All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Perez

I put an offer in on a duplex yesterday in the Jacksonville FL area. It is a 3bed 3 bath in one unit (which is what caught my attention!) and the other is a 2 bed 2 bath. They are asking $185k ”as is” and I went in at $190k for the sake of making a strong offer and to secure a contract. The area seems quiet and there’s an elementary school right across the street. Seems like mostly of an industrial area.

They claim to have renovated it and it does look renovated for the most part. Roof looks brand new, floors, bathroom vanities HVAC units, water heaters etc. I would say there’s still some work that can be done to it as far as fresh paint and cleaning up but it looks like the bigger expenses have been taken care of.

It also has a big attached shed-like structure in the back for each side. I’m thinking we can charge extra for storage.

My strategy as far as negotiations goes is if they accept my offer at $190k I will get my inspection done, and will request for them to fix whatever comes out it and if they refuse to then I will ask to bring the price down or I will just back out. I figure this could be a good strategy to get them to come down since if they don’t then they will have to move on the next buyer (wastes time) in which then they will have to disclose what I found in my inspection and it’ll probably be best if they take my revised offer. Not to mention they already asked if we can close sooner than 30days and if we can cut the inspection time to 7 days rather than 10. Maybe a sign of desperation? 

Anyway, my question is if I pay that $190k I calculated conservatively that I will make about $325 after all expenses with the minimum potential rents and maximum potential mortgage payment. It’ll probably be a little more than that since I went conservative. Not too bad. What I fear is overpaying and the market crashing. Do you guys think that if the seller is not willing to lower or budge that I should still go through with it? I feel like it’s a good deal but I’m just fearing the price that I’m paying. I also noticed that they paid $28k in February for it. Then again consider those big expenses, roof, HVACs, water heaters, etc. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks in advance. 

Just moved to the Jax, looking to invest here and also of course meet other like minded individuals. So let’s meet if you’re in the area. My question tho is what sides of Jax /neighborhoods do you guys think it’s worth investing in?

I would like to house hack this deal so preferably a 2-3 unit property however I’m cool with house hacking a single family if I need to.

So I’m moving from Columbia SC to Jacksonville FL. I currently have a duplex here that I’ve been renting at 850 a unit. My mortgage is 960. I bought it for 120k in 2017. Its recently been appraised at 135k. It’s been renovated on both sides with hardwood floors vinyl plank in the bathrooms. One unit has the vinyl plank in the kitchen. New washer and dryer in one unit. New water heater in one. And new HVAC in one. One water heater is old, the other HVAC is also old. I had a mold issue that was cleaned up last year in one unit. And I’m just finishing up a claim on the second unit wit the the same mold issue that was cause by a bursted pipe that connects to the water heater. Currently in the rebuilding part of the insurance claim.

I will be moving to Jacksonville FL in the next month. I feel like I’ve put more money into this first deal than I should’ve but I learned a whole lot in the process. I was thinking about putting it up for sale and taking all the lessons I’ve learned along with whatever I can cash out with and moving along to the next one in Florida. Apart of me also feels like since I’ve invested so much money on this first one tho that I might as well keep it and let it work itself out. What do you guys think? What are some things to consider? I plan on getting my license down in Jacksonville Florida and becoming an agent. I will use the money I make as an agent to buy more investment properties.

So I was considering selling my duplex. I got with an agent and she referred me to an appraiser. I gave the appraiser my PM info and he was to schedule a time and day to go out and look at the duplex. He calls me on the day after he had already left to tell me that the PM never showed up to meet him at the house. He says that he did walk around and measured and did half of the appraisal but that for him to come back out he would have to charge me. I asked him if he gave the PM a call when he got there and he said no. I asked why didn’t you give them a call? I mean I get that that didn’t show up but a simple “Hey where you at?” Is all you could’ve at least done. So because of that he ONLY did the outside and didn’t get to go inside either unit. He then says he can go off of what I tell him the inside is like but I prefer he goes in and looks hisself since he’s the appraiser and I don’t want ANY thing to be misinformed.

So I was going to go with someone else instead because to me that shows a lack of integrity.

He texts me this morning asking if I got another time for him to come out and told him I was all all set. Sure enough he asks if I’m going to pay for what he did. I say what did you do? He says basically that he did the appraiser. My question is, is it really an appraisal if he didn’t go inside the unit? I mean that’s where most of the upgrades. What do you guys think?

The appraisal initially was going to be $450. So if I let him go back out to look at the inside, he says he’s going to have to charge me another $50. I feel like he’s trying to cheat me.

Moving to the Jax soon and ima need to rent for the first year while I learn the area. Can you give me some recommendations? I need something safe but affordable. I wouldn’t want to spend no more than $1000 on rent for a 2bed 2bath but I’m not sure what that will get me out there. Also preferably an apartment complex.

I want to get licensed and become a real estate agent. Only two concerns I have is 1) would right now be too tough a time to become one?

2) I was planning a move to Jacksonville Florida. I’m waiting on my job to give me the ok to go. It could take months before they call me even a whole year...

So I’m trying to decide whether I should stay in my current city (Columbia SC) and build my real estate business here since I already have a network of people here and some knowledge of the city or wait till I get the call and when I go to Jacksonville start that it there.

If I wait till I move, I know I would have to start networking and learning the area which could be a lot more challenging than just staying and starting where I’m already at but maybe not? What do you guys think?

I’m looking to move from Columbia SC to Jacksonville FL soon and would like to know what are the good areas and what are the bad ones?

I’ll be looking for a duplex or triplex to house hack with my grandfather. I’ve been watching videos on how to research a new market. I’m trying to get a relationship going with some banks and property managers as well. But just curious to see what BP family has to say about the Jax especially those who live there already,

I was just wondering, a lot of the duplexes in my area ( Columbia,SC ) I’m seeing are already renovated, some in decent locations.

Because they are renovated tho it’s harder to low ball it or get it discounted and it would leave no value add opportunity for me.

So should I or can it make sense to buy a 2-4 unit property that is renovated? If so what other things should I be looking at and considering?

I just want to ask what are the dangers of building a rental property portfolio through financing compared to buying them cash and owning them free and clear?

I currently got one duplex that I got FHA 3.5% down and I was getting ready to house hack a quad plex same way. I just want to know before I continue to finance my way through if there are some things to consider.

I’ve heard a couple people say that financing is dangerous in the case if/when the market crashes. I would like to hear what the exact dangers are and if there are things you can do to prevent it.

Im trying to sue my insurance company for unfairly paying some things and they are out in TX. I’m in Columbia SC.

They hire a third party company to handle my claim which is here in Columbia.

I would think that I would be suing the third party company since they the ones in Columbia and they were the ones mishandling my claim.

Have any of you dealt with anything like this?

I don’t feel the need to hire an attorney because the case is pretty straight forward on what the issue is and what they owe and why.... only thing I’m having a hard time doing is filing the complaint because I gotta put the company name and address and I wanna make sure I’m going after the right one ... It would be absurd if I had to go to TX just to sue them, that would doesn’t make sense considering the fact that they’re doing business here in Columbia.