All Forum Posts by: Matt R.

Disclaimer: I am very new to this.

The thing that jumps out to me is the wide range of repair cost.  I know that's because you have different options on how to finish the house, but at first glance it just looks weird.

You don't have to specify the cost down to the penny; if you estimated $50K in repairs, I think a lot of investors wouldn't be surprised if the repairs actually ended up costing anywhere from $50K to $55K.

If you're sending it to investors the way it looks above, with that $50K-$100K range, you might split it up like this:

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Asking price 62K

Option 1: Finish as single-family. ARV 242K, repair costs 50K, comps 230-250K.

Option 2: Finish as B&B. ARV xxx K, repair costs 100K, comps yyy-zzz K.

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This makes it clearer why there is such a range in repair costs.

Also, the comps you have are probably for single-family houses?  If that's true, then you should present the numbers as if you were going to fix this one up as a single-family house.  If you want to present the B&B/hotel/rooming-house option, then you should come up with separate comps for those kinds of uses.

If the property was originally single-family, you might have to get it rezoned through the city or county, so it can be a multi-family, hotel, B&B, etc.  Sometimes this costs ten bucks and a few hours at the courthouse, and sometimes it takes wheelbarrows full of cash and months.  :)  You should at least research if a zoning change would be needed, and put some dollar and time estimates with your presentation for the hotel/B&B option.

If the building inspector thinks it would be categorized as a hotel, then you may have additional costs for installing fire alarms, sprinklers, etc.

Looks good!  Thanks for posting back with the update.

Matt R.

I haven't invested here yet, but I've lived in the Kansas City area for most of my life.

For the ten second overview on crime, look at http://homicide.kansascity.com/ . This site is compiled by the local newspaper, and includes all the homicides in town for 2012, 2013, and 2014. It has about the first half of 2015 as well, but it quit updating in June 2015 for unknown reasons.  Several local police departments, including the KC MO police, have their own crime mapping, but they only go to their city limits. This one covers the entire metro area.

If you compare Mike D'Arrigo's advice to the map above, you will find that he knows what he's talking about.  :)  The only thing I would add to his comments is that you might prefer to stay towards the southern part of Independence, MO - say, south of 23rd Street.  The suburbs further out - Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, Liberty - also have good schools, so the properties there command higher prices / rents.  The area of Kansas City, MO, north of the Missouri River is also fairly OK - this includes the suburbs/enclaves of Gladstone and North Kansas City (which is a separate city from KC, MO).

Matt R.

I know I'm late to the party on this one, but you might look at http://homicide.kansascity.com/ .  This site is compiled by the local newspaper, and includes all the homicides in town for 2012, 2013, and 2014.  It has about the first half of 2015 as well, but it quit updating in June 2015 for unknown reasons.

Assuming the 5401 Wabash address is accurate, and looking within about 5 blocks...

2012: 5 people killed: 5 blocks west, 5 blocks south, 4 blocks southwest, 5 blocks northwest.

2013: 4 people killed: 3 blocks west, 1 block south, 5 blocks northeast

2014: No people killed (2014 was pretty low in most parts of KC)

Several local police departments, including the KC MO police, have their own crime mapping, but they only go to their city limits.  The one above covers the entire metro area.

I was looking at a car wash/quick lube place that was for sale in my area about a year ago.  While doing that, I found this site for car wash operators http://www.autocareforum.com/  .  They have discussion boards, just like BP, and one of them is "should I buy this wash"; people post potential deals and get opinions on the hardware, numbers, etc.  One thing I remember seeing on there is that it's not unknown for a wash operator to pocket the cash (all those quarters) to dodge the taxes, but then when they want to sell, they have the problem you're running into - no good documentation of what their sales are.

People on that site encouraged me to do more research, and I figured out that the wash I was looking at was probably not a good deal for me.  As I recall, a couple of the guys there also operated laundromats, and might be able to talk with you about that business as well.

I am not affiliated with that site, other than as a member.  I don't get anything for referring people to them.

Matt R.

Disclaimer: I am not a real estate professional.  I *have* lived in the Kansas City area for most of my life.

Just from that tiny picture, and the specs on square feet and rooms, I would expect that house to sell for more than $10k, even in KCK.  If it really is selling for $10k, there's probably more than $5k worth of stuff wrong with it.

Depending on exactly where it is in KCK, you may also have to budget additional time for some of the exterior work.  It's hard to paint and accurately return fire at the same time.  :D

Disclaimer: I am not a professional plumber or other contractor; this is just based on experiences with houses I have bought/owned.

Don't forget to get the water out of any appliances that might be staying in the house - dishwasher, refrigerator with icemaker, furnace, washing machine.

The dishwasher usually retains a quart or so of water in the sump - you can suck it out with a wet/dry vac, or put the RV-type antifreeze already mentioned in it.  If the fridge has water-through-the-door, it may have a small tank in the fridge to cool the water; you need to empty that tank, or move the fridge somewhere warm.

The furnace, if new enough, might have a water drain that operates even when the *heat* is running.  (If the furnace has the two PVC pipes for inlet air and exhaust, then it probably has a water drain.)  There may be a P-trap in this line - possibly inside the furnace - that you should clean out.  Usually a wet-dry vac will do the job.

The washing machine may have water in it and I'm not sure how to get it out, other than avoiding the problem by taking the machine somewhere warm.

The houses I've looked at that have been winterized by pros usually have stickers on the breaker box, toilets, water meter or main water shutoff, etc, saying "hey, this has been winterized, don't just randomly turn things back on".  If you are the only person that will be in the property, you may not need this.

Usually the gas and water companies handle this, but if they take the meters out, make sure the pipe that goes into the house has a cap or plug on it.  This keeps dirt, bugs, etc out of the pipes.

When you go to turn the water back on in the spring, you can get or make a fitting that lets you pressurize the water pipes with an air compressor.  One end has a garden hose thread and the other has a air line quick-connect or a tire valve.  Before you turn the water on, you hook that to the outside hose bibb or washing machine hookup, open the valve, and pump air into the pipes.  It should eventually come up and hold pressure; if you hear air leaking out somewhere, one of your pipes burst; you can find it and fix it before you flood the place.  (Don't do this trick with the gas pipe.)

Matt R.

Absolutely this.  Some cities also require an alarm permit, and the fire marshal will know about that too.  They will also be able to tell you about the ongoing testing requirements.

Also, ask your insurance agent.  They may be willing to give you a discount for a fire alarm, but they may also require that either it is installed by an "official" alarm company, or is inspected after installation to make sure it meets code.  There are rules about how many smoke detectors you need per floor area, where the buzzers and flashing lights go, and even what kind of wire you use to hook it up.

Make something up that looks plausible.  :)  This address would be in the middle of the airport there in Jonesboro.  example.com is a domain name that nobody can ever buy; it's for examples in manuals, etc.  There is also example.net and example.org, same thing.

John Smith

5017 Primrose Street

Jonesboro, AR 72401

[email protected]

If they want a "real" email address - like they email you a link to access the rest of the site - you can get a disposable email address from sites like Mailinator, https://mailinator.com/ .  Email to the address just goes to a web page that you can view without a password.

I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned.

Matt R.

 "Temporary Rental Assistance", apparently... like Section 8 but short-term.  There is a previous thread here about it: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/154...