All Forum Posts by: Paul Stern

@Roy N.  Thanks for the advice and insight on some of the things to expect

@Larry Fried  Thanks for making me think a little more about the value plays

I heard back from the bank. There is one other offer. They are asking for our Best and Final offer. the caveat is no cash back at closing. I offered $27k over asking price with $20k back at closing. Anyone been in this situation before? Could you comment on your experience?

Thanks also @Antonio Coleman @Brandon Turner  @Mike O'Connor  for the encouragement!

Thanks all for the welcome and interest. I do appreciate your thoughts. I did not want to go on and on, but here is the information I have in hand:

Rent Roll (Annual Range $43k - $73.5k) : 4x 1 bedroom at $400/month (2 vacancies); 8x 2 bedroom at $560/month (3 vacancies) monthly rent income = $3,600; two laundry rooms provide some additional income ($50/month) Rents are below market ($500/$600). So upside potential with everything rented should be $6,800/month. (Range is current with actual 40% vacancy to market with 10% vacancy)

Expenses (Total Annual $36.5k): Landlord pays for water, sewer and garbage, all other utilities are separately metered. Tax = $10k, Insurance = $3k, Utilities = $7k, Repairs/Maintenance = $3k, Management = $4k, Snow/Lawn = $2.5k, Trash = $2k, Reserve = 5k

Repairs ($15k): For the three units that are not rent ready. My estimate includes carpet ($4k), cabinets & counters ($2k), fixtures ($1k), water heaters ($1.5k), Refrigerators ($2.5k) and Stoves ($1.5k), plus contingency ($2.5k)

Future CapEx: Likely HVAC ($3500 per) and water heaters ($700 per). One water heater was missing and another leaking (counted in repairs above). Roof has some years to go and pavement looks good.

Offer Price $275k, financing 80%

The area is working class, 5-10% vacancy typical. 

Hi everyone, I am new to the site. I have been reading posts for the past month and thought it was time to say hello. I bought my first investment property last June, then I found this site...timing might not be my best friend, but better late than never. I wanted to get one tax season out of the way before deciding if real estate investing was my thing. So far I have been having a good time, and long term forecast looks good....

So I am about to put an offer on my next property. I am looking mostly for small multi-family. My first property was a 4 plex for $150k. My only real mistake was over-renovating. Couple that with an investment trip to look at a larger property in my home town and I had a small loss. The first couple of months of 2015 tell me I might make up for that loss in short order.

The next property looks like it will be two 6-plex buildings on the same land. It is a REO and sold "as is". Three units need carpet and various fixtures. Two others are vacant. Seems like the seven full units will carry the rest, so I should be able to get cash flow positive quickly. All this for a price less than $25k/unit. What do you think?