All Forum Posts by: Russ Draper

Hey let me sell you some oceanfront property in Iowa!

Can we get rid of this spam please?

Do you expect a kid in elementary school to rent the twin bed?  I would at least get a double.  Who cares if they have more than 1 person there, is this a room in your own home?  Just make a rule that extended overnight guests are not allowed and they will be charged for it and you will end their month-to-month lease.  I would expect any normal single person to have a date overnights now and again anyway.  It isn't fair to try to limit who they can have stay over if they are renting a room.

My experience is that people need a desire to help themselves first, financial education second.  Trying to help the foreclosed homeowner is admirable, but my experience shows that if they could have gotten themselves out of the situation before the auction they would have.  You will be throwing money away by letting them stay.  If you are the owner of a property where the homeowner hasn't moved, file for eviction or related right away.

I thought manufactured homes (you mean mobile homes correct) are not treated the same as real estate.  They are treated like a car in that they are personal property and are much harder to get loans for, since they depreciate so quickly. If the structures are a normal house just pre-fabricated then they would count as normal real estate.  If it is possible to still "pick them up and move" with wheels then I would say they are treated like a car.

Those expenses numbers seem insanely low, or is that just for the PM/landlord unit?

If these are mobile homes, what year were they manufactured?  Older homes aren't worth much and are sometimes worth hardly anything.

I am not sure how 3 double-wides equals 10 units, can you explain that?  3 double-wides converted back into duplexes is 6 units, how are they setup?

This is too broad of a question IMO. Can you break your questions up into more specific parts? Ex: When buying a SFR investment, what do you like to see?

I think almost everyone here will say "do it now" but its really a personal decision.  If you invest in a property before you buy your primary residence, you may wish you waited since your first loan is sometimes a lower down payment percentage.  For example my first home was 5% down and if you use that on an investment property you might be delayed purchasing your own home.

I would say you really need to know your market before investing, I personally researched for about a year before buying my first investment property.

My gut reaction is that is very expensive for an old MH. I would offer half that, not having seen it.

Maybe they subdivided the lot?  Maybe they never went out to assess it and discovered it is no longer buildable now?

Just write that offer is contingent upon mortgage/note for $XXXXX at Y%

I've written up offers to purchase on a single sheet, not sure why you need that specific one.  Is it specific to TX?

$12k for a partial wall in Worcester.  I've heard of $30-50k for full foundation including lifting the house.  Then you have to pay for plumbing and electrical.