All Forum Posts by: Ron Masek

Planning to make my first Real Estate purchase in the near future and am looking for a reliable Real Estate Agent in the area to help find the right purchase. My plan is to set up an Owner Occupied property in Lakewood, OH.

Let me know if anyone has good suggestions on where to start.

Thanks!

Originally posted by @Dulcey Barr:

Hi Rob!

Buying a double and living in half and renting the other half is how I got started and that was over 20 years ago and I highly recommend it! You need a good agent to guide you to finding the right house( I know that sounds like a pitch but it is the truth especially in Cleveland area where a lot of the burbs have POS's). Location, condition and price will determine monthly rents and ultimately your ROI. If you are going to be an owner occ. there are conventional loan products out there now that are 3% down. I could go on and on because this is all I do all day everyday. If you have any questions you can PM me...Happy to discuss!

Thanks for the info. Any suggestions for good agents in the area?

double post.

Originally posted by @James Wise:

Originally posted by @Ron Masek:

Hi all. 

I stumbled across this incredible wealth of Real Estate information when researching info on a potential first investment. I currently have ZERO real estate experience (Sales Engineer for my day job), but have been toying with the idea of eliminating my $900+/mo apartment rent expense and purchasing a duplex to live in half and rent out the other half.

After some quick research this seems like no-brainer and I am almost ashamed that I didn't think of this sooner. I have a lot to learn when it comes to mortgages (this will also be my first home purchase), landlording, leases, etc., but I am seriously considering make this move within the next 6 mos - 1 year. My main goal at this point would be to have the tenant cover the mortgage, taxes, insurance, with some extra on top to save to repairs/rennovations. Even if passive income isn't viable, eliminating my current rent payment alone would make this venture well worth it. 

A few houses I have been looking at in a popular area are in the $140k range and could bring in roughly $750-$1000/mo in rent. On the surface the numbers seem to work out in my favor, but I still have a lot of research to do.

Initially this would be a relatively short term investment (~5 years). I do not want to live in a double nor do I want to live in the area I am looking at long term, but if I can not pay rent for 5 years that could potentially put over $50k in my pocket over that time frame. Once I am ready to purchase a house for myself I would probably consider selling, but would entertain finding another tenant and keeping the property if it made sense.

The first questions I am going to be looking towards answering are 30yr vs 15 yr, mortgage and what is the ideal down payment (I have the 20% in cash at the moment, but am wondering if I should put less down and save capital for repairs/rennovations) for this situation.

I have a long way to go before I decide to make the move, but I know this site will be my "go to" for information!

Thanks,

Ron

Welcome to the site Rob.

In the Cleveland area if you own a $140k property you should be able to generate much more than 750-1k/mo in rent. You should really in the $1,400+/mo range.

Thanks for the insight. I am looking specifically in Lakewood as it seems to be a hot rental area. The going rates on craigslist seem to be in the $800-$900 range for a 2bd duplex. Obviously I'd take as much as I can get, but I'm trying to stay conservative at this point so I'm not disappointed down the road.

Thanks for the response. One question though - what is the true benefit of an FHA vs Conventional Loan? It is my understanding that with a Conventional Loan you can still put down <20%, but will just have to pay PMI (which stops once you reach 20% equity). With an FHA you only have to put down 3.5% - 5%, but you still have to pay MIP for the entirety of the loan. I have read that FHA can be lower interest, but I'm struggling to see the big difference between the two...

Hi all. 

I stumbled across this incredible wealth of Real Estate information when researching info on a potential first investment. I currently have ZERO real estate experience (Sales Engineer for my day job), but have been toying with the idea of eliminating my $900+/mo apartment rent expense and purchasing a duplex to live in half and rent out the other half.

After some quick research this seems like no-brainer and I am almost ashamed that I didn't think of this sooner. I have a lot to learn when it comes to mortgages (this will also be my first home purchase), landlording, leases, etc., but I am seriously considering make this move within the next 6 mos - 1 year. My main goal at this point would be to have the tenant cover the mortgage, taxes, insurance, with some extra on top to save to repairs/rennovations. Even if passive income isn't viable, eliminating my current rent payment alone would make this venture well worth it. 

A few houses I have been looking at in a popular area are in the $140k range and could bring in roughly $750-$1000/mo in rent. On the surface the numbers seem to work out in my favor, but I still have a lot of research to do.

Initially this would be a relatively short term investment (~5 years). I do not want to live in a double nor do I want to live in the area I am looking at long term, but if I can not pay rent for 5 years that could potentially put over $50k in my pocket over that time frame. Once I am ready to purchase a house for myself I would probably consider selling, but would entertain finding another tenant and keeping the property if it made sense.

The first questions I am going to be looking towards answering are 30yr vs 15 yr, mortgage and what is the ideal down payment (I have the 20% in cash at the moment, but am wondering if I should put less down and save capital for repairs/rennovations) for this situation.

I have a long way to go before I decide to make the move, but I know this site will be my "go to" for information!

Thanks,

Ron