All Forum Posts by: Tyler Wenzel

@Aaron Montague Thanks for the reply. I appreciate you even went the extra mile by giving me your excel formula. I've taken it and put it into my spreadsheet as well. I'm happy users like you like to help others here on BP, that's what makes the community great!

Good luck with future deals, Tyler

thanks @Dan C. for the reply. After a quick google search I didn't come up with anything as far as a legal document center in Janesville, but I'm not done searching quite yet. Also, your post inspired me to put together a spreadsheet of contacts for different things real estate related so I can pull it up whenever I need it. Thanks again.

@Christian Bors great job on your first purchase! I ran the numbers as well and everything looked great. I especially liked how you have a reserve built in on top of the maintenance. That is a great idea and as a newbie this is the kind of stuff I love to learn so thanks for that.

@Petit Morne The 50% rule says that at 550/mo rent, you'd have 275/mo left over as cashflow. (550/mo rent x 50% expenses = 275/mo)

With my numbers matching Aarons's, you'll be at $81/mo cashflow, with expenses closer to 84%. This is why the 50% rule is a quick rule of thumb calculation to decide if you want to look more closely at a property, but by no means a deal maker.

@Aaron Montague Being a newbie myself and doing dry run calculations like these as much as I can, I'm curious as to what you typically allocate towards upkeep for your properties? I would like to see other BPers comments on this aswell.

Jean, this is absolutely true! I am in the same boat financially because of different "life" matters. I'm glad I read this post because it puts into words my thoughts exactly. About 3 months ago I read rich dad poor dad and really got interested in real estate, and at first thought instead of paying down debt as fast as possible to instead save for a down payment and cushion for my first real estate purchase. Instead though, I realized that I could instead invest in my real estate knowledge with the time it will take to pay my debt off, and look much better to lenders because of it.

Congrats! Not a bad pull for a months time and not much sweat equity involved. :)

As a beginner in Wisconsin trying to do it right, when doing property analysis, what do you folks typically use (can be a range) as a rate for legal fees for a buy and hold property.

This is obviously going to be different with every purchase as the purchase price fluctuates, but is there a hard number to get me in the ballpark?

Also, besides closing costs, what other legal fees might I be charged that I might not be thinking of? Ie. lease agreements, ect.

Thanks everyone in advance :)

Tyler

@mike palmer I've heard of the inside lining fixes but I've never seen them done or know anybody in my area who does them. It would be worth checking into if somebody in your area has the equipment to do it. If so, I'd like to hear the price differences between a full repipe and having the liner blown in.

@Justin Kling Thanks again for the recommendation! I've actually seen that one on amazon before and even have it on my wishlist. I've been reading as much as I can but I just can't keep up! Not a bad problem to have I suppose.

Looking through your profile, I see you've found your way to the milwaukee area meet ups? I've heard of it through biggerpockets but have yet to make it up to one. Is it worth the hour and a half drive to get up there?

@Mike Palmer Plumber from Wisconsin here. It sounds to me like it is a tree root issue. From what I read it sounds like you have cast iron pipe underground which tends to rust out after a while. Especially with the house being built in 59. Trees seek abundant water so even after the roots have been snaked and jetted, a short time later they grow back. For this, like Mindy also suggested, either replace the lateral going from the house to the street, or have a yearly maintenance plan. At some point though, it will need replacing.

Obviously before going to any extreme, the best thing to do is, like others suggested, spend a few hundred and get the drain snaked again. (To reduce water/backup.) Then send a color camera down. If its a decent camera they should have a locator with it and can tell you almost exactly where the blockage is and you'll be able to see exactly what it is.

Also, assuming its not a broken toilet flange, which is what you bolt the toilet to, clearly your wax ring isn't sealing correctly. The plumber will replace that for you after the inspection.

Good luck my friend and keep us all updated. Unfortunetly, with cast all over the country coming to age, many other investors will run into this problem.