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All Forum Posts by: Richie Thomas

Richie Thomas has started 33 posts and replied 258 times.

Post: [Calc Review] Help me analyze this deal - First Rental

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

Hey @Geren Knight III, unless you've toured the property with a contractor and they've quoted you $10k for your repair budget, it might be a good idea to budget more than that for up-front repairs. I would expect a property that is selling for $42,000 to need quite a bit of work to get it to an ARV of $84,000.

Post: [Calc Review] Help me analyze this deal

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

I use 2% for each, but those 3 fields are market-specific.  Some markets are more about cash flow than appreciation.  Do you have a specific farm area in mind?

Post: Which one is more important ? Cashflow vs Location.

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

@Mohammad Nur in that case I have to change my recommendation.  I'd move on to other properties if I was having trouble finding a PM to take on a property.  It's good you're involving them in the purchase decision btw, for this exact reason.

Post: Which one is more important ? Cashflow vs Location.

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

@Mohammad Nur I'm only an aspiring investor, not an experienced one.  So bear that in mind.

If you're thinking about managing the property yourself, consider how much time that would consume, and whether that's a better use of your time than (for example) scouting new properties or farm areas.  If you were investing in a Subway sandwich franchise, would you want to be the guy scouting for new restaurant locations, or would you want to be the guy making Cold Cut Combos and helping hungry / irate customers?  Do you want to learn how to manage a single property, or do you want to learn how to manage the people who manage all of your properties?

If your goal is to minimize chaos, go with whichever option allows you to include a property manager in your budget.  It's their job to handle the chaos for you- that's what you pay them for.

You said "Resale value is definitely in my mind. Which is what preventing me from pulling the trigger. The property may stagnant in value or worse case scenario may loose in value."  This is true, no doubt I agree with you here.  At the same time, if you buy in an A-class neighborhood, how much more can the property increase in value beyond its current ceiling?

Post: [Calc Review] Help me analyze this deal

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

@Steven Koch I applaud your effort to apply creativity to a deal.  Learning how to see value in deals that other investors pass on seems like a valuable skill to acquire.  Just be careful to guard against over-optimism.  You don't want to "see" value that isn't actually there.

From the MLS photos, this property looks like it's been rehabbed already, and there's no reason to think the seller is motivated by something other than getting top dollar. It looks like it's being marketed to owner-occupants, as opposed to investors. Those kinds of properties are quite common on the MLS, and my (beginner) understanding is that it's hard for an investor to add a lot of value to the mix with these properties. We generally get paid to solve peoples' problems, which means helping them unload a property that has become a headache to them. This can mean a home in poor condition which the owner doesn't want to repair, or a home in great condition where the owner needs to move quickly for a new job, sell quickly because of a divorce, etc.

That said, you can definitely find investor-friendly deals on the MLS, and I hear about people doing so all the time on the BiggerPockets podcast. If we put on our creativity hat and ask how can we make this deal work, my first thought is to turn this into a house-hack, living in one room and renting out the other 2 as Airbnb rentals. If the property really is "in the heart of downtown" as the MLS listing says, then this could be a viable option, especially if you put a bit of rehab work into the property (white picket fence, maybe?).

Looks like Colorado Springs allows short-term rentals, but there are restrictions involved and you have to apply for a permit.  If this is a make-or-break part of your strategy, make sure your property conforms to all local short-term rental laws before purchasing it.

AirDNA is a great resource on how to estimate what your income could be if you opted for this strategy; their reports are a bit expensive and they bill on a monthly basis, so make sure to get all the information you need and then cancel your subscription.  You would be renting a private room in a shared house, so be sure to limit your comparison to other private rooms in a shared house in your property's immediate area.  A non-exhaustive list of questions I would want to answer from AirDNA includes:

-What is the average nightly rate?

-What is the average monthly occupancy %?

-Which amenities are considered "must-haves" or "table stakes" among the rentals here?

-Which amenities are considered "nice-to-haves", which will help your property's photos stand out among the search results?

-Is the rental activity (i.e. # of listings and # of bookings) increasing or decreasing in the property's zip code?

-Is this property in the most tourist-friendly part of town?  If not, what type of guest is this property likely to attract?

-What are the downsides to Airbnb'ing this property that I should be up-front about with my guests?  i.e. "this property is in a not-so-great part of town", or "the neighbors have a pit bull that can be intimidating" or "there is a fire station across the street, and we frequently hear fire truck sirens at all hours").  It's better to be as up-front as possible in your listing about things like these, so you can filter out guests who will leave you bad reviews because of these things.

Also keep in mind that there's a big difference in laws depending on whether or not you occupy a room in your short-term rental.  Laws for non-owner-occupant rentals are usually more restrictive than laws for owner-occupant rentals.

Your expenses for a short-term rental will be much higher than if you rented to a standard tenant.  Utilities will be your responsibility, as well things like toiletries.  You'll have to budget for cleanings and room changeovers after every guest checks out, or you'll need to plan to take care of these things yourself.  And you'll be responsible for all communication with guests, as well.

Lastly, be sure that your mortgage lender allows short-term rentals. If you're planning on getting an FHA loan, this may not be an option.

Be careful not to get too attached to any one property.  To a certain extent, investing is a numbers game. As others have said, if you can't make the math on this property work, move on to the next.

Post: [Calc Review] Help me analyze this deal

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

I think for now it's enough to confirm I'm looking at the right property.

Full disclosure- I'm an aspiring (i.e. not an experienced) investor, so get confirmation of the below opinions from an expert before acting on any of them.

The first thing I like to do when analyzing a property like this is look at the location, since it's one of the few things that's unchangeable about a property.  I think this property is in the Millvale section of Pittsburg?  Looks like there are pluses and minuses to that part of town.  My first stop is almost always City-Data.com, which has exhaustive reports on most zip codes and neighborhoods in the US.  Looks like Millvale has lost about 9% of its population since 2000.  That's not a good sign; it implies locals view this neighborhood as less attractive relative to other nearby areas.  If I'm looking at a city page as opposed to a neighborhood page, I'll also check the population size, to make sure there will be a large enough population base of renters.  Since this area is in Pittsburgh, I won't worry as much about that.  The population looks low, but the percentage of renters is almost double the statewide average, so that's a good sign.

As another check, I like to plug the neighborhood's name into Google News and see what kind of stories come up.  If I see a bunch of mug shots in the top search results, I assume it's a war zone.  If it's concert listings and traffic reports (like it is with Millvale), then I assume it's a working-class or better neighborhood.

OK, on to the property itself. You've budgeted $90,000 for the acquisition price but $0 for repairs. I'm showing the listing price is only $72,900, so I'm guessing you lumped the repair costs in with the purchase cost? The property was built in 1900 and we don't know how much useful life is left in things like the roof, foundation, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, etc. And it looks a little beat-up even from the MLS photos, so you might want to increase your repair assumption a bit.

Side note on estimating repair costs- one of the most important parts of the out-of-state team I'm trying to put together is my contractor and my realtor.  I'm in early talks with someone who does both of those things, which I think will make it easy for them to do a walk-through and judge not only what needs repairs in order to rent quickly, but how much those repairs will cost.  I don't have enough experience to say whether this will be effective or not, but I'm optimistic.

Your closing costs estimate is $2,500.  Where did you get this estimate from?  If the purchase price is $73k and you use an estimate of 5%, it would come out to $3,500.   But if you've been quoted this figure from a realtor already, then definitely stick with what they told you.

Your after-repair value of $135,000 looks too generous.  It's hard to judge because I don't see many comparable properties sold recently on Realtor.com:

It's also hard to judge how similar the two properties in the above map are, since we don't see a square footage number in the Realtor.com listing.  So I went to the Alleghany County Property Records website and looked it up:

I noticed that it's 1,660 square feet, giving it a cost per sq ft of $43.91.  That's much better than the $128k property's $/sq ft. of $80.  But neighborhoods can change quite quickly from one block to the next, and these aren't quite close enough for me to feel confident that they're truly comparable.

One thing that jumped out at me while I was looking at the above county records is that it's officially recorded as a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom, NOT a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom (like the Realtor.com listing says it is).  I'd be concerned that there may have been un-permitted work done to convert the property to 3BR/2BA.  It may be worth a call to the recorder's office to ask what could cause such a discrepancy.  It might be nothing, or it might be something.

You've got the "time to refinance" down as 13 months.  Most refinance loans I've seen have a seasoning period of 12 months at most, and sometimes it's as low as 4-6 months.  Make sure you're getting the best deal there.

You've estimated $1,300/month in rental income.  Rentometer is usually hit-and-miss when it comes to estimating monthly income, but it says that the closest rental property to yours that it knows about rents for $1,200/month.  And it's probably safest to assume that this number is high.  If it were me, I'd estimate $1,150 or maybe even $1,100.  Even better, before looking at specific properties like this one, I'd start by networking with local property managers to see what *they* think this property would rent for.

You've estimated $0 in refinance fees. This is probably unrealistic. When you refinance at the new ARV, the lender will want an appraisal done, and they'll pass the cost for this on to you. A non-exhaustive list of other closing costs for refinance loans include title fees, origination fees, attorney fees, flood certification fees (depending on your area), and recording fees.

Your interest rate for the refinance loan is 4.5%.  Have you been quoted this by a bank?  And if so, did they know you are applying for the loan as an investor, not an owner-occupant?  Or is this part of the private money lender deal you mentioned in your initial post?

10% vacancy budget is good.  5% each for repairs and capex is low.  15-20% combined for these two items would be better.  I'd go closer to 20% since the house is so old and (I'm guessing) you haven't had an inspection performed yet.

I know you said you'll be managing the property yourself, so I'm SUPER-glad to see you including a 10% PM fee anyway.  Very few people do this, and it shows you're thinking ahead to the possibility of hiring this job out in the future.

Realtor.com says the insurance cost for this listing is $27/month, so you insurance budget of $100 *might* be a bit high, but this is very area-specific so I can't be sure.  Ask your agent.

Post: I need help with an example of owner finance

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

@Jahbari McLennan, one thing I forgot.  I think I've read elsewhere in these forums that, if you can, it's better for you to make the mortgage payments on their behalf, rather than you paying the seller and them paying the lender.  Otherwise, if you pay your bill but they don't pay theirs, the lender could foreclose unless you pay all the back payments a 2nd time.  Again, I'm not an expert here but that sounds to me like a plausible risk to watch out for.

Post: [Calc Review] Help me analyze this deal

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

Hey @Clayton Hepler, even with the link to the report PDF, more information would make this deal easier to analyze.  I see an address of "524 Evergreen" mentioned in the report, and I see you're based in Pittsburg, PA.  Is this the property by any chance?  If so, I'll give specific feedback based on that property.  Cheers.

Post: I need help with an example of owner finance

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141
Originally posted by @Jahbari McLennan:

@Richie Thomas thank you for that advice and you think this would work even if they are still making payments on the property?

Hey Jahbari, it sounds like you're referring to a subject-to deal?  i.e. you buy the property directly from the seller and they continue to make mortgage payments while you retain the deed?  If so, that's not an area I know much about, but I do know there are unique risks (and advantages) to that kind of arrangement.  Dave Van Horn has a great BiggerPockets blog post all about those here.  My key takeaways were:

-Always verify a clean title as a contingency of a subject-to purchase.  You don't want to inherit someone else's title issues, liens, etc. without knowing about them beforehand.

-Watch out for the due-on-sale clause.  The seller's existing lender will likely have the option of calling the entire mortgage due when the property transfers title.  According to the article, this can often mean simply refinancing and paying off the old loan with proceeds from the new one.  And it sounds like the bank often won't even exercise their due-on-sale option.  But they do have the right to do so.

-Looks like there are "gotchas" related to insurance as well.  I'm still getting my head around those, so maybe check out the article for yourself.  Dave has been in the field for many years, is a former BP Podcast guest, and runs his own company in the note investing business.  He's much more qualified to speak on this than I am.

Post: BRRRR Deal Analysis - Gloucester City, NJ

Richie ThomasPosted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sedona, AZ
  • Posts 258
  • Votes 141

@Joe P. I'd need to see the BiggerPockets PDF report summary from the calc page, but it sounds promising from your description.  In the meantime, I did some research on the area itself:

Gloucester City looks close to Philadelphia, which I'd guess is an asset as long as it's popular with commuters.  

Crime rate looks manageable, which is more relevant if this will be a rental and less so (but still important) if this will be a flip.

Population trend is disappointing, unfortunately- negative 1.2% since 2000, much less than I'd expect for a city that close to Philly.  Again, more important if this will be a rental.

Pretty small total population of 11,000-ish, meaning your pool of prospective tenants and/or buyers would be less than ideal.

Also a lower-than-average % of renters compared to the total population.

Finally, keep in mind that New Jersey is ranked as the state in the US with the highest property taxes.  Delaware is 35 minutes away and has 1/5th the tax rate.  Something to think about.