All Forum Posts by: Vincent Ballew

@Isi Nau- Thank you very much I will be in Oahu here in a couple weeks staying up on the North Shore so I will definitely have to make it down to Waikiki to take a look. 

@Elijah F. Thank you very much I will keep that in mind as look into properties.

@Jeremy Baker  That's great thank you for the offer and I will definitely take you up on it. 

@Andrew Johnson  Thank you very much for replying.  That is a very good way of looking at it my expectations for the property is hopefully get something that is able to at minimum covers its own expenses and allow me to get some use out of it a couple times a year.  Unless I were to go in with a few other couples I would not be able to go after a million dollar condo so I was just curious if that's what it takes to keep something rented out there.  Thank you again for your response.

I have some questions on purchasing condos in Hawaii as a vacation rental and was wondering if anyone could help me out.I know location would greatly effect this but overall how do they perform with all the expenses? The fees seems like they can be pricey HOA, management,cleaning fees. Do you have to buy a million dollar ocean front condo to be successful? Or can you get something cheaper away from the beach and still keep it rented? The idea of having a condo in Hawaii renting it out when I'm not using it is a dream of mine and thought I should at least ask the question to see what people had to say. I don't have my heart set on a particular island so I understand the question is pretty vague but if anyone is welling share their experiences I would greatly appreciate it. The other side of me thinks I should continue investing in what has been working for me and use the extra money to vacation and not worry about the extra headache of a vacation rental. Again any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

@Shaun Weekes@Angelo C.@John Thedford Thank you very much for the information!  

I have heard that multi family properties can be appraised on their performance rather than comps in the area is this true? I recently purchased a duplex for 105,000 and I have done small cosmetic repairs to it. I have one side renting at 700 a month and I'm in the process of getting the other side rented at 700 as well. I am wondering if I would be able to refinance and pull any money out of it if the appraisal value is done from performance. I plan on checking with an appraiser as well but I wanted to see if anyone was able to offer any advice and or information. Thanks!

Well I thought I would do an update and ask a few more questions as well.  I closed on the duplex Nov 18th and did a few cosmetic things to one of the units and got it rented out at 700 a month which was about 75 more a month than what I was hoping for.   I did inherit a tenant that is a family member of the seller so I need to work with her so I can get the other unit to 700 .  I am curious if anyone can offer any advice and or information on refinancing a duplex to pull money out.  I have read that with multis that the appraisal value is done more on the performance of the property rather than comps in the area is this really true? I am wondering since I purchased the property at 105,000 and owe roughly 77,000 that if I get the property rented at 1,400 a month that maybe this would increase the value of the home enough and allow me to pull money out.  If anyone is able to offer anymore information I would appreciate my next step is to call some appraisal companies and ask them but I thought I would try my luck on here first.  Thanks again!

@Robert Musallam Great advice thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

@Robert Musallam Great advice thank you very much.  As far as what constitutes a good deal for me it has definitely has became more strict then when I first started.  I wanted to get at least 250 a door on the multi with out capital expenditures.  I know I need to start including capital expenditures into my deals so I will make sure I do that on the next one.  I purchased the 105,000 duplex with intent of atleast getting $500 above the mortgage, taxes, insurance and management fees which looks like it should be around $800 a month.  From what I have researched I should be able to get around 700 a side which would definitely get me the 250 a door.  The units are individually metered so I won't be paying the utilities .  Also there is a fence around the perimeter of the property so I plan on putting a fence down the middle that way each tenant is responsible for their own yard work.   So hopefully the units will rent out for at least $650 and I will hit that $250 a door mark. I am definitely open to any comments on this to help me see where I could improve and if I have missed something.