All Forum Posts by: Ricardo Murph II

Welcome @Jay Dean! Before you start looking for properties make sure you are educated.  That much cash can give you lots of options especially if you want to use leverage (ie loan). Some money on books and time listening to podcast can help you focus your game plan, energy and money to achieve your goals. 

@Ehab Shoukry I like @Rachel Pervis approach. Evaluated each property and list from worst to best and plan on taking them out one at time.  If there is a plumbing issue on a property that is not next on the list then take that as a sign that it should be moved up and dealt with quickly or at that time. 

I don't know anything about ACs but if you have 9 units could you get a quantity discount contracting to do 2-3 over a year or longer?  Just a thought. 

What area are your rentals in? 

@chris purcell I was praticing my property evaluation. I feel the more I practice running the numbers the faster and better I will be. I had great input from others. I believe learning is a big part of investing. Fyi if you read the post you would know I had his number, I called and got a response. 

Thank you all for you input.  I left a message and he called me back and promptly let me know he wasn't interested in selling.  I told him to keep me in mind.  On to the next one!

I just heard that on a podcast today. I will keep that in mind. 

Does this include the suburbs? My focus is Pearland. 

Welcome! Check out BP podcast show 2. It goes over marketing. 

@Mark Nolan thank you for your response. I have taken a loan out before and paid it off. to get out of credit card debt. I have a small about in a IRA that I could use for real estate but I would like to try to use it to invest in notes later not so much rental properties.

@Simon Shih That is good advice.  They say the one who speaks first loses in negotiations.  I have forgotten that in my excitement.  

@Tom Cooper you bring up all good points.  I am making a lot of assumptions for a vacant house.  I do need to see it and factor in the big ticket items that deteriorate when not in use. Water heater, AC, outdated kitchen and bathroom. Maybe these problems along with age is why he never sold it. Thank you for your feedback. 

I wanted some advice as a newbie. There is a home in my neighborhood that has been vacant for years. I have lived on my street for 7 years. I creeped me out because it was always maintained but I never saw anyone.  Thought some hermit lived in it. The guy that lived next door to it told me an old guy owned it and was saving it for his kids. A couple years ago the daughter (looked about 40ish) moved in for a few months then moved out again.  

The numbers:

• SFH ~1000 sqft it is probably 3/1/1 or 2/1/1 - this set up is common in my neighborhood
• Zillow shows home purchased 1994 $47K and ARV $114K. I just refi my home it appraised around that price. Mine is ~1100 sqft 2/2/2 so it is close.
• It could rent $1300 -1400/ month - my floor plan is on the zillow now for $1395

Gross Schedule

• Gross Schedule income $15600
• Vacancy allowance (3%) $468
• Tax $2200/year
• Insurance $2300/ year mandatory windstorm coverage
• HOA $175/year
• Lawn service $600/year
• Maintenance $500 year

Total Operating expense: $5775    38%

Net Operating income: $9357

The house is pretty well maintained the appraiser site says a canopy was added on the patio in 2015.  Foundation issues are common in this neighborhood which take 5-10K to fix. 

I think if I can offer $90K or lower or get him to owner finance at a higher price. It would be an awesome rental and easy to manage for newbie since it is close to home. I have access to about $20K cash pretty quick between 401K loan and savings. 

I live in Pearland, TX a suburb of Houston, TX. There is tons of growth and business investment in my area. 

His name, address and number is on yellowpages.com 

 On our personal finance we have gone frugal to pay off debt in about a year.  I can stop accelerated payments at any time and free up a good bit of cash. Should I contact him? If so how should I approach it?  Do you think I should wait?

@Christopher Hall That is a great deal! How did you find these people for that deal?