All Forum Posts by: Marshall Shen

I looked on Zillow mapped to the same area but for rentals, and after sampling about 5 different rental listings. I think $1800 for 2 bedroom 1 bath is really optimistically high, I think it should be more like $1200 for 2 bedroom 1 bath ($600 per person) around that area.

Hi there,

I'm doing a 10-day deal analysis challenge where I analyze one deal per day. This is my 8th day :)

I changed it from 30-day to 10-day challenge because I start to get a hang of it :) 

I analyzed a deal in college town (Urbana, IL), and assume a reasonable rent, and it passed 1% rule.

Based on the asking price, I estimated it will generate a negative annual cash-on-cash return, assuming 20% downpayment. But I'm thinking about negotiating with the realtor with a steep discount in order to generate a positive cash-on-cash return (20% discount price), given the current economic situation. 


The detailed analysis can be found here: https://bit.ly/2XpSQul

Thank ahead for reviewing!

Thank you all for feedback!

Hi there,

I'm doing a 30-day deal analysis challenge where I analyze one deal per day. This is my 7th day :)

I analyzed a deal in college town (Urbana, IL), and assume a reasonable rent, and it passed 1% rule.

Based on the asking price, I estimated it will generate a positive annual cash-on-cash return, assuming 20% downpayment. Has anyone have experience in rent-and-hold in college town market? Any touchas in those markets?


The detailed analysis can be found here: https://bit.ly/3eapF4l

Thank ahead for reviewing!

Thanks Tim for the feedback! My intention is to learn how to analyze real estate deals, and your feedback is precisely what I'm looking for in order to improve my skill! 

Going forward, I will be more intentional and find deals that pass 1% rule as a start.

Thank you for your feedback!

Hi there,

I'm doing a 30-day deal analysis challenge where I analyze one deal per day. This is my 6th day :)

Based on the asking price, I estimated it will generate a negative annual cash-on-cash return, assuming 20% downpayment.

A few notes on the my calculation:

 I included closing cost as 3% of the asking price.

 I averaged out the closing cost to 30 years so that I can estimate a constant cash-on-cash return, which helps me modify my offers.

I estimated taxes and insurance based on MLS, and I marked up each cost a bit to count for uncertainty.

The detailed analysis can be found here: https://bit.ly/3c42OFL

Thank ahead for reviewing!

In your calculation, did you spread the closing cost as one-time payment, or as a monthly payment spread across 30-years?

I spread the closing cost as monthly payment spread across 30-years, in order to calculate monthly cash-on-cash return.

Thanks Tim! I googled around as well, and I think there are multiple resources on the Internet. Is $100 per month consistent with what you are experiencing?

I currently live in a condo and garbage is factored in monthly rent. In addition, I think the garbage cost will vary for a multifamily property.

Hi Mark,

Thanks for sharing the info! I corrected my spreadsheet to have garbage cost per unit, rather than as a whole.

As far as water cost goes, how much has the cost gone up in Chicago, and how much should I project for water cost, based on your opinion?

I included closing cost (3% of the asking price), and I have averaged out the payment over 360 payment period (30 years X 12). Is that approach correct?

Also what is the monthly payment you calculated? I'm curious about what mistakes I made in my calculation and I will correct them accordingly!

Thanks so much for reviewing my analysis!