All Forum Posts by: Michael Faurest

Hi,

I'm an investor out of Louisville, KY but I previously lived in Chicago.  I have a condo that I am considering selling.  I have an interested party but I thought I might open it up to market.  Are there any fee based agents in Chicago?  I work with a few here locally but don't know any in Chicago.  Any help and advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Hello.  This is one of the those questions that is so loaded it's almost difficult to provide a comprehensive response.  There is a much higher likelihood of a 50K house being in a difficult area regardless of whether it is in the city or the rural surroundings.  You need to account for that with higher vacancy rates, maintenance expenses, etc.  As stated earlier, you can find decent houses in decent areas in Louisville at the 50K range.  In larger cities, you can probably find them, however it's going to take work.  You should focus on having at least 20 to 30% equity in the deal when you buy it so if it isn't for you, you can exit without too much pain.  So, if you purchase a 50K house whose market value is 50K, and you want to exit, you are going to lose money due to maintenance, vacancy, fix-up, and finally, selling costs (which can be large).  You don't want to be trapped.  If you have an 80K house that you find for 50K, you can try being a landlord for a couple years, then if you don't like it, you can exit without losing your shirt and very possibly make some money.  Now......how do you find an 80K house for 50K?  That's a whole other topic that you can research on BP.  Remember, you protect yourself if you buy right.

Hi everyone, I have an opening right now in one of my houses.  I have an agent that is listing it but I was listening to one of the podcasts and the guest was discussing how he refreshes his ads every 2 hours to drive leads to the list agent.  It seems like craigslist is protective of this activity.  Does anyone have any creative ideas on how to refresh ads to maximize visibility?  I'm currently using Cozy listing and my agent used zillow to aggregate to all the other sites.  Thanks!

Hi everyone, I have a rental that is coming open in August.  I was thinking about converting to an Airbnb unit.  I don't know much about it and I'm not sure what the demand is in Louisville.  Has anyone had success with this strategy?  Can you rent furniture for the unit?  Are there services that can help with the cleaning?  Please let me know if anyone has any experience with this.  Thanks!

Jordan Roofing did a great job for me.  I worked with Steve.

I can't make it to this one but I will come in the future.

Thanks,

Sorry, forgot to add that the offer is for $175,000

Hi, I have experience with single family homes and turnkey out of state properties.  I just put an offer on a duplex with a carriage house for $175,000.  The total rent between all units is about $2200 to $2400 per month.  The house was built in 1900.  I don't know yet about the upgrades or renovations as I'm starting due diligence.  Using the 50% rule, it nets about $125 to $150 per unit with a conventional mortgage.  This is my first duplex/triplex and I don't know what else I should be considering.  All units are good sizes in a decent area.  Do you think this is a good deal from the little info I have provided?  Thanks.