All Forum Posts by: Jeff Sprunger

Professional! absolutely, and...bring your check book. 

disposal costs of the old mobiles? are there companies in the world who buy old mobile homes? maybe they will come get them and drag them away if you give them away. 

any zoning issues?

will taxes change by installing the new mobiles?

what's the demand for this type of property? will they be hard to sell?

buy it.  deal with it, IF, it ever comes up.  if the neighbors fence ties into this one, they won't want to disturb it either.

drive your area, take note of every multifamily that you see.  you can spot them by the number of gas meters or electric meters on the side of the building.  most multifamily have separate electric, so that is a good indication of how many units are in the building.  write down the address.  buy coffee and Danishes and go visit the sweet old lady at the county court house.  ask her how you can look up a property and find the owner (hint:  you can do this online now, usually).  send the owner a "I want to buy your house" letter. 

so, at 85,000 list price.  20/80 financing, using your own money for down payment and rehab:

30 year, 5%

rent $1700/mo

$85,000 x 80% = 68,000 mortgage

$68,000 for 30 yr/5% = $365 PI

$5200 taxes = $433/mo

$2000 insurance (guess) = $166 month

management 10% of rent = $170

Capex 10% = $170

Maintenance/misc 10% = $170

vacancy 10% = $170

totals = $1644 month

cash flow = +$56

take out the mgmt, capex, maintenance, and vacancy amounts and you will actually see a positive $736, but you should really save this money for those issues. 

is my math right?

call all utility companies (especially water, electrical for common areas) and try to get them to send you at least a year's worth of payments; 

call around for insurance.  this will give you an idea of that cost; 

trash. apartments usually provide large dumpsters.  get quotes from several companies, take the average; 

snow and lawn care.  same thing, get quotes; 

taxes:  call the assessors office; 

once under contract, get the rent rolls from current owner.  prior to walk through, look over each lease and during walk thru, verify the number of people on the lease vs who is actually living there.  ask tenants about rent and any issues that they are currently having in the unit.  take notes.  you must walk every unit.

with out the rent rolls, just use avg rents for the bedroom type in your area (2 BR = $1000/month).  about all you can really do.  it's an educated guess.

Yes you can.  by cheap.  find someone willing to pay more than you.  work out a finders fee with them. 

I agree with ryan. you could easily work an early morning shift (6-2:30) or even the midnight shift at some factory...and still have time for real estate. most people want to see houses later in the evening and on week ends, so having a job is very doable. once you have saved for a down payment and can show employment history, it should be very easy to buy via FHA.

being an agent isn't free. you need to pay a broker to be affiliated with their company. they, in turn, give you access to the MLS. but don't go into it thinking that just because you get your license, it will be easy or free. if it is something you really want to do, then go speak with any real estate broker now, and ask them how a real estate company works, how many agents they have, how much floor time you get, what is the commission split, what type of training do they provide, what are their fees fir things like mailers, advertising, office supplies, etc...basically, you are interviewing them. Yes, the MLS is picked over, but there are still deals there too.

I opened a joint checking account with my PM for specific properties.  worked well.