All Forum Posts by: Joe P.

Thanks @Jack Macioce! Sounds like its mostly just kind of winging it the best I can with the knowledge I'm able to obtain until I get my first property and get the first had experience with it.  I just worry about buying a bad property that has no or negative cash flow but I think I can mitigate that risk pretty well with conservative numbers.

I also agree that I shouldn't wait to buy a house and I really wish I could but unfortunately as I stated above no one will lend to me until next year when I have 2 years of self employment income.  

Thanks @David Krulac ! That sounds reasonable. I'm trying to err on the conservative side since I'm a newbie to rentals and haven't yet developed the intuition for maintenance and repair costs but I'm trying not to be so conservative that my numbers shut out potential deals. They are already hard enough to find on the MLS.

I would have loved to buy a house last year but I was a job hopper for many years after college so unfortunately no one will lend to me until I can show them 2 years of consistent self employment income from my business.   I've tried several lenders and they all told me the same thing.  I don't want to keep taking the hit to my credit score every time I apply so I decided to just wait it out until I know I can qualify.  

I've been running numbers on rental properties in the Harrisburg area in preparation for buying my first property next year. I am curious to know what folks in the area are using for maintenance and capex numbers. I've read a lot of different things but I figure it varies for different parts of the country. I know it probably varies depending on the street and the individual house too but as a newbie without a lot of experience what would be some good numbers to quickly run the numbers on properties as I browse through the MLS?

I was using 6% capex and $100/month/unit for maintenance but I'm thinking the $100 maintenance number is a bit high.  I'm also not sure a percentage would be good to use for either of these since varying rents don't necessarily correlate with these expenses.  I'm thinking maybe $120/month/unit for both.  Thoughts?

I am selling a vacant land property with an installment sale in Erie County, PA.  I have a purchase/sale agreement that I use for cash sales but I need one that I can use for an installment sale.  Where can I get one or have one drafted that won't cost an arm and a leg.  Recently payed $350 for a 1 page contract review and I though that was a bit steep. I appreciate any help.  Thank you! 

I have to wait until 2019 when I have 2 years of self employment income to qualify for a mortgage.  Not sure how my business is going to go this year but assuming I have $2k month self employment income, no debt, $50k cash reserve, and an excellent credit score...What is the likelihood that I will qualify for a mortgage?   

I simply told the ex wife is she could work things out with them I'd still be willing to purchase the property at the price I offered.  I believe it would need to go through the probate process first though.

I have an opportunity to purchase a 10 acre vacant land parcel at a low price and the seller says he wants to retain 10% of the mineral rights for 29 years.  

I have not yet come across a situation such as this.  Why would he only want to retain 10% and why for 29 years?  Anyone with more experience see any red flags with this situation?  Should I have a lawyer draw up a clause for this to put into my sale agreement contract?  

Had a title search done and step kids do in fact have an interest in the property.

I have an opportunity to purchase 2 abutting vacant land parcels and another vacant land parcel down the street from one owner.  Do I need to purchase 3 separate title insurance policies for these properties or can they be covered under one policy?  They are in the same county and owned by the same person.  I plan to pay cash for them and purchase them all at once.  

@Jay Hinrichs I agree that it wouldn't be a huge deal to me if something happened and I lost the $1500.  Paying almost $600 to insure a $1500 purchase seems like a little much to me.  I'm not that risk averse.  Now if I was paying more for the property I wouldn't think twice about a title insurance policy but paying 40% of the purchase price for it...idk about that.

I do care about having marketable title @David Krulac and to the best of my ability I would like to make sure that I will but as I just explained it seems like a high price to pay for such a low purchase price...not a whole lot at stake here.