All Forum Posts by: Kristin Caras

@Hakeem Valles I agree, we'd love to rent just to military members, but what is hanging us up is you can't turn a regular civilian away if they're qualified... And totally agree, I'm hoping the agent can shed some light with the flip option on what the true ARV of the property would be after some updating.... The hard part is neither of us are in a position to be in the area and touring the properties, we're long distance at this point so we're relying on our agent.

@Stephen Burke Agree - the Watertown area is full of multifamily houses and the bases keep the demand for renters up (even though there isn't too much else up there besides the base). 

@John Warren  I agree with the multiple exit strategies...in my mind it would be easier to sell a single family home (albeit a small bungalow) than a multifamily in most circumstances and get your money back because you wouldn't necessarily be selling to another investor. Just as you said, as for where we want to be long term, after his two years we will likely end up selling the NY property in an effort to consolidate our portfolio closer to where we want to be long term in the Delaware area.

What I wonder is it a good idea to try to live in flip with a low potential profit margin or buy and hold in a potential risky area to live for basically free? Or is it better to rent in NY for the two years and start looking for investment properties elsewhere closer to where we want to be investing long term (I guess another downside here is that you can't use a FHA or VA loan)?

Thanks again everyone for weighing in - after thinking it over so much it's great to hear what other people are thinking.

Hey guys, hoping you may be able to weigh in on this situation. My boyfriend and I are analyzing multifamily properties in Watertown NY (long distance for us at the moment). He’s stationed there currently at Ft. Drum and plans to house hack when he gets back from deployment. The problem is the agent (also a PM) we’ve been working with has been really negative on the area, tenant pool (aside from military members) and properties. While it is true the properties definitely are not in the best condition (not unlivable but not brand new) and our timeline/budget isn’t conducive right now to a full rehab, what I find the most concerning is the agent is basically telling us this area is a bad place for investors. Apparently it is illegal in this area now to ask tenants about their source of income (so you cannot know if they are Section 8 or where there money is coming from at all). While Watertown probably would not be our first choice otherwise as an investment location, he will be there with the Army for 2 more years and has to live somewhere and house hacking always seemed like a great option.

Since talking with the agent, we have also been looking at a live in flip option outside of the area that is in a much nicer location, but at the end of the two years when we sell we’d probably break even (being conservative-the property values, at least according to Zillow, on this street widely vary so it’s hard to place and the agent hasn’t given his input yet) with the 2 years of holding costs. This still would be “living for free” but seems a little riskier because who knows where the market will be in 2 years when we would go to sell (if we held it to rent we’d likely be breaking even here too, maybe $60 a month from a quick analysis). The property doesn’t need too much work as it seems someone tried to flip it already, doing a lot of nice work with the bones of the property but the inside still looks like it needs serious updating.  The property is a bungalow and is very small, only 2 bed 1 bath and about 560 sq ft but in a beachy town with good AirBnB potential to offset the living costs. The agent has said that this property generates a lot of interest but after people see it they never place an offer, whether because it is so small or because it needs updating on the inside I am not sure. The bright side here seems that there would be no tenants to deal with which was the agent’s biggest negative with Watertown. This area I think would attract good tenants if we had a multifamily property here but there do not seem to be any on the market currently and our timeline is tight. 

Our agent is going to scout out this bungalow and another duplex in Watertown for us this week and give us more details. Until then - what do you guys think (Thank you if you made it reading this far)?

@Ben Gordon congratulations Ben!

Can't wait to read this book!

@Miriam Levitz I would hire a General Contractor and let them do the supervision/hiring of all the trades, which just leaves you to manage the GC. You could try to strike a deal with your property manager and see if they'd be willing to stop by the property every once in awhile to make sure things are staying on track.  A GC will be more expensive (the cost will depend on the scope of work) but it will save you a lot of headaches being out of state if you find the right contractor. Try to get some recommendations from other investors in the area on what GCs they'd recommend. 

@Matthew Schroeder This is good info, thanks for sharing!

@Ronald Bowser @Lane Donatelli Thank you for your input! Of the three, Easton, Allentown and Bethlehem, I'm definitely more up to speed on Bethlehem. Good to know there are other investors interested in the area!

Wondering which areas in the Leigh Valley people are interested in and have had success with - I've been looking at Bethlehem, PA which seems like a pretty good option with the surrounding amenities and lower prices. Allentown, PA seems like it's already a pretty developed, hot market. Anyone have any experience/wisdom to share with rentals in Bethlehem? 

@Aaron Hollenbach If you're looking for a quick number, it's fairly easy to get one from site's like Rocket Mortgage. I wouldn't necessarily choose them in the end (you can probably do better with a local lender) but that will give you an rough idea taking all of your income/expenses/debt into account.

@Joseph Weisenbloom That is a positive that Aibnb covers damage! Can't image too much damage would happen with people renting just a room (not a whole house) over such a short timespan. Also with Airbnb you get all the money up front, right? Seems like not a bad situation.