All Forum Posts by: Royce Talbo

@Dan Mackin  If you invest parallel to the tracks property value will decrease and rental prices will not be as high.  If you invest in properties perpendicular to the stations those within 1/4 mile will appreciate nicely and get the best rents.  the further out the less you will get but it will still go up.  not sure if i can post links on here, so just try googling something like investing near rail stations.  

@Andrey Y.  Good job man!  Where did you buy?  

As for your question I have no clue what I would do in your situation hahah, honestly though I would probably just sit on it and wait till I found a deal, then do a HELOC or refi. In the mean time just let the money roll in.

@Kyle Alberry  Do not become an agent!  I highly doubt you will make money your first year.  Think of it this way, would you trust your hard earned money that took you years to save up, to a 19 year old right out of high school.  I know I wouldn't especially if they didnt grow up in the area.  There are many other areas in real estate that you can learn the market from and being an agent at that age will not make you money, I know from family experience.  Follow those steps above that @Brian Gibbons  posted, thats a good start.  Read, read and read some more.  I was once told that even if I read a whole book and it has all the same info that I knew about from other books, but I found one thing out of it that I didn't know, that saves me money.  Then that book will pay for itself 100 times over or something like that.  

I dont understand your numbers.  First does maint include repairs? If so that is a little low unless the property is brand new or you are doing all the repairs, even so that is a little low.  Who is paying for the utilities and which ones?  Out of your expenses listed Total Operating Income doesnt add up, did you forget to add in something?  Where did you get your monthly cashflow numbers from?  

2400*12=28800 annual income

28800-12218(Operating expenses)=16582 NOI

16582-14400(1200*12 mortgage payment)= 2182 annual cashflow

2182/12=182 monthly cashflow

Not sure how this property meets your needs but the cash flow numbers are not that great.  Is this in an area that it appreciates nicely or is it close to your school or work because those things are factors that would outway the cashflow since you will be living there.

@Account Closed  As some people mentioned it depends on the condition of your house and also how much you are involved in your property.  For me I do the property management and repairs so I don't budget much for them and its just more work to move numbers back and forth, but like others said average is about 5-10%.  For lawn care and stuff you can put that in the contract that they have to maintain the yard.  I like tenants to feel like this is their home and they should take care of it like its their home.  This is also part of screening your tenants.  Happy tenants that feel like its their home, will take care of the place and you wont be getting calls or problems for every little thing, making property management easy.  They will also stay longer, so less vacancies.  My advice to you since this is your first place is to budget conservatively, in time you will get the hang of it and you can drop your numbers.  

@Michael Henry  thanks I forgot all about hotpads,  never used zillow or trulia because I feel they are not reliable/accurate. besides facebook and twitter the others I never heard of. I will check them out thanks again Michael.

@Bradley Bogdan Thank you this is exactly the answer I was looking for.

@Michael Henry  I have not tried listing if for the full amount that is why I am asking,  I get the impression that sec 8 tenants don't really care how much the price is as long as their voucher covers the cost or rent.  As for listing it in several different places, I think that is a good idea thanks.  I usually just list on craigslist and get 10-15 calls in the first day.  What other places do you advertise?

@Chris Simmons It is like that here in Hawaii too.  The $2100 is without utilities, with utilities is $2400

@Bob E.  thanks for the tip will look that up.  

sorry I didn't know you guys posted thanks for the welcome @Johnny Aloha .  @Michael Borger  thats cool how long have you been flipping houses in Hawaii?

no it is not a reliable source for rents.  Zillow and turlia determine price by mass appraisal so it is a broad range that it covers.  My go to is craigslist.org, I search weekly to see what  places are going for, similar to my unit and how long it stays on the market.

Are your units in different areas or all in the same building? How long do you let them sit before dropping the price?

@Matt Ryan  demo will most likely be cheaper, but the value of the property will go down because you dont have a garage.  the most common valuation method is sales comparisons and not having a garage will be worth less than having a garage.  From the info you gave I am not sure how the storage situation is but I might consider doing minimum work and turn it into a storage area, maybe they can put their motorcycle, bicycles,  fake christmas trees etc.  again not sure how your garage is hopefully you can just patch the roof and change a window or two that really needs to be changed.  do the bare minimum to make it work since it is not really in use.