All Forum Posts by: Mark W.

It's come to my attention that one of my tenants has started a daycare business. I've looked into this and found out she became certified by the state earlier this year. So she's "legit"...however, my concern is liability.

My plan is to notify her that I am aware of the business and require her to obtain general liability insurance and add me as a named insured. If she refuses, I plan to kick them out (they are on a month-to-month agreement.)

Any other landlords have experience with this? Does this sound like a reasonable plan? I hate to kick this couple out with their two children, they are long-term tenants, but this makes me nervous. Even more so that she didn't tell me.

And what if the apartment is empty at the time of rehab? Does one need to go through all of this rigamarole if nobody is actively living in the apartment?

Here's what I could find from the website:

Nov 2008, assessed 63k sold 36k
Sep 2008, assessed 72k sold 72k
July 2008, assessed 45k sold 34k.
Mar 2008, assessed 43k sold 20k

So does this tell me where properties are really at right now?

OK, thanks for the replies. I'm not rushing to get into anything, just trying to get an idea of what's possible. Thanks again for the info! I'll hit up some mortgage brokers.

Hm, last 90 days. I'm not turning up anything that recent. Certainly not on those 2-3 surrounding streets. Do you use a realtor for this type of recent data?

Looking at a duplex that an owner is listing for 30k. Seller seems very motivated, perhaps I could get it for 20k, 25k. Place is unoccupied at the moment, city assessor's site lists it at 60k, other homes in the area have sold at that over the last 5 years.

Say I buy the place for cash and replace the roof and paint the exterior (which it desperately needs). Could I then go to a bank and get a mortgage for 60k? I guess basically what I am looking to do is to buy the place outright, do the exterior repairs, and then get a check from the bank for 48k (80% value of the house) once I'm done. I then rent out both apts.

If this sounds totally crazy, I apologize...I'm new to the site and my brain is on overdrive!

Ok, on the assessor's site it looks like it captures the recent sales and sales price. Over the last 10 years all of the single families and duplexes (about 6-7 properties) have sold right around 60k. One single family went for 36k but it is assessed at 60k also.

So my next task is to figure out rents. Also to estimate the repairs. It definitely needs a roof and exterior paint. I guess what I would do since I have no clue how much this stuff would cost is to call a couple roofers/painters and get an estimate. Is that generally considered acceptable even though I don't have a contract on the place?

Started to look through the daily craigslist ads, and there's a FSBO up/down duplex looking to dump his place for 30k. Says it needs a new roof and paint (drove by, yes it does). I just found the city assessor's website and see that it is assessed at 61k. That's pretty much what all the houses on this block are assessed at.

Surely there's lots more to investigate, but are these the sorts of deals I should be finding and looking at? Is this how you guys quickly evaluate properties? (drive by, check assessed value)

I also see that the owner is behind on his tax bill. And he's been posting an ad for this place everyday. He wants to move it.

I'm early in my education here, but I think the strategy I want to employ once I get started again is "buy and hold". Probably duplexes at first.

Just poking around craigslist I can find duplexes relatively cheap (think around 20k) but obviously need some work. Neighborhoods arent the greatest. As in -- will I get shot working on them? No. Do I want to move my family there? Also no.

Just curious how other investors approach rental properties in the inner city. (For reference, I'm in Rochester, NY.)

Just found the site the other day, I've been looking for a high-traffic REI forum. Own a duplex which I live in at the moment, but looking to convert both sides into rentals and picking up some more properties in the future. Here to learn more about putting profitable deals together. The fact that the duplex I'm in now will show decent positive cash flow once I rent both sides happens to be pure luck!