All Forum Posts by: Virginia Jones

I'm close to buying my first rental property but am afraid to take the leap.

The house I'm considering is a foreclosure but in decent shape. It will only need paint and a minor kitchen remodel.

Asking price = $54,900 Tax Value is $87,100.

Am thinking I can get rent of 600-650 (3bd 1 ba.) dead end st.

will be putting 20% down.

5 min. drive from my primary residence.

all of the numbers work out and I could handle the payment in case of vacancy but I'm worried of permanent vacancy or everything breaking as soon as I buy it and I do not want a constant headache and money vacuum.

Thoughts/Help??

Financial Indicators
Debt Coverage Ratio	1.97
Annual Gross Rents Multiplier	7.04
ROI w/tax & appreciation	37.53%
ROI w/cashflow & principal	24.49%
Cap Rate	9.59%
Cash-on-Cash Retrun	19.23%
Cost per Sq.Ft.	$53.20

I'm having no luck looking for properties on the mls so I want to try direct mailing. I have enough free time that I can hand write these myself. I am wondering where you get the addresses to mail the letters to? It seems very tedios to look up each individual address on the tax record website. I'm hoping there may be some other way?

Ive been searching the MLS for months and can't come across anything that looks like a decent deal. What are some other ways I can find houses?

I work in the credit department of a bank. From my experience, there are two routes you can take. In-house financing or secondary market. With the secondary market, you have to be able to carry the payments personally. Rental income is not factored into the calculation. In-house is typically based on a standalone project basis and then put into a global cash flow. Typically we look at the borrower's strength as well as the proposed project. I would say you would either need to have a history of successful properties or an impressive income source to get traditional financing .

I live in a town where one side of the railroad tracks is "good" and the other is "bad". The majority of  my town are renters and there is a fair amount of mobile homes. I'm a Dave Ramsey listener and he is totally against mobile homes. What are everyone's thoughts/experiences on this? Is it beneficial to rent out mobile homes if you screen the tenants well? Or does it make more sense to just own the lot and have the tenant bring their own mobile home ?

I have been an avid Dave Ramsey listener but am on the fence about whether to pay off my primary mortgage or go into more debt on rental property. I have no other personal debt other than my primary mortgage. I am only 22 years old and know I have plenty of time to pay off my house and then start fresh with rental property but I have a goal of retiring by the time I'm 40.

I would like more input on this subject. I have an extra $800/mo. that I can put extra toward my primary or that I can use for investing purposes. Any opinions?

Hello everyone, I have a question regarding the down payment of my first rental home. I have enough saved in a mutual fund for a down payment. Would you recommend taking this out and investing it in real estate or leaving it there and saving up other money for the down payment ?

Jeremy Hart I actually work at first bank and trust

@Jeremy Hart are you talking about First Bank of VA or First Bank and Trust?

Hello Everyone,

I recently graduated from college (2015) and have been working as a credit analyst at a community bank for the past year. I am interested in getting started in real estate investing, specifically single and multi-family properties so that I can receive passive rental income. I have done a lot of research and developed a business plan as well as a property analysis spreadsheet.

I would appreciate any tips on how to go ahead and take the leap and buy my first rental. I'm not sure traditional financing would work as I am already highly leveraged having just bought my personal residence and I do not have two years of tax returns to be analyzed by the bank.

Thanks for your help!