All Forum Posts by: Thomas Bailey

I appreciate the comments. 

St George is tough.  Essentially dedicated airbnb neighborhoods, most requiring you to use the city preferred property manager (30%. Ouch).  The $730k townhome allows owners to manage... I do worry it's kind of randomly off the freeway in the middle of nowhere... 6.5% interest gets me ~$5.8k plus utilities.  My numbers seem slightly optimistic (or maybe I'm getting pessimistic) at $6.3k

I do think Dec & Jan are low months for St George (simply not enough tourism for all the airbnbs available), which would align better with me on using it during the cold months.

Mesquite simply cash flows better.  You may be right that covid helped this city temporarily... Although golfers should keep golfing.

Maybe I end up getting properties in both cities... For now, I choose Mesquite :) 

Thanks for the replies!  I think my best bet here is to live in the new bedroom with no access to the showers, then rent the 2nd master bedroom upstairs. 

Girlfriend HATES the idea lol.  

Hello!  I bought this townhome near downtown in December 2021.  I started renting out my guest bedroom last June.... ITS BEEN GREAT!



I make $1500ish on the guest bedroom.

See below for my airbnb listing.

Airbnb Link

Photo 11 & 12 are the flex room...

I have a 15' by 13' flex room / open space on the first floor... I'm stumped on what to do with it (I've tried a pool table, and even an inflatable hot tub!).  I just thought this morning... What if I convert it to a bedroom?

I could live in that new bedroom, and rent out my other suite bedroom?  

The only issue is I have no shower/bath access if both bedrooms are rented out.  I could use the bathroom in the kitchen... 

Honestly I don't think I would mind.  I have mostly 1 night stay guest, meaning I have access to a shower from 11am to 3pm... :P 

In terms of renting this out as a full time airbnb in the future... Would guest complain about this third bedroom not having access to a shower? Future guests would have to go through master bedrooms to use their showers... 

I imagine I live here for another year or two, then move out to use it as a full unit rental.

1.  Should I build a wall & door to the flex room?

2. Should I build a closet to make it count as an official room?

I do not plan on ever selling this townhome... 

Let me know your thoughts!  Thank you!

Hello! I live in Salt Lake City and purchased myself a new townhome to live in personally (Dec 2021). HOA allows short term rentals, so I thought, once I move out, I can rent this on airbnb!

For fun/money/testing purposes, I decided to rent my spare bedroom out... ITS GOING GREAT!  I'm having a lot of fun with this and learning how to manage this listing...  Which brought me to this idea.

I want a vacation home that I can use during the winter months, then rent out spring/summer/fall.  A mix use of investment and personal use...

Living in Salt Lake City, the warm cities that are drivable come to mind is St. George / Kanab / Mesquite / Las Vegas. (4-6 hours).

I've narrowed it down to 2 properties.

St. George = EXPENSIVE. 4 bed townhome brand new is going for $730k. LOTS of competition. Airdna / awning.com / simply looking at calendars on airbnb... I'm predicting $5-$7k a month.  Averaging out 8 similar townhomes, I get $6.3k a month.

$374ish x 30 days @57% occupied = $6395

Mesquite = Initially was not on my radar. Small retirement city, with 7+ golf courses. I know they have a decent amount of softball/soccer tournaments going on here (I'd imagine fall/spring time). I can get into a new 3 bed SFH for $385k. I'm predicting $4k a month. I do think adding a pool in the backyard launches me to $6k a month. Not a lot of competition here. Airdna shows extreme demand from end of September to mid April. I'll admit I am a little worried about the hot summers here... I think a pool would help me here.

$239ish x 30 days @ 56% occupied = $4015.

I'm stuck in analysis paralysis mode.  I could see myself really getting into this and buying a bunch of vacation homes to self-manage... I just don't know which one to start with.

Which would you recommend for a rookie?  Starting in an expensive city (St George) with 2500ish Airbnbs nearby, or start in a small town (Mesquite) with 150ish Airbnbs.

Thank YOU for your thoughts and advice! I really want to make this work!

First Investment: 4 plex financed as a primary residence?

Hello,

I've always wanted to buy real estate and give it a try.  I've been looking at RE for 6 years now (doh! Should have bought then).

[https://homes.ksl.com/listing/40441038](https://homes.ksl.com/listing/40441038)

This is a for sale by owner, 4 plex (2 bed, 1 bath) in a nice city (Farmington Utah, lots of nice mormons).  I would consider this to be in a great/safe location. Most 4 plex's I see in utah are in sketchy areas. Not this one. Nearby other houses, not multi units.

unit 1: $940 (1 year lease)

unit 2: $940 (6 month lease)

unit 3: $890 (mtm)

unit 4: $750 (mtm).

total: $3520.

Using a redfin calculator: $710k @ 5% is $3550 a month.  At 20% down, $2,696.

Curious what your thoughts are on this property as a first rental.  In this market, I'll probably never get a "killer" deal, but I do want to start getting involved.

Searching for nearby rent prices: I see a basement apartment going for $1045 (same sq. ft @ 900, built in 60s) in Bountiful. I'd say both are good cities/locations../

[https://www.rentler.com/places-for-rent/ut/bountiful/816-w-4100-s/5723114](https://www.rentler.com/places-for-rent/ut/bountiful/816-w-4100-s/5723114)

Duplex unit going for $950 in clearfield.  Clearfield isn't the best area.

[https://www.rentler.com/places-for-rent/ut/clearfield/810-w-300-n/4774261](https://www.rentler.com/places-for-rent/ut/clearfield/810-w-300-n/4774261)

$1k in clearfield as well.

[https://www.rentler.com/places-for-rent/ut/clearfield/17-s-1450-w/5925964](https://www.rentler.com/places-for-rent/ut/clearfield/17-s-1450-w/5925964)

$1.2k in clearfield. It looks recently remodeled.

[https://www.rentler.com/places-for-rent/ut/clearfield/31-w-1600-n/4991398](https://www.rentler.com/places-for-rent/ut/clearfield/31-w-1600-n/4991398)

I feel like the units could go for $1100-$1200.  I might be a tad optimistic... 3 of 4 units are remodeled in the last 3 years.

Not the best deal in the world... But a good enough one for me to swing?

If you threw an offer at this house, what would you do?

Any tips of advice is appreciated.

Would you do 5% or 20% for your first 4 plex? I have the cash to do either...?

Aaron Smith William Hochstedler l Thank you both for your replies! Real estate is fascinating. Did I hear there are local real estate Meetup's I can attend? How do I find more information on this?

Aaron & William, thank you for your replies!  Its way cool to hear from local investors!

Mind if I bounce a few properties I'm looking at? 

http://www.utahrealestate.com/1396277

•  4-plex with nonconforming MIL in Bountiful!
• Listed at $497k... How much does rental income bump up my max loan amount? Is it realistic to get an FHA to get me to that amount (my $320k prequal is for conventional, I think FHA will give me a little higher yeah?)
• Listed 7/26/16... Meaning it could be overpriced and I can offer 5-10% off?
• How do I find out market rent price?  How much income does this property produce (or should produce, if landlord hasn't raised rents in a long time)?

http://www.ksl.com/homes/listing/40083096

• 4-plex in Fair Park
• According to areavibes.com; this is a below average neighborhood (high crime)
• 6.31% cap rate (I've read online average in SLC is 7.2%?  Thoughts? 6.31% seems low...)

http://www.utahrealestate.com/1390380

• brand new 4-plex in Herriman!
• Absolute pipe dream... listing price is $795k (Theres no way I can finance this right? I see max FHA loan in Salt Lake county is $601,550... Could I use alternative financing for the $193,450 the FHA won't cover?)
• 7.2% cap rate!

I would love your guys input.  What do you think? 

Hi everyone! I'm ready to take the dive. The plan is to live in this property and renting everything else out... below are my three ideas. 1. Buy a house with a mother in law apartment: 2. Buy a duplex 3 buy a quad plex. 4. Buy a 6 bed house, live in one room, rent the 5 others out. What would you suggest I start with? House with mother in law apartment vs duplex: which is a better investment? Or are they equal? As for quad plexs... I'm qualified for $320k, making my selection of quadplexs limited to the more sketchy areas... Any help is greatly appreciated! I'm hoping to start making offers by the end of this month!

Thanks for the feedback... I'll look a little more into analyzing quad plex deals!

Thank you for the reply! I'm pre approved right now for $320k (conventional loan), I just emailed my bank and asked if I could get a higher loan using rental income from a quad plex, and he told me I need 25% down on one! What?