All Forum Posts by: Neil Quinn

Hi all,

I'm looking to see how close to breakeven I could get with some property in my area if I ever move out, but mostly would only be able to afford condos that have $300-$600 HOA fees.

Can people give me a sanity check of what expenses on a property like this might look like?  Let's assume an 800-900 sqft condo.

Property management - maybe 8-10%

Expenses - Very tough for me to estimate, would love to see some sample models from people

Vacancy - would probably just assume ~ 8% or 1 month of rent

Capex - Since HOA would probably cover roof/exterior type deals, capex here would likely be just bigger items like HVAC, water heater,

Q1:  Per above, I assume capex is generally lower when HOA fees cover some of those items?

Q2:  Also, in general, do places in higher CoL areas tend to run lower on expenses/capex?  My thought is that if the median unit (let's say 800sqft building with $200k mortgage) has an equivalent building in a higher cost of living area (800sqft, $400k mortgage), the expenses should still be -roughly- the same.  Yes, contractor labor in the area might be a bit more, but materials shoudn't change much.  Basically, do you think higher CoL area might be closer to a 40% rule instead of 50%?

Hi all,

I currently rent, and am torn on what next steps should be.  I don't want to continue renting, but it also seems that in most places where I'd want to live, cashflow isn't really an option if I ever move out of the area, which I would like to do in 1-2 years.

Real estate is expensive in my area (DC/NoVA), and multi-family units run $600k+.  I likely would qualify/feel comfortable for somewhere in the $450k range, and am in the pre-approval process now.

Rising interest rates scare me.  Would you err on the side of just buying something as a primary residence now and slowly looking for deals over the next few years?  Or would you wait and try to find a good combination unit to live in / rent out, but possibly face +1 to +2% interest rates.

There seem to be a few locations where I might be able to roughly breakeven if I move out 1-2 years from now and rent it out, but they are in suburban areas that far from DC, and as a single guy in his late 30's, it concerns me that I'd end up being a hermit.

How would you balance lifestyle vs. investing at this point? Another option could be using FHA/etc instead of 20% down to leave more investment cash open for the future for my primary residence, but even then it might be rather tough to qualify for future investment property if I already have a $400k primary residence loan in my name.

Hi all,

I currently rent, and want to purchase my own place. I have sufficient funds for a 20% downpayment, but am debating if it might make sense to use an FHA loan only and put 3-10% down instead to keep some funds available for seeking out future deals.

Loan would probably be in the $400k range, which means

3.5% = $14,000

10% (MIPS for 10 years) = $40,000

20% (no PMI) = $80,000

Of course I'd take the 0.88% PMI hit by going FHA which really annoys me given that interest rates are rising already. Worth it though to hold onto some cash and look for other deals?

Living in a high CoL (washington dc/northern virginia) area is killing me because there aren't any real duplex type setups in the area which means i'd end up with a roommate to house-hack.

Go 10% FHA, pay a penalty for 10 years, and keep $40k free for remote investing? Just go with the regular 20% no-pmi and don't worry about it?

Will definiteley swing by next weekend!

@Edward Barnes, oh, I meant specific episodes on the bigger pockets podcast!  There are nearly 200 I think so was trying to triage which I should focus on first.  Or is there a Bigger Pockets specific episode on it that you are referencing?

Hi all,

I'm new to real estate and located in the DC/NoVA area which is a very high CoL area.

Looking to purchase my first property with intent to rent a room or other unit to someone else to help pay the mortgage. 

From my quick research it seems like this is a tough area to cash flow if I move in a few years, and there are very few duplex/multifamily type units in the area, especially in my price range.

Two main questions:

1.  I have a long commute and started downloading the BP podcasts.  Are there any certain episodes you think are really good for beginners that I should start with?

2.  Any preferred meetups or people in the Northern Virginia / DC metro area I should seek out?

I haven't been impressed with the meetups I've found so far.

@Charles Huang Any suggested areas in NoVA to focus my search on? I'm a single guy in his 30's so don't want to be too far out, but also don't want to get killed on HOA fees.

Hi all, looking to purchase my first property and interested to hear what you think would make sense that would act as both a residence and investment. 

(Open to 2 bedrooms where I rent a room out, or other affordable options that make sense, but not sure if a duplex type option would be affordable to me at all).

Also, does anyone here recommend any other larger RE groups in the NoVA/DC area that I could attend?  Trying to learn as much as a fast as possible.