All Forum Posts by: Nancy L.

@Chris Farrugia I've been learning to do some work myself as I'm relatively new to the business and have more time than money. What I've come to realize though is that it's good to do work myself to the extent that it doesn't slow down the completion time!!! If the project is plodding along as I DIY then I've gotta weigh what I'm saving against the additional carrying costs and lost time/income! So I'm trying to strategize so that I chose some DIY projects that I can handle in the timeframe, without slowing down the schedule or being in anyone's way.

As far as how to learn the DIY skills, Youtube is amazing! I also really like sites that give written instructions with pictures as I find them easier to follow. Personally I learned a lot because I was dating a carpenter during my first big project and got him to show me things, but that strategy is not necessarily easily transferable... :-p

As far as living in a rehab, I've done that too. It's wonderful if you like all the comforts of camping without the beauty of the great outdoors. 

Welcome @Patrick O'Neill ! Funny thing, I'm a landlord interesting in upping my skills on the renovation side of things. I've learned a lot from working on my rentals, but am always wishing I was more handy. I'll trade ya, everything I know about landlording for everything you know about renovating? Jk but if you have any questions as you get into this, feel free to contact me! I'm not doing this on a full-time level (yet), but do own and manage some rentals and would be happy to help in any way I can. Also I'm in the market now for a fix and flip and will be needing some contractors. Are you interested in new clients at all? I don't tend to use GC's for everything, but sometimes like to use one for certain parts of a rehab.

@Lucas Pfaff Found this post late, searching for something else. I don't know if you're still considering buying in Germantown, but I live here and have some rentals in the area as well. All have worked out well for me! The neighborhood is gradually improving with more young professionals and families moving in, making it a good area for buy and holds. As far as specific location, my sense is west of Germantown ave is better and north of Chelten is better. The Tulpelhocken Station district is really nice. I'd definitely encourage any other investors (or home buyers) to consider the area for its good values and rental returns!

*2.2% etc. referring to percentage of purchase price as rental income

@John Matthews I'm in philly and have some rentals... I am getting 2.2% on a duplex in E. Mt. Airy if you look at purchase price alone, but I had to put some $$ into rehab to get the rents to where they are, bringing my % down to more like 1.5. However one of the units has a long term tenant inherited from the old owner at a below market rent, and I have not raised rents on him much. Also, this was my first rehab and I have no doubt that someone more experienced could have done the same for less. So I think someone else may have been able to get 2% or at least closer, but shoulda woulda coulda is not a good accounting method... And without a way to finance the rehab costs, rehabs change the LTV ratio.

My observation has been that more units in a multi-family typically gives a higher %, but then you also have higher costs in lawn care, snow removal, trash removal, etc. 

I do think 16% is both a reasonable expectation and a reasonable return (depending, as stated above, on your priorities). But if I'm correct that a higher % may often be coupled with some higher costs or expenses, I think looking at ROI's on some specific examples would be the best way to answer this question because this would avoid confounding factors and make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

@J Scott  thanks so much! I grabbed your Rehab Analysis spreadsheet -- very helpful, and I love the formatting!

@Nathan Emmert Got it, thanks! I was wondering about the mechanism, in my state at least this would be listed as a "seller assist" on the agreement of sale. Never really thought of this as a way to finance an extra cost, so thanks for that tip!

@J Scott Thanks so much! I'm actually pretty excited about it... While I can't get into too many specifics, I can explain what the axes mean and use this to demonstrate a few ideas we're discussing.

@J Scott This is great! I teach math part-time at a local high school, and after a recent discussion with my students about if/how the math (and specifically graphing concepts) we teach is useful, I'd really like to use your graph in a lesson if that would be ok? I won't be able to get into the specifics too much with them right now, but am planning a mini-unit on real estate investing when we get to a relevant point in the curriculum (I'm going to use exponential functions/compound interest formula as a jumping off point). I think they'd be impressed to see a graph from a "Real Life Investor," instead of the cheesy textbook examples they're used to.

@Nathan Emmert Does rolling closing costs into a loan mean getting a sellers assist? Or something else? (I'm assuming the context is getting a mortgage on new property, not a cash out refi.)

@J Scott there's a Fileplace?? With spreadsheets?!? I'm new here, where could I find that?