All Forum Posts by: Lindsey Andrews

Thanks so much! That’s helpful to know that I should still focus on getting a homeowners policy and see who will cover some rentals. Will keep contacting different agencies! 

Hi,

I just bought a property in Florida.

I'm looking to house hack, meaning it's my primary residence and I want to be covered for landlord's insurance in some way if possible as I want to rent a room with the MTR strategy.

I just had an insurance company come back and say they don't have any options that will allow for the combo of an owner-occupied property and short term rentals (I'm looking to do month to month, so that shouldn't technically be short term if it's 30+ days).

I know Steadily is a great place to go for Landlord insurance but it doesn't work if it's your primary address.

Is there a combo that exists and I just need to keep going to more agencies? Or does this combo of coverage not really exist and I should just get regular homeowner's insurance and make sure I've got good liability coverage?

Any tips about what kind of coverage to make sure I have in a house hack situation would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks,
Lindsey

Hi!

I am a first-time, out of state investor. 

I'm in the middle of closing on a 4plex in the Carondelet neighborhood in St. Louis.

I'm in the negotiating stages and so I'm trying to make sure my numbers in my analysis are as accurate as possible.

St. Louis investors -- would you mind sharing your numbers with me?

Which utilities do you pay vs. what do you have the tenants pay?

How much are they?

Sewer

Water

Garbage

Electricity (do you ever pay for use in 'common areas'?)

Lawn Care/Snow Removal

Any other fees I'm not considering?

Also, if you have a property manager, what is their hourly rate for maintenance requests? 

Thanks so much!
Lindsey

@Ray Hage

Hi Ray,

Thanks so much for your feedback as well. I wasn't really expecting a bidding war for this one, but had put in an escalation clause just to be more competitive. And it worked! But...with me paying $30k over. I also just combed through the comps in the neighborhood one more time and even though there aren't other 4plexes I can find, most buildings are still at $210k or below, so I agree that it may not appraise well.

It's been feeling increasingly risky since I got my offer accepted and have uncovered more about the property. But it still seemed to cash flow so well, I was wondering if it might be worth it long term.

I think I will keep looking!

 @David Oechslein

Hi Dave,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with similar buildings and pointing out where I'm missing those extra potential costs. I'll need to do better due diligence in future about figuring out utility costs up front.

And my potential PM said they only take 1/2 months rent to fill vacancies but they charge $75/hr for maintenance and I had no reference to what that might ultimately cost me. So, that is super helpful to know your numbers. I can see that even if I do a lot of repairs upfront, the future maintenance costs could totally kill the cashflow all on their own.

I originally started looking in St. Louis wanting to find a good building for an MTR (as there are a lot of hospitals), but my agent told me this building is in a C class neighborhood and it's not likely a contender for MTR or STR.

Thanks for saving me on this one! I don't think I want to take this much risk on my first one, so I think it's time to start looking elsewhere.

Hi everyone,

First time investor here. I'm from Virginia and am currently in the middle of closing on a good cash flowing deal in St. Louis, MO.

The only issue is that I am needing more cash up front than originally planned and I'm trying to decide if the deal is worth moving forward with. It needs more reno than expected.

I would love guidance around what my strategy could look like moving forward to continue buying properties if I start off with this property. It ties up most of my liquid cash.

Here is the deal analysis (a 4plex where I'll rent out all units as LTR, with a property manager)

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

I'm estimating $20k in reno right now, but I have a feeling it could go up to $30k.

Other factors:

- I went $30k over asking. I haven't gotten the appraisal yet, but I'm concerned it won't appraise for as much as I offered, much less go even higher once I put the extra reno in.

- The sellers are putting in a new HVAC system before closing. The basement was vandalized and they have also agreed to fix/replace the furnaces, parts of the plumbing, and electrical. So, it's a benefit to have a lot of CapEx items starting off new. My agent also thinks I'll have room to negotiate for them to cover closing costs.

- I am planning to fund half of this in cash, and the other half with money from investment accounts. I also have a HELOC on my current home, but I don't really want to use it and pay 9%+ interest unless it's something I know I can pay off fairly quickly. I have more money invested, but I don't want to pull much more out of there.

- Looking ahead, I hope to get this deal cashflowing at $400/month once we get through initial work and have tenants placed. I also can rent out my current place as a MTR, cashflowing anywhere from $1200-$2000/month.

How would you fund this deal and get yourself in a position to be able to scale and buy another property in the next year?

Is there 'too much' to spend on a first deal that could be a detriment to future investing? 

Here's the strategy I have in mind for now: find a BRRRR for the next one that I can house hack and rent out as a MTR. Maybe I can use the HELOC for that and aim to use an FHA and only put around $20k down. Advice?

@Hamp Lee III Thank you for your feedback!! I will definitely keep looking. There's not a lot of inventory where I'm searching right now, but that just might mean I need to extend my search to other areas.

I'll be sure to find with something that's a positive cash flow from the get go!

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Hi! I'm a newbie and would appreciate some others perspectives on the analysis of this Quadplex.

It technically has a negative cash flow, however it looks like it becomes positive, after just 1 year of owning the place.

This works especially if save by managing the property myself and lock in a decent (5.6%) interest rate.

The big question: Is it worth it to go for a property if it has a low negative cash flow, if it will become positive over time?