All Forum Posts by: Jon Schwartz

Hi guys and gals,

I'm underwriting an off-market deal on a fourplex in the Elysian Heights neighborhood of Echo Park, and I could really use some insight from local landlords. I'm curious about your actual experiences with capex, maintenance, and vacancy.

My specific questions (if you'd like to post to the forum for the benefit of all) are:

Have you replaced a roof? How much did it cost? How large was the roof?

How much does landscaping maintenance run you? How big is your lot?

Did you have to replace the sewer line? How much did that run you?

Have you incurred any capex (or other) expenses that you didn't see coming?

What's been your vacancy rate? And what's your average vacancy length for a unit?

Do you manage your property/ies yourself? If you use a property manager, do you like them and can you recommend them?

Is the property tax rate about 1.15% now?

I've been a homeowner in Elysian Heights for ten years now, so I know the neighborhood and have my own experiences with hundred-year-old houses, but I've never been a landlord here. With the market where it is, I'm trying to underwrite as thoroughly as I can to make this deal happen. I really appreciate any insights!

If you have some golden nuggets you'd rather share privately, just post here or ping me, and I'll PM you right back.

Thanks so much!

Jon

Thanks, @Ned J.! That applies to SFR rentals (not just larger MF properties)?

Thanks, @Jaysen Medhurst! What's GSR an acronym for? Gross "something" rent?

Hi everybody,

First off, let me thank you in advance if you reply to this post! BiggerPockets really has a great thing going: newbies ask questions, experienced investors provide answers, relationships are made, deals are done, everybody wins. Genius!

I've read about several methods for estimating capex, and my favorite is tallying the average annual cost of each capex line item by dividing its actual cost by its expected lifetime.

Like, it's a roof costs $5000 on average and lasts 20 years on average, then you should put aside $250/year (or $20.83/month) for the roof.

My question is: what's a good resource for finding the capex line item costs and lifetimes for a SFR rental? I'd love to find a recent list of all capex line items with average costs and lifetimes. Has someone seen that?

Thanks so much!

Jon

Thanks, all!

Hi everybody,

Newbie here!

My wife and I are in our mid-30s and have careers we love, so I see REI as a way to diversify our investment portfolio and create passive income. I envision myself buying a turnkey SFR rental or two, then getting involved with syndication as an LP, and then perhaps pursuing deals as a GP further down the road. (My line of work is somewhat ageist, and it's likely that my career will begin to wind down 10 or 20 years before I'd otherwise choose to retire. Many of colleagues go into teaching at this point; I'm laying the groundwork for a late-in-life career in REI.)

Lately I've been wondering: should I skip the SFR rental part of the plan?

On the one hand, I want the nuts-and-bolts experience of buying and owning my own rental: researching markets, underwriting deals, dealing with the cap ex and headaches, etc. I'd hire property management, so my involvement would be thereby limited, and my cashflow would be reduced. I'm most interested in the experience (provided I don't lose my shirt and there's the promise of long-term capital gains). My family is financially stable and in no rush, so why not add this notch to my tool belt

On the other hand, why put up with the hassle of a SFR rental when I feel syndication is the better long-term strategy? I could devote these next few months to networking with GPs, reviewing deals, getting experience with due diligence, etc., in the syndication world -- and then dive right into the niche that I see as the better long-term strategy. We're accredited, so we don't have that obstacle to deal with.

To SFR or not to SFR, that is the question. Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks so much!