All Forum Posts by: Scott Wolfe

Thanks for the quick response Christian.  I'll check into some local insurance quotes.  And you're right I did put a lot of weight on maintenance expenses and vacancy.  Kind of like a continual worst case scenario model. I didn't include turnover individually, and just bundled it all under the 1% per year annual maintainance. I thought the $3000 was agressive but maybe it makes more sense in this case?   I also think the 20 year average appreciation for 15217 is slightly higher than 5% but taking the side of caution ( if anyone knows the exact that would awesome- I wasn't paying that fancy website for its datasheet).  One thing I absolutely cannot stand is the $1500 fee for marketing and leasing fee.  What are they actually paying for on their end in 30 odd days?  I asked what my fee would be if I found my own tenants and they just ran the background and paperwork and I was quoted at approx. $500.  So $1000 for only a month of advertising?  If I did source the tenants personally I was thinking perhaps leveraging a university housing organization or general point of contact at one of the local hospitals.  I'm thinking a med student in a 3 year residency would be ideal.  I'm open to suggestions on that as well.

Hi fellow Yinzers.  I was unaware that this subgroup existed so please ignore my question if you see it posted a second time to the general group at large.

Backstory: I've lived in my townhouse since 2012.  Despite how much I love it here, career progression has been tough and I'm planning to move to TX to leverage my military network. No state income tax and a nice property tax exemption on whatever house I decide to call home (one of the perks of being a Veteran). 

However, instead of selling I plan on keeping the home as my first rental.  This townhouse is great. Realitve to comps in the area, the house is completely remodeled (stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, Italian tile bathroom, new hardwood floors throughout, high-end light and plumbing fixtures, etc).  Compared to the comps I've seen in the area it has a larger than average fenced in back yard and includes a recessed hot tub on the back deck. 3 bedrooms (one is a small crib room in all fairness) and 1.5 bath (upstairs main and downstairs powder room).

I have spoke with a local management company to go over their specific services and I believe I have a general concept of how they operate.  Afterwords I ran a simple spreadsheet evaluation to include the various costs involved with making this work (image attached). I'd appreciate any feedback you may have. Sidenote: I'm not turning it into an LLC due to the low 2.5% APR VA homeloan that would need to be refianced by law at an undoubtedly higher rate.

Hi Folk. New to the group.  First time poster. I'm looking at moving to TX.  No state income tax and a nice property tax exemption on whatever house I decide to call home (one of the perks of being a disabled Veteran).  However, I decided to keep the home I have in Pittsburgh to rent.  I have spoke with RPM Pittsburgh in terms of services and I believe I have a general concept of how they operate.  

I ran a simple spreadsheet evaluation to include the various costs involved with making this work (image attached). I'd appreciate any feedback you may have. Sidenote: I'm not turning it into an LLC due to the low 2.5% APR VA homeloan that would need to be refianced by law at an undoubtedly higher rate.

Realitve to comps in the area, the house in completely remodeled with a larger than average back yard and includes a recessed hot tub on back deck.  3 bedrooms (one is a small crib room in all fairness) and 1.5 bath (upstairs main and downstairs powder room).