Just wanted to ask if any investors in the Austin/Cedar Park area with experience in rehabbing with today’s constructions costs had any general tips on estimating rehab costs for a property? 

I could get an apartment but I think house hacking would be more worth while. any tips and insight as to get started quickly or should I rent an apartment for a year so I have more time to plan?

My property manager was diligent with picking the right tenant, which I appreciated, but that comes with really narrowing down a pool of applicants that would have been okay in the short term.I am trying to decide what is best right now and getting them rented out would make sense, but my problem is the lack of funds I currently am facing to rehab them to get them back to rent-ready condition and the monthly mortgage really hindering my ability to save up for these rehab funds.

Keep a close eye on local markets in emerging areas around Los Angeles, where property values are likely to appreciate making future investments easier as you build equity.Let me know if you’d like financing help or need more tips along the way.Best,Drago

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely join! 

It just seems like a 5 unit and a 4 unit are arguably in different asset classes because of the difference in buyer pools. 

:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

I had the foundation cracks repaired and tied together with engineering plans and permits, and also had to completely redo the pool and fix the cracks, and recompact the entire rear yard with geological engineering and inspections.

So what I did is I looked at median prices of 2 bed condos between 800-1200sqft built between 1980-1990, I did this to eliminate new condos being added into the pricing pool, and look at this rollercoaster...Detached faired a LOT better, less variability in downturns, and much better return (for this chart I did not look at semi-detached, but the trend is closer to detached)

I have 2 two bedroom pool cabins and then the other is a 3 bedroom with an amazing mtn view.