All Forum Posts by: Ross Bowman

you can do this in almost any inner city  area of the mid west and rust belt and some deep south..  

I’m starting to doubt my c class rentals. I met someone who finances all of her rentals and I guess I kinda got caught up in what she was talking about. I buy my properties cash 40k or less since my financing options are limited. My c class rentals aren’t bad they cash flow 100% and they rent for 905 and up with sec 8 which in a c class I’m perfectly happy with. Why am I doubting myself now ?? Should I try for B or A class properties.

We’re 100% committed to affordable housing...which is mostly C class properties. We buy SFHs and we are all-in at roughy $32K. We renovate the homes to make them the nicest available for the price, and rent for $725-$750. Choose your residents carefully, take good care of them, and the numbers are hard to beat. 

@Ross Bowman - When you look at lakes, be sure to look at the 100 year flood map as well as the last 5 years of water levels. We've had droughts in the South and the lakes go way down. That means your dock is stranded (or flooded) and you have to move it. 

You will find more "deals" at the ends of coves, but that's also where the water is the lowest during dry periods. Again, get an honest RE agent who's done a lot of deals on that lake. 

@Ross Bowman

Beach House = Hurricanes

I owned two beach properties on the Texas Gulf Coast. My dream was to own 10 units and retire as a beach bum. One was a duplex; we rented bottom unit as long term rental and used upstairs as short term rental/family beach house. The second unit was a SFH that was our 1st family beach house converted to long term rental. Both units were 5th row from the beach. Everything was going great until we were hit by a tropical storm. Downstairs unit had 18 inches of water in it. Thanks to FEMA flood insurance we were able to rebuild. 9 months later hurricane! Downstairs unit had 5ft of water. Did you know refrigerators float? All the brand new reno work was total loss. Other units sustained significant damage. Loss of rentals for prime summer season. Thanks to FEMA we were able to rebuild again. The front row of houses were a total loss. Everything gone, house and the land it sat on washed away. No hope of ever rebuilding. Many of these homes were uninsurable, no FEMA check, many people lost everything including the land. In Texas you can't own land beyond the dunes.

Lesson learned I sold everything. Fortunately I still made money on appreciation. Years later my wife was in town and took photos of the duplex. I couldn’t recognize it after subsequent storms. I looked up history on CAD, the duplex was foreclosed on and sold for half what I sold for.

My takeaway is it is not a matter of IF but WHEN you will have a Hurricane.

Hi @Ross Bowman,

One factor to consider with a beach house is proximity to the water and factoring in the flood insurance as well as the additional maintenance cost due to the corrosive nature of the salt water. I would run the numbers on the lake house, and make sure you factor in the flood insurance and extra wear/tear numbers on the beach house, and see which one has the better ROI and/or long-term appreciation advantage.

Please feel free to reach out about any short-term rental questions.  We have a rental in the Outer Banks on the beach so are familiar with beach rentals.

Mike

 At the time I used a realtor. I spent 2 years finding what I was looking for back then. I'm considering running the numbers on a new construction lake house.

I lived in Charleston for 9 years when I was in the Navy. I love the low country.

Hasn't Charleston really cracked down on STR's?

This is not a bad problem to have! My wife and I went through a similar discussion before pulling the trigger on a beach house. Our concern was that we assumed a beach property would be way more seasonal. It turns out, people want to go to the beach all year round! We do drop the price a little in the off season but May-Sept absolutely crush it!

Where in SC are you?

Where is SC do you live. I have a Vrbo in Lake Hartwell that does very well. I'd pick the one closer to you. 

Run the numbers on both and see if one stands out above the other.

No need to limit yourself, be open to both options and go wherever you find the best deal!

If you can find two 3-bedroom houses for sale on the same block, even better. You can market them both as 3-bedroom houses and as a 6-bedroom house to attract both large and small groups 👍