All Forum Posts by: Matt Leber

I am under contract on a house I intend to rent out located in West Melbourne Florida. The property is older, built in 1954 and uses a septic system, which I also believe to be older. Does anyone local to Brevard County have a recommendation for a septic contractor in the area that does buyer inspections for septic systems? I would like to get a good idea of the functionality and age of the current system as well as cost planning for when the thing actually does go out. TIA!

@Gerardo Waisbaum nice job! This is the same zip code I have a couple investment duplexes in!

@Annie R. Well, it’s really just about doing what your comfortable with. The 4 properties in Jacksonville have a PM for a reason...I knew they would be higher maintenance and more issues. The other 4 that I self manage, I believe you can (often times) “train” your tenants to contact you less frequently (or less intrusively) for minor nuisances, and by keeping the property to a certain standard less issues arise. Obviously some of it is luck, but a lot of it is screening for the right people.

@Annie R. I consider myself a W2 investor who is mostly DIY. I manage 4 properties myself and have a PM for 4 others, but I am managing the PM. I hear from a tenant on avg about 1 time per month and I have more control than someone who is fully passive. 1 time a month is easily worth the “hassle”, at least in my opinion.

@Chris Lawlor when I was a student there, I rented from a landlord who had multiple student rentals. He always did 12 month leases, if we went home for summer we still had to pay (or get an approved sublease). He had all of us on one lease and expected one rent check, not multiple. I know that if you can find a home to rent within 8 blocks north or east of the stadium, you can charge premium rent by the room. My sister in law paid $800 for her bedroom in a 5 bedroom house, and her landlord charged monthly for parking too. Lots of the homeowners rent their yards to gator fans wanting to park for football games. Lots of perks to being close to the stadium, but you’ll pay a price premium to acquire and inventory will be few and far between.

@Jennifer Turner any idea if the 3 unrelated persons zoning law is truly enforced? I attended undergrad at University of Florida and lived in multiple off campus rentals in my time there with 4 other buddies of mine. Our landlord was a great guy (part of the reason I got into real estate) but I recall him having a stern talking to us before we moved in that he wouldn’t hesitate to kick us out if we did anything to cause unnecessary attention to the property.

I am aware of the rule, have a feeling a lot of landlords are renting to more than 3 unrelated students and taking their chances. I guess it could get harder to skirt the system if annual inspections are coming.

@Stephen VanMeter nice job!

@Cole Leonida I’m not sure what nomad is but if $3000 per month is your best case rental scenario, just run your worst case too to make sure you are OK with it. If you can live with the worst case, maybe it makes sense to pursue.

Regarding the flip strategy, I wouldn’t recommend buying a house expecting it to appreciate so you can turn around in spring to sell. The market is hot right now, but that is how a lot of investors lost their shirt in the last real estate crash. People buying houses to sit on them and sell later...only for values to dip and be underwater on their loans.

@James Elden we have some lower end units in west Jacksonville that we have been raising the rents on for the last two years, starting $550 now up to $775. Unfortunately most of our turnovers have come in slower than normal holiday months (Nov,Dec, Jan) but we most times have had a renter within 45 days of posting. And it’s not for lack of applicants. I agree with @Mark Fries, Property management is being smarter this time around to find the right fit. Weeding out a lot of applicants with eviction history and failure to submit proper documentation, or failure to show the ability to pay security deposit after approval.

@Saidah Johnson get your insurance agent working on quotes, check flood zoning, get inspection done as soon as possible. You will be able to start plugging firm numbers into your deal analysis instead of estimates once you get results on all of it.