All Forum Posts by: Kara C.

Sounds like you're off to a great start with your third rental!  I recognize that house because I've got a rental a few blocks away.  It's a nice area.

Hey, I'm a local Norman resident, real estate investor, and former condo owner. I'm very familiar with the condo complexes in town. Right off the bat I would say that the rental income seems extremely high and the water costs seem low. And as Andrew mentioned, you didn't include HOA fees, and those can run a couple hundred or more a month. I do believe that the zero/low appreciation assumption is accurate. Condos here have not historically appreciated like single family houses have done. If you're willing to provide a link to the listing information or even just let me know the address or what complex it's located in, I can give more advice.

Hi Kellen,

I own 4 SF rental houses in Norman, as well as a SF house of my own here.  I've never had an insurance company ask me about foundation issues when giving me a quote, or had them require a foundation inspection before writing a policy.  They do always seem to need to do a roof inspection though.  Is there something unusual about this property?  Has it been vacant a long time or currently deemed uninhabitable?

I have 4 properties in Norman, my brother has 3, and my parents have one.  All SF houses.  We've noticed increased rental supply with all the new development in town.  We've managed to keep rents mostly steady, but in the past we were able to increase the rents yearly or at tenant turnover.  I did have to lower the rent significantly on one unit when it came vacant last fall in order to fill it.

We're past the prime summer rental season, so even if you closed quickly on the duplex, it would be harder to get a tenant at this time of year, and you might have to offer a lower price to do so.

I also think that your figures of 5% for vacancy and 10% for maintenance are low.  I budget 10% for vacancy and 20% for maintenance/capital improvements.  Of course, my actual expenses vary from year to year.

I noticed that you mentioned 10% budgeted for property maintenance though...do you not manage the other side of your (current) duplex yourself?  Self-management isn't for everyone, but if you are just managing the other side of a duplex you live in, it would be a pretty easy way to save some $ and get that per-door cash-flow higher.

I'd say what it boils down to is: how good a deal is this?  Is the increased income going to be worth the extra time and gas money you spend on a longer commute?

Finally--in general I expect rents in Norman to stay steady over the next few years.  I'm not expecting to be able to increase rents for a while.

I sent you a private message with info about my agent.

Hi Houston, I'm in Norman as well.  The written statement suggestion sounds good.  It can't hurt!  However, would it be possible for her to go a step further and re-finance the mortgage in her name only?  Depending on what the interest rate was initially, she might even see a savings in the monthly payment.

@Account Closed I agree. The system I use charges $3 and gives the option of landlord pay, tenant pay, or split 50/50.  I just pay it all myself.  I'm happy to pay a few bucks for my rent to come electronically, just not the crazy high fees that some systems charge.

What's the value of the duplex?  That seems EXTREMELY high even for a luxury property.  

Hey Dallas, I don't know if you remember me, but we went to high school together.  I'm still here in Norman, supporting myself as a real estate investor with single family homes.

It looks to me like you're considering two ends of the personal housing spectrum here: a nice house at the top of your price range, and a cheaper, smaller property that would leave you more money to invest with.  There are pluses and minuses to both options and it really comes down to what you want/value.  

I'd encourage you to remember that it's not really a choice between the specific house you're currently renting and the specific townhouse you're looking at for sale.  There are a ton of nice properties in Norman under 150k.  You could certainly find a place with the space you want at a price that would let you pay it off quickly and/or get into investment properties quickly.  

I'd be happy to meet up in person if you want some more specific advice about your situation or the Norman housing/real estate investment market in general.  Hit me up via PM here at BP or at the email address in my profile if you want to get together or just want to ask any questions.  I have a lot of free time since I quit my day job.  :)

@John Kunick I thought that the eRentPayment setup was fairly easy.  There are a lot of options for when rent is due, if/when a late fee is applied, if/when to set email reminders, if auto payments are allowed, etc, but it's basically a one time setup and then you don't have to worry about it (although you can go in and change options later if you want).  It's the kind of thing that I would recommend people do on an actual computer instead of a mobile device, and in an environment without a lot of distractions, but it's really no big deal.  Anyone who is tech-savvy enough to post in the BiggerPockets forums shouldn't have issues with the eRentPayment setup.