All Forum Posts by: Jonathan C.

Hey there

I'm an investor up in Northern Virginia -- I'm interested in Roanoke, Lynchburg and Richmond...if you'd like to talk let me know. Thanks!

Hi  @Sarah Shockley

Thanks for your note, very helpful, really appreciate it.

Being long distance, I don't foresee being able to do a ton of improvements (as I can locally). So closer to turnkey would be ideal. Understand that lowers relative return.

Also, I get the need to do cash on a lower property ($40-50k) but you think I'd need to come in with cash on a $100 or $120k property? I can do it, but not being there makes me nervous (if I refi post-sale and have to deal with appraisals after the fact).

Thanks!

Hi folks

I'm an investor up in the Washington DC area, where the returns on a holding strategy are small to nonexistent...I own three condos in addition to my house, and was looking at my long term plan the other day (which I drew up in 2013) and realized it is going to be an impossibility in the northern virginia market because returns are so slim.

I love Richmond and while i'm not crazy about long distance investing and property managers, I know there's a lot of potential in that market.

Bottom line, I'm looking for stable, low vacancy SFH's in the $100-120k range, in up and coming areas, which rent for about 1%/month, and I plan on using a management company. This appears within reach in some zips near Richmond.

My questions for the forum: Is what I'm looking for possible in Richmond? What zips should I be focusing on? Are there other areas I should look into when I'm down there? I'm also happy to consider multifamily.

Thanks for guidance! Really appreciate the BP community.

Jonathan

@Satha Palani I've been interested in 23222...looks like there's a ton of crime in the southeast part of that zip (barton heights). It's your sense that the area is seeing gentrification?

Russell thanks for your reply. I see that you're a realtor...if you can find me listings that would generate .8% to 1% rent I'd be eager to take a look...i'm interested in expanding but literally can't find anything in Northern Virginia unless I go to Winchester and even there .8% is a stretch. Not terribly familiar with Maryland but would be interested if you know of any listings. I'm open to townhouses, would rather not do condos unless there's a high degree of familiarity or trust with the HOA. Thanks again.

Hi folks

I'm an investor up in the Washington DC area, where the returns on a holding strategy are small to nonexistent...I own three condos in addition to my house, and was looking at my long term plan the other day (which I drew up in 2013) and realized it is going to be an impossibility in the northern virginia market because returns are so slim.

For example, my last deal was a 1br condo -- got it at $160k after hard negotiations, put $5k into it, and it currently rents for $1400, but there's also a $350/month condo fee. I'm netting about a hundred a month cash on a property where I had to put about $50k upfront on dp, fees and repairs. Appreciation is OK, and vacancy is almost nonexistent, but this minimal cashflow will keep me from being able to expand my portfolio. I'll note that my other properties, which i bought earlier in the cycle, are doing better, netting $300 and $230/month respectively, but I can't get any properties like that any more.

In any case, I had long been reticent about purchasing in a far off market, but I think i'm over that now (after listening to a bunch of BP and jason hartman podcasts) and I like the long term look of the jacksonville market (I also have friends down there).

Bottom line, I'm looking for stable, low vacancy SFH's in the $100-120k range, in up and coming areas, which rent for about 1%/month, and I plan on using a management company. This appears within reach in the Murray Hill area. It seems very similar to the south arlington area in northern Virginia -- where young folks who can't afford rents in north arlington (analog: riverside) go to live. Planning to spend some time in Jacksonville over christmas to explore.

My questions for the forum: Is what I'm looking for possible in Jacksonville? Is Murray Hill the right area? Are there other areas I should look into when I'm down there? I'm also happy to consider multifamily.

Thanks for guidance! Really appreciate the BP community.

Jonathan

Hi folks,

I own two rental properties as well as a primary residence -- both financed through Fannie/Freddie notes.

Is it possible to put them into an LLC? Is it possible to title future properties into an LLC under that kind of financing? Or do I have to hold them all as a sole proprietor?

Thank you!

Thanks @Paul B. -- what specifically did you mean by "Just from personal experience, x4 starts to add up on everything."

Regarding the market where the 4plex is located, i'm generally bullish on it for a number of reasons.

As for the building, it is 25 years old and has a new roof.

Thanks Steve, Daniel, Jean and Seth. Will budget in $55/unit for maintenance, and ask another owner of an identical building what his vacancy rate is.

It's a borderline deal for me. I can get another condo in the complex where I'm crushing it on condo #1, but cash/cash will be closer to 8% this time as price will be higher this time and interest rate will be at least a point higher.

So I'm really weighing this fourplex four hours away against a condo 15 minutes away (a $240k property against a $140k property).

BTW you can't get into fourplexes in the DC area unless you're talking about at least $500k, unless you want to go into some bad areas and I'm not ready for that.

Ultimately I want to get into multi families, and that will require going at least a couple of hours from DC.

Hey folks

I started RE investing about a year ago after studying it for a while. I live in the Washington DC area and now own two condos, both positive cash flowing, one at +$340 (cash/cash @ 11%) and the other at +$330 (cash/cash @ 8%).

A friend in NC alerted me of a deal on a fourplex (not on market) but here are the specs:

Price: $240k

Currently fully rented at $2100/month (four each at $525 -- other identical fourplexes rent for $550, so I should be able to squeeze an extra $100 within a year).

Monthly Costs:

Electricity: $20 (just for some common area lighting -- each unit has its own separate meter for electricity and gas)

Prop taxes: $90

Water: $125

Garbage: $50

Septic: $30 (Costs about $1000 and need to do it once/3 years)

Landscape: $50 (my estimate)

Manager: $100

Insurance: $100

So total monthly costs are $565

Assuming I can finance 75% on a 30 fixed note @ 5%, P+I should be $966. Total monthly costs are thus $1531.

This positive cashflows at $569/month, with cash/cash at 10.5.

Cap rate on the building is thus about 7.7%. (~18.5k/240k)

Thoughts on this deal? Very attractive in that it's already all rented out...i could conceivably not hire a management company for a few months. It's not immediately close to my home, but I can go there and back in a day (it's about a four hour drive each way). Slightly apprehensive as it would be the first freestanding building I'd own (short of my own home).

Thanks for any help!