All Forum Posts by: Michael Hooper

@Sean Cole It looks like the 3 bedrooms (1200 sqft) go for about $750-$850. And the 2 bedroom (840 sqft) go for about  $675-$725. 

I have an opportunity to purchase 10 townhomes (6 - 2 bed/1bath & 4 - 3bed/1bath) in Cincinnati OH, Green Hills specifically.They're asking 475K. The rent roll show an income of about 7350/month for the past 6 months and is fully occupied. Also tenants pay their own electric and water. 2015 & 2016 Schedule Es show only about 6400/month. I'm told they just remodeled each unit over the past 2 years which could explain the low income due to vacancy. The complex was built in 1938, but with the remodel everything looks very modern. New kitchens, new bathrooms, fresh paint, hardwood floors. $730/month for a 2-3bed/1 bath seems kind of high for Cincinnati, but I'm not really familiar with the different areas. I own a 4plex in Roselawn and 2bed/1baths go for $600/month. This is in very northern Cincinnati, and I don't know what rents are there. A few comp sites show units renting in that area for $750/month, but there aren't enough for me to feel comfortable. Does anyone have any insight here? Any advice is appreciated. 

@Deanna McCormick Thanks for your advice. I just went down this weekend and looked the property over again. The bathroom in the basement unit does have a window, I had forgotten about it. The apartment already has storage units in the basement, one for each unit. I don't think they need even more storage, and would really like to rent the unit if at all possible. I would house hack, but I live in Tennessee and don't really plan on moving to Cincinnati. I'm a little worried about "rental license" I have not heard of such a thing in Cincinnati and my friend who invests there never mentioned it. Is this a state by state thing?

@Todd Dexheimer So I talked to the zoning Department. They said under the current zoning, you can have one unit per 2000 sq ft of property. Currently my house doesn't even have enough sq ft for the 4 units it has, but its grandfathered in since its so old. I asked him about the 5th unit and he said if it was lived in before 2004 (when the law took effect I guess) then it's grandfathered in. The previous owner rented it out, but didn't buy the building until 2005. I asked him if the previous owner rented it, and he said the previous owner lived in it himself. So it sounds like it may qualify, but I'm not exactly sure how to prove that. All I have is people's word, no documentation. I'll probably call the zoning department back and see what they say, but here's where I'm at now.

@Todd Dexheimer I absolutely agree. I'm trying to do everything by the book.... I just need to find people that have read it, cause i'm ignorant in that area.

@Craig H. My worry is the windows. As the unit is in the basement, they are the half windows at ground level (which is like 6 feet off the floor of the unit), and there's only 1. If the window doesn't qualify as a means of egress, I thought about putting in a second door to that exits to the garage. The other door exits to the stairwell hallway. I think that would count as two egress points. So does each unit have a CO? Will I get 4 COs upon closing on the property? Also, any idea how much it costs to get architectural plans drawn up? I didn't think about that being a requirement.

I'm about to close on a Quadplex in Cincinnati OH. The property has 4 units, all 800 sq ft, but in the basement there is a 500 sq ft room with a bathroom. I'm wanting to convert it to a studio apartment to make some extra cash, but I'm not sure about the legality of it. The current landlord said he used to rent it out, but I'm not sure it was necessarily legal. the biggest thing that stuck out to me was there was only one means of egress. In Tennesse, where I live, thats a problem, but I don't know about OH. Also, the property was built in 1959. Do I run into having to get the building up to code if I start doing remodeling? Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing. In Cincinnati there are thousands of quadplexes, and I believe many of them have added 5th units in the basement. So I'm hoping some has dealt with this before.

I'm about to close on my first property in Cincinnati. Its a quadplex. I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to set up an LLC for me to put my property and future properties in. I'm looking to buy about 25 doors over the next year. I'm not necessarily limited to the Cincinnati area, I've been looking at all places about 5 hours or less away from Nashville TN (Where I live). Do I set up an LLC per state I have properties in? Do I just set it up based in my home state, TN. Also, I want to make sure I do it right, but if there are cheap and expensive ways to do it, I'd like to do it the cheap way if it has the same end result.

I've got a potential deal in Paducah Kentucky. From the numbers I've received, it seems to be a pretty good deal. Obviously I'm going to do my due diligence and make sure the numbers are correct. That I can control. What I'm not sure about is the Paducah market. The population has slowly dropped over the past 27 years (27,500 in 1990 to 25,000 in 2017). Its not a huge drop off, but its still worrisome. So I was wondering if anyone has any experience in the Paducah area, and what they thought the market was going to do there. Are there any promising signs of future revitalization, or any signs of an imminent crash? Thoughts?

I've got a contract on a quadplex for $127,000, and now I'm looking for financing. I've got 2 options so far:

1) Conventional loan - 30 year fixed rate @ 4.75% & 25% down payment

2) Commercial loan - 5 year fixed rate @ 4.75% (amortized over 30 years / converts to variable rate after 5 years) & 20% down payment.

The idea of a 5 year fixed rate that become variable scares me a little, but only having to put 20% is very appealing. I've got about 150K in cash that I'm wanting to leverage to get rental properties, so I'll still have money to invest after either way, but obviously, I can get more properties if I do the commercial loans. 

Also, are there any other differences that I may be unaware of between commercial and conventional? On question I've had is, are closing costs the same? But there may be more I need to consider as well.

Thanks