All Forum Posts by: Swetha Mandava

https://www.rismedia.com/2023/...

Seems like this will disrupt Zillow but also greatly improve user experience when buying homes since you can directly schedule showings/speak to listing agents.
Or am i missing something?

Thanks for all your feedback! I'm curious what do you think about flat fee listings on MLS with a buyers agent fee of 2.5%? Seems like it might solve for marketing and buyers pool. Agreed there are still some important missing pieces without a realtor.

@Bill B. - Did you list on MLS or just as an FSBO under zillow or something similar? what was the hardest part of doing FSBO? How did you go about issues that others have brought up - showings/stagings/marketing/deciding on price?

Either as a seller or buying an FSBO? How was your experience - what was the biggest pain point?

With purchase prices so high in San Francisco, i'm wondering why more people don't try the FSBO model.
I do see how it could be stressful and wondering if anyone succeeded. Love to hear tips and lessons learned. Thanks!

Hi @Jeremy Taggart - which lease did you end up using? I'm wondering the same, 6 years later! :) 

I'm looking at https://eforms.com/rental/pa/p... but unsure if i'm missing any extra clauses. https://www.rocketlawyer.com/r... - this also looks interesting too.

Thanks for all your comments and helping a newbie out :)

@Jeremy Taggart - you're absolutely right! I got it inspected by a structural engineer who recommended external drains and an electrician who recommended replacing the fuse box. Ended up renegotiating the purchase price to account for that.

@Sam Schaefer - I'm mostly looking for appreciation. totally hear you on preferring fixed rate loan. I'm hoping to potentially sell / refinance in ~7 years. fixed rates are so incredibly high, they put me on negative cash flow 

I got an electrician to inspect and got a quote for ~2k to replace the fuse box. and another ~2.7k to convert to a 3 meter socket service - my seller and agent tell me that the 3 meter socket is not needed if the laundry machines are correctly wired to their respective meters even if they're in the basement. 

Thankfully it doesn't have a knob and tube wiring so seems do-able. Thanks for your comments and guidance. :)

After changing tax assessed value to 0.85 of sale price, my cash flow becomes -$69/month. Thank @Miranda Micire - PMed you to talk more about it.

 Wrt income, the house is renting below market as it is older. It would need capital improvements potentially for increasing rent as it is an older house.

I'm investing in a duplex in Squirrel hill, Pittsburgh, PA

Offer price 253k
downpayment 25% = 63.25k
Mortgage Rate 5% ARM loan with 7/1
Current Rent, fully occupied 2125 / month
Vacancy Rate 6%
Operating Costs 10%
Property Management 7%
Insurance 1500 / year
Taxes 5800/year once tax assessed value increases to sale price. Currently 2.5k/year.

My vacancy rate + operating costs are general estimates i found on blogs. It seems to be a great location, very close to CMU so i estimate vacancy rate should be much lower in reality. Although, the house is somewhat old with a 10 year old roof.

With the above estimates, I'm bleeding -142/month. That seems worrisome with popular advise but unsure if i could increase rents in a year?
The inspection report just came back with 2 things i'm worried about - the house has a fuse box and might need replacement and the foundation wall that has been repaired about 17 years ago has a crack in it. The seller insists both are nothing to worry about, getting an electrician+structural engineer to take a look. 

Any advise on negotiating price if repairs are needed? 
Thanks in advance.

I'm buying a duplex in PA and the general inspector was quite shocked with the electric wiring in the house.  Exact words:
"Fuse boxes present for main services. This system creates a hazard with exposed electrical connections during fuse changes and allows overfusing which is a fire hazard. No main grounding through a rod is present with the age of this system (meter jumper cut is a potential hazard), neutrals/grounds bonded in 1 subpanel is no longer approved. Recommend evaluation for replacement by a licensed electrician. Recommend upgrading All receptacle to GFCI protection within 6 feet of all potential wet locations."

Seller insists it has been working just fine and doesn't need replacement. 

Any one with experience in this - opinions? How much would it cost?