Thanks for helping out.

@Doug McLeod Thank you so much for looking at this analysis with me!

@Doug McLeod thanks for reaching out for me. 

My thought on that is if I can find PM for properties like this, then the only major concerns I would have is vacancy and repair/maint cost?

welcome @John L.  I hope you are finding BP as useful and exciting as I have!

@Account Closed

@Kenneth Sok thanks for your input. I had the same feeling when I saw Troulon and Beech Cove. Allison is better though. 

I drove/walked around Troulon and Beech Cove and saw the overall outlook on the neighborhood and occupants. It's going to require an experience PM or investor to get into that area, I think.

However, the reason I thought it's worth looking into because they are both currently rented out and the rate will generate a positive cash flow.