All Forum Posts by: Simon Ashbaugh

Is it in a nice area and appreciating? When did you buy it? A lot of times if its a good area properties wont cashflow for the first few years, but they will appreciate well. If you can swing a cashflow negative property if may be worth hanging on to. If you decide you do want to sell, just 1031 in your name

Hello Simon,
It is a nice area, but I think it appreicated a little compare to other area. We bought 300K four years ago, and the comp is around 420K currently. It's just the HOAs have too many restrictions.

Thank you for your post.

I gotcha, yeah maybe look to cash in that equity and 1031

0 Votes

Los Angeles County, California

Quote from @Cat Calvosa:

Hello folks,

I have been searching for a property near the beaches in FL that I can cash flow as a STR. I think I found a good one, but there are a few unknowns. 1) I don't know how to find out if there are restrictions for STR at this condo. 2) I don't trust my math in my STR calculator. I am afraid I'm missing things I should be considering. Right now my husband and I plan to do all the renovations, management, maintenance and cleaning in the beginning, so that did save me on some of the expenses, but still it seems too good to be true. I want to get started, but only once I'm convinced I did the math correctly. Could I request a review from someone who knows this business to provide me with some good feedback on my plans and math? I will share my excel with anyone who wants to help me out. Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Thanks for any help in advance.

Cat

Your realtor should be able to find out or send you the hoa's rules and regs. I'd also recommend running the numbers with pm in place. If it works then, then if you find you dont want to self manage you have that option and aren't just locked into a property that doesnt work.

1 Vote

Tampa, Florida

Quote from @Adrian Tjakra:

Hi BiggerPockets Gang,

By way of introduction - my name is Adrian and a new BiggerPockets fans. Learning a lot from this community. I started out from a humble beginning as an Immigrant from Indonesia and currently living and working a W2 job based on the Southern California market. I consider myself as a beginner when it comes to real investing. Currently with 3 rental properties (2 in Houston and 1 in LA) and currently working on a flip that are going wrong in every direction. Good learning experience though!

I am investing in real estate with a goal of financial freedom and ability to support my family. With my family getting older and the intent to have more flexibility my life today's life to spend time with them, the idea of investing in a more cashflow friendly market definitely is something I am considering (understanding that appreciation factor will be limited). I am looking for advice from this community as to potential market that I can tap to and recommendations on great agent on this market where cashflow can be realized. Looking to get in with 100k to this market and hopefully expand.

Just here looking to network with agent in these markets, fellow investors, and if I am lucky finding mentor in those markets to grow together and be accountable in this journey together.

Thank you so much for reading this post y'all and looking forward to hearing from you all and networking.

Adrian

Hey Adrian, definitely look into Cleveland and Columbus. Columbus cashflows less than Cleveland but appreciates better. Don't listen to bob, I think it's important to have someone that knows the area well represents your best interests, and gives you connections to teams in the area. To his point though, the stuff on market aren't usually the best deals so find an investor focused realtor that cold calls often for off market stuff! Be happy to chat more and help in any way i can, shoot me a dm

0 Votes

Los Angeles County, California

Quote from @Remington Lyman:

Want free food, free drinks, and the key to unlocking financials freedom through real estate investing?

This is a great opportunity to meet up with various industry professionals to be able to expand your network and grow your knowledge in real estate. There will be drinks and light appetizers provided!

Come out and network with various industry professionals, including Jason Krasnow with Liberty Capital, Reece Iovine with Trusted Property Inspectors, Sara Thorp with Landsel Title Agency, Alex Rose with Wildcat Lending, Steve Rider with State Farm Insurance plus Drey & Donny Thompson with ERA Property Management

Made a lot of great connections at the last event, cant wait for this one!

4 Votes

Columbus, Ohio

Quote from @Mark Francour:

I am new to the Tampa area and looking to buy a small multi-family property to house hack this summer. I have begun analyzing properties in the Tampa, Clearwater, St. Pete area.

Being new to real estate and analyzing properties I feel like I am still "winging it." What advice would you give to someone that is starting their process of looking at properties? Would you use the BP Rental property Calculator, or create your own Excel Spreadsheet with formulas? Are there any specific expenses that are abnormally high or unique to the area?

Obviously, the current state of the market it has been tough to find many deals in the area. Is there cities/areas nearby that you would suggest to look at for properties? Areas that you see potential growth as the Tampa market expands?

Thank you!

I really like the BP rental calculator, I wouldnt invest the time into an excel sheet unless

A) you get a template from someone

B) youre buying properties on a large scale and run in to a lot of special instance adjustments and need the customization to run abnormal numbers

My bottom line for house hacks is as long as you're paying substantially less than you otherwise would in rent AND It will cashflow when you move out of it then you should be good. A good house hack rule is to run numbers as if you weren't going to live there. If it cashflows without you occupying then you're golden.

1 Vote

Tampa, Florida

I ALWAYS recommend househacking first if its an option

0 Votes

I think its definitely worth running the numbers for renting. Like Nathan said, make sure you're accounting for all the expenses. I see you have a pro account so you can use the BP rental property calculator. It will only be as accurate as you are when filling boxes. In this market with the interest rate you probably have on it, I'd definitely shoot to rent it

0 Votes

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Checkout Ohio! Columbus is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the midwest with a good mix of cashflow and appreciation. Columbus has tons of big companies moving here. Cleveland is incredible for cash flow, with around 60% of households occupied by renters, there is a lot of demand for rental properties. Happy to chat more in-depth on these markets if you shoot me a DM!

As for metrics, it really depends what youre looking for.

1 Vote

Quote from @Tyler Suggs:

Quote from @Simon Ashbaugh:

Quote from @Tyler Suggs:

Quote from @Simon Ashbaugh:

Quote from @Tyler Suggs:

Hello Bigger Pockets community! This is my very first post in the forums and my first day as a Pro member so figured what better time than now to post.

A quick rundown of my situation/options: My fiancé and I are currently renting a tiny 1 bed 1 bath apt for only $1,500/month (a steal in our area) but with our wedding fast approaching and the desire to start our family we are on the hunt for more space. (Not to mention our current apt smells of cigarette smoke, not a scenario I will even entertain when it comes to having a pregnant wife/our first child)

After sort of running through our options and what is on the market both for purchase as well as rentals, I have found that rents for apartments around us with at least 2 beds start around $2,400 a moth and can range all the way up to $3,500.

Small single families around us in decent shape not needing COMPLETE renovation/updating go anywhere from $450,000 to $600,000 and with the mortgage rates wind up being about $3,200 at a minimum and up from there.

Our 3rd and most realistic option seems to be a condo (which I don’t love the idea of) which surprisingly go from about $300,000-$450,000 (higher than I’d expect) with condo fees ranging from $0 to $400/month. After using some of the BP calculators even if we could get a condo on the cheaper side with 2 beds and 1.5 baths (around $400k), it’d be tough to rent it out after fixing it up to cover our mortgage costs. It winds up costing us $2,800-3,100/month and that includes us putting about $40k down.

This all leads me to think maybe it does make sense to continue to rent for a bit and sort of see what happens and continue to try to put money away? I hate the idea of continuing to rent but hate even more the idea of buying a condo or small single family (if we could even find one) and wind up not being able to cover the mortgage with the rents in the future. I’m torn on both and will continue to look at the options and see what comes onto the market but hoping for some guidance from others with some more experience or some different views! WHAT DO I DO?!

Thank you ahead of time for any insight or opinions, I appreciate any input!

Tyler

Buy a duplex and house hack! Most lenders will take the income of the other side into account

Thanks Simon, that’s a great idea but they’re tough to come by in my area! That’s not to say they don’t exist but they’re tough for sure..I will keep my eyes peeled for them and a lender that accepts rents in my preapproval figure, that’d be best case scenario in my mind!

I get it! Maybe try and find some wholesalers or pull a list of duplexes that haven't transferred in the last 5 yrs and cold call. Thats worked great for me.

Okay, that’s a really good idea! I could always get more active like you just mentioned and see if I could stumble upon a great deal. Not being a realtor or knowing the lingo makes it a bit intimidating but nothing worth while comes easy so I will consider it for sure.

It definitely is at first but you get comfortable pretty quick. Feel free to shoot me a dm if you start and i can send you a short script!

1 Vote

Boston, Massachusetts

All Forum Posts by: Simon Ashbaugh

Simon Ashbaugh has started 0 posts and replied 838 times.

Post: 1031, Rental, or sell it

Post: Need a Second Opinion on a STR Cash Flow Analysis

Post: Cashflow market to expand to for beginner Investor? Agent Recs? 100k capital

Post: 1031, Rental, or sell it

Post: Reafco's Quarterly Meetup

Post: Analyzing Properties For A Multi-Family House Hack

Post: How to pick a strategy: house hack or long distance?

Post: Sell for $80k or rent for 1k

Post: What's Your Favorite Cashflow Market?

Post: FIRST BP POST! Buy or Rent on the Northshore in MA