All Forum Posts by: Joseph Blauwiekel

@Kenneth Hynes 

I'm using an older generation spreadsheet from biggerpockets. It has vacancy, taxes, management, insurance, repairs, Cap Ex, etc... I'm exclusivley looking for not paying any utilities as I don't want to pay for wasteful habits.  I assigned a measely 5% for repairs and 5% for Cap Ex. 

Thanks @Larry Turowski  This definitely helps build the first time confidence.

@Emily B. 

Hey Emily, While we weren't specifically targeting the student market, we though that it was a good starting point as newbie investors. More like a "Hey, let's do lansing because we spent a lot of time there, the prices aren't too bad, and there are a few colleges there." So we determined that the risk was lower than where we had been. We've lived in Southern California and now Washington DC, not extremely cost-friendly places.  Glad you are in the Grand Ledge area, my wife student taught there and I am a Pewamo Westphalia alumni myself.

 @Larry Turowski    @Christopher Gilbert 

I have a duplex that could cash flow (before taxes) at $4300 that I could put down (20% conventional) for $12K.  I'm not experienced with the tax benefits to I am conservatively guessing that my take home after taxes would be around $3700/year which is about 156/door.  Total asking is $60k.

Management is built into my costs. We have a PM in the area that took me a while to find that charges 11% plus 50% move in fee.  Still looking for the underground RE in the area.

Thanks for the advice about classing the places up a bit, I'm going home in a few weeks to take a look for myself and drop a few offers to see who bites.

Hello All,

My wife and I are new investors, currently living the DC area (military) but looking to invest in our college town of Lansing, MI (Anyone out there?)

We've analyzed a handful of multifamily and a couple SFH and found that I can get a cash on cash return of 20-30% but would only clear about $100-$150/door. In everyone's experience, should I keep looking for a better cashflow or be happy that I can get a higher ROI?

Also, Winter Is Coming, how hard is it REALLY to rent out in the winter?

Prices are about $40-$60 with rents around 500-700.  Am I overanalyzing?