All Forum Posts by: Rob Simpson

The property is a 4plex with four 1/1 units in a nice neighborhood filled with SFR.

Asking price: $120,000.

Disclosed Operating expenses:
- $80/month for landscaping.
- Tenants pay water/sewer/cable/phone/garbage/electricity

Reserves I Calculate:
- 6% for vacancy. ($96 per month)
- 6% for repairs. ($96 per month)

Estimated property taxes: $1,462/yr.
Estimated insurance: $1,482/yr.

Lending Terms:
25% down payment = $30,000.
$90,000 @ 4% over 30 years = $429.67/mo.

Each unit currently rented at $400/mo. NOI = $12,996/year. Positive cash flow before taxes: $653/mo.

----------- Disclosures to BP:
Property inspection has not happened. If it reveals issues, the numbers will have to change or the deal will be cancelled.

Am I missing anything?

In my perusing I often come across photos taken at bad angles, at night (!!), with 0.3MP phone cameras, fish-eye lenses, and the list goes on.

Has anyone at BP ever worked with a pro photographer to enhance a listing?

What's your opinion of utilizing such?

What sort of price point would you feel is reasonable?

*** A friend and I are photographers and are interesting in breaking into real estate photography, so we ask because we wish to analyze the potential market.

As Joe Bertolino said, it depends. I buy in Florida where wind, flood, and fire are real threats due to hurricanes. My quoted policies are almost always at or over $1200/year. We have a little thing called Wind Mitigation that can reduce that cost, though.

I have one good reason to have your properties managed for you, albeit one that is probably not common. I've been deployed/redeployed from Afghanistan 4 times in the past 3 years. For people involved in a similar industry- military, DOD, contractor -it can be a serious time-sink trying to organize a method of still collecting rent, screening tenants, etc... when you have to be on the next plane smoking. My PMs collect 10% of gross rents, but I build in the cost to my deal analysis because I know it is worth it for the peace of mind.

I love the catch-phrases "for a limited time only" and "if you call now."

Just had to evict a tenant for bringing in pets against policy. Originally was going to allow them to sign a pet agreement and stay on, but when they failed to do that within a week AND saw pictures of my the trash piling up in the garage, I pulled the plug.

I think they were betting the old saying, "It's easier to ask for forgiveness instead of permission" being true. Well, almost!

J Scott, I'll build that site for you - the marketing and content for it is up to you.

Well, that's the question I'm asking.

Perhaps I am just too new to this, but:

Isn't this all dishonest and (possibly) fraudulent? The contract between the lender and lendee is a legal contract. Unless the lender is willing to release the lendee from a pay-in-full clause, transferring the deed "so the loan company doesnt know" sounds shady.

I realize you have a "CYA" but how credible does it look to a 3rd party when you present them a paper shield, meant to be protection against recourse when you knew that what you were doing was not proper? Courts do not honor that sort of thing because they (often) judge "according to the spirit."

Perhaps I do not know what I am talking about, but the way you phrase things, @Sarah Jones, sounds like you're up to something sneaky.

If you knew a guy that had the know-how and time, what sort of ideas would you throw at him to make the "perfect" REI site for you?