All Forum Posts by: Robert South

My wife and I just moved to the Orlando area and we've been looking for investment property here as well. Would you mind letting me know where you were getting these deals as well @Ahmed Souissi?

My wife and I have purchased 3 rental properties in the last 3 months. All properties were purchased with cash and are tenanted. However we are quickly finding it difficult to manage the paperwork organization. This will only get worse as we acquire more properties over the next few months and years.

Can anyone recommend a method, or software product for managing:

1. When a tenant lease is about to expire,
2. Insurance is about to expire,
3. Tracking when taxes are due so they can be paid on time,
4. Etc.

Just basic paperwork management and organization. We’ve tried using Podio but it’s been pretty challenging.

Any advice would help greatly!

Rob South

We went to a couple of builders in the Cape last weekend and found a couple models that could be built for roughly 180,000. We paid about 100,000 for each lot. That gives a combined invested total of close to $300,000 . Unfortunately it looks like we could only get about $1500 a month for a property of that size. So obviously the ROI would be pretty bad.

 The problem is right now the mortgage on those lots is not tax-deductible.   If we build a house on it and make it an income producing property I can at least appreciate the property  and write off the interest payments.    But I have to go further into debt to get out of debt! 

 Still not sure what we're going to do.  But I know I need to do something! 

the 20 yr property did not receive a rehab.  The much older property was fully rehabbed

When calculating CapEx as a percentage of monthly rent, what would be a good conservative value for:

- A fully rehabbed property

- A property 20 years old with 'mostly' original equipment 

Also, do you include this value to derive NOI or include only maintenance in the NOI? If not, what is the rationale?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

-Rob (new investor)

Thanks for the replies!

When evaluating a rental property and considering selling expenses, what is a good realistic ballpark estimate. The properties I'm considering are around $70,000. I've heard 6% realtors fees + 2% misc for a total of 8% if placed on the MLS.

However, if I sold this property off market to another investor selling costs could be much lower but I have no idea of how low.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, can anyone recommend a good iOS app for evaluating buy-and-hold rental properties?  I'm trying to avoid the monthly subscription model.

Thanks in advance!

Kristine, If you have the time, can I speak with you about your unit in Windsor Hill? I am also from Minneapolis and considering purchasing in Windsor Hills. Kind regards, Rob

Hi BP, I am new to this form so please be gentle! :) I bought 2 fresh water, southern exposure, canal lots in Cape Coral about 6 months from the peak of the last housing bubble in 2007. I still have them (sigh) but wonder what I should do with them. One is in the 2000 block of NW 6TH Terrace and the other is in the 700 block of NE 12TH St. My question is, should I build a house on one or both of them and then either sell them or rent them? I'm trying to turn these dogs into horses. If you have local knowledge of the area and could recommend a course of action I'd appreciate it! Thank you!