All Forum Posts by: Isa G.

Awesome, thanks Jordan! I'll be at the one on Feb 23rd. Looking forward to it.

Hey BP Community, I recently relocated to Austin TX from Michigan and am hoping to find some good meet ups in and around Austin. Preferably events that meet in-person on a regular basis or have a recurring time during evenings or on weekends that make time for networking but also have guest speakers, vendors, etc to learn from and connect with. Extra points if they're located close to North Austin. I found a couple on FB and Meetups.com but would like to try out a few. I have multiple interests in REI but my primary strategy for the near term is house hacking a 2-4 unit so I'm hoping to network and learn about the local market, common mistakes to avoid, and in general about investing in Texas. Thank you and hope to connect soon!

Hey Jax, I'm a local investor and realtor based out of Kalamazoo. Happy to connect and talk about the market/neighborhoods/strategies here! I'll direct message you as well.

Hi Ian, I highly recommend Taylor with August Property Management for your Kalamazoo property. They've been great for me and do a good job of using systems to keep things simple and as passive or active as you'd like. 

 @Montez B. I agree with Jonathan here. Kalamazoo is a great cashflow market and certain areas of good appreciation potential too. The City of Portage is just 15 mins drive south of Kalamazoo and has A-rated schools although cashflowing deals are harder to come by here. If you're interested in the City of Kalamazoo, here is a tool I have found very helpful to understand neighborhood level data on cash flow, vacancy, crime, etc. https://www.augustpm.com/post/...

Please reach out to me directly if you'd like to learn more! I'm based in Kalamazoo and love connecting with other investors.

Thanks Brandon! Even though there is some grey area here, your response makes a lot of sense. This discussion provides some clarity on the off-market property I was looking at and how the data from its most recent listing on the MLS actually overstated the amount of finished square footage and bedrooms the property has.

Really helpful to get a local appraiser's opinion on this for coming up with a purchase price and understanding what might be possible for value-add and refinancing. 

Thanks for the feedback on this.

My understanding is the same as Josh’s. If a room has an egress window it can count as finished, as long as the space is livable. @Sarah, hearing about the walkout as another option is helpful too.

And that’s a good idea on calling an appraiser to ask about the 1 to 1 value comparison of finished in basement vs above ground levels. If it’s similar, I think adding an egress window or two could make sense assuming the basement is already livable and doesn’t need a lot more done. I heard a quote of 6k to install one egress window recently, which sounded pricey to me, but seems well worth it if it creates enough additional sq ft of finished space. For the property I'm looking at, there would need to be an egress added to a bedroom and a second added to the family room for a total of 600 sq ft of finished space.

Assuming it is 1 to 1, it seems like a good move based on this scenario: say all you need to do is install 2 egress windows for 10k total, and put another 10k in other finishes, and Portage houses are currently selling for an average of $163/sq ft - that’s equivalent to adding 163 x 600 sq ft =  $97,800 - $20,000 = $77,800 in value added. Which leads me to think this is too good to be true, and that finished sq ft in basement is not comparable to finished space above ground.

But I'll check with an appraiser and once I get more info on this, I’ll share out on what I find here.

Hello all, 

I am a real estate agent working with an investor in Kalamazoo Michigan and I came across an off-market property that's got about 1,300 sq ft of livable space on the main floor and 600 sq ft of livable space in the basement. However the basement doesn't have any sort of egress so I understand that it's not technically allowed to be counted as finished. My client is hoping to BRRRR and wants to be sure that any property he buys will appraise well after his rehab so he can get his $ out continue the cycle.

So my question is how appraisers may value this kind of livable but not technically finished basement space? And if my client were to add an egress and therefore an additional bedroom and 600 sq ft of finished space, would an appraiser consider this similar to adding a bedroom and sq footage on the main floor or would they value these additions less because they're in a basement? 

I know this probably depends on a lot of factors so any general tips and thoughts on this subject would be much appreciated! 

@Charyl J.

Dan Callaghan with Callaghan Public Accounting is local in Kalamazoo and is and great. He works with a lot of RE investors and gave a good presentation at the Kzoo REIA recently on tax advantages, cash flow, etc.

@Zachariah Curran

Dan Callaghan with Callaghan Public Accounting is local and great. He works with a lot of RE investors and gave a good presentation at the Kzoo REIA recently on tax advantages, cash flow, etc.