All Forum Posts by: Watson Smith

Find out what rents are and run the numbers. If the numbers work out then great. I assume this property isn't in a great area at that price. Are you willing to deal with those kind of tenants plus the low chance of appreciation?

I just hope the people in Ohio are on the same page as you.

Until unemployment goes down nothing much is going to change. Only reason prices are headed up is because the inventory is so low.

Hard to say because I'm not familiar with what labor costs are in your area. How big is the house?

Demo- $1000 (work and dumster) - Depends on what your demo consists of. But probably right if your not taking it to the studs. If your going to the studs and its just sheetrock then 1500. If it's plaster about 2.5k for a 1500 sqft house

Roof- $5000 - All depends on how many squares it is. Labor can be 40-65 a square for a rip off and 25-40 a square for just laying a new layer on top... Plus materials.

Exterior Paint- $2.00 per square foot
Interior Paint- $1.25 per square foot

Windows- $200 ea - Cheap window - yes Half decent window then no.

Interior Doors- $200 ea - Less. Standard pre-hung doors are like 58 bucks. You can find a lot of people to hang them for 25 each very easily.

Exterior Doors- $400 ea - 100 bucks less.

Kitchen- $4000 (includes cabinets, counter top, appliances, sink)
What kind of cabinets, countertop, appliances? Rental grade 10x10 kitchen like this would run you 1250 for the cabinets, 350 for the countertop, 1000 for the appliances, 50 for the sink, 35 for the faucet. A plumber would charge 150 to hook it up, a counter top guy 250, and cabinet guy 300. If you want nice stuff then your talking 6-8k quickly.

Bathroom- $2500 (complete bathroom)
Again what size and how nice?

Flooring- $2.50 per square foot (finished hardwoods)
Labor is about .80-1.50 a sqft to install pre-finished hardwoods.

Drywall- $3.00 per square foot
Last house I did it ran me $3000 for new sheetrock walls and ceilings. The house was about 1250 sqft.

Tile- $3.00 per square foot (ceramic)
Labor is 1.50-1.80 sqft not including tile or bonding material

Carept- $2.00 per square foot
$10-$15 a yard installed with a builders grade pad.

Electric Panel Box- $1000
Water Heater- $500
HVAC- $3500 -
Lawn Care- $500- $1000

Misc- $5000 - I just add 10% to my total for misc expenses.

Those are just my ball park figures. Hard to say not knowing alot of info on the house.

You're allowed to straight line depreciate any investment property over a 27.5 yr period. You'd have to be able to show that the house if for investment purposes though if ever audited. Which wouldn't be hard to do.

Started off doing it online. It was so boring. Said the heck with it and took it in a classroom setting. Much better. Got to interact with people and network. If your to busy just take it online then. I think its even cheaper that way.

Oh gez Gainesville.. Booo Go Dawgs :) Welcome anyways and can't wait to hear about your experiences.

I use GoDaddy.com because of Danica Patrick ;) I then just buy a template off the internet and customize it in Dreamweaver.

I got my real estate licence to help cut the commission as well as have access to the MLS. If you want to learn about real estate investing getting your licence won't help. The class you take is a waste of time and the book we used had so many flaws and typos it was unbelievable. I still remember them teaching us that you don't need a rental agreement if the term is less than one year. That question was on the state exam too... Please. Try winning that one in court. Your best bet is to learn the laws in your state with regard to real estate. Or shadow a real estate attorney. Then find people who have been investing this way and hang around them. They'll teach you the in's and out's.

Don't let them have it. It doesn't matter what you put in the lease. Leases are pretty much meaningless. Point being is that's your property. Someone gets hurt or dies on it regardless of what your lease states your getting sued. Your insurance won't cover you if anything happens either because they don't know about the pool. That's why people who buy houses fill in the pools and then rent them out. Just tell them they can't have a pool because your insurance will not cover you. That's what I tell all my tenants when I don't want them to have things.