All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Fitzgerald

Exciting to hear! I'm recently starting myself and have had my eye on Grand Rapids. I think house hacking is an amazing option for a first buy. Definitely look into FHA loans or even a 203(k) loan. Both could be great options, especially if you are wanting to get something more in the lines of a fixer-upper. If you already have a good amount of cash on hand, that may not be necessary, however. I would love to know more about what you are interested in or looking for. Please share a bit about yourself and what you are currently thinking about the topic at hand.

@Jonathan Schwartz thanks for the help! I definitely will be increasing both maintenance and capex budgeting. The good news is that the approval for my loan came back almost a full percent lower than i was pre-approved for, so that gives some additional wiggle room to the expenses as well.

The house is a 1930's property and 1500 square feet. The roof is about 5 years old and there have been several other recent(ish) upgrades. The only thing i can see as needing to be replaced soon is a 14-15 year old boiler that im sure will be nearing the end of its lifespan sooner, rather than later (although functioning well during some testing at the time of inspection).

Separately, the neighbor is very nice, combined with low crime rates in the area. I think you are right in my needing to expect and prepare for future maintenance i am going to increase both repairs and capex to about 10% respectively and focusing during the first few months on building a bit of an "emergency fund" to cover unexpected costs if any occur before my capex and repair budgeting accrues enough to cover something like that.

Thanks very much for your guidance!

@Kevin Hunter great information, thank you! I will definitely increase the maintenance and capex budgeting. I appreciate your thoughts on this!

Hello,

I am excited to be starting my real estate journey (something ive been wanting to do for as long as i could remember). I recently applied and got approved for a 80k duplex. I offered $69,900 and it was accepted. Currently going through inspections right now, but was hoping to hear some thoughts on all the numbers to see if im forgetting something.

Cost of duplex: $69,900

Down Payment (25%): $17,475

Income: $1350 per month. Rate estimated as 650/700 respectively by the property management company I am planning to use. (Once both units are rented out)

Expenses per month: (Total $910)

TAX- $133, Insurance - $25, Vacancy - $135(estimating a 10% vacancy rate), Repairs - $67, Mortgage - $254, Property Management - $121, Capex - $94, water/sewage - $40, lawn care - $40

Cash Flow: $439. Anually: $5268

Cash on Cash Return: 25.75%

I will not be living in either unit and plan to rent them both out. No major issues with the property according to inspections. Some cleaning to be done, but not much more. What are your thoughts?

Am i doing the math right and how does this look?