Many property managers tend to focus on physical occupancy rates, but what truly matters is the economic occupancy rates—the actual rent collected.

So if I am looking at an asset as a 10 year play - I look more at the location, schools and how has this market performed in the past excluding covid and 2008 which were extenuating circumstances.Reality is right now shorter term plays do not work based on numbers and cost of financing - we went through this same thing in 2001-2004ish timeframe where properties would appreciate 2-3% per year and after buying costs and closing costs - you were not making money on assets unless you performed the labor or found a really good deal.this is how real estate "typically" is - which is why everyone always says location location location - because after a decent holding period, you will win.

Due to increased rates i did not refi so i did not get opportunity to see how an appraiser valued the half bathroom but the comps with same bathroom count had crazy valuation for the additional half bathroom.Taking under utilized space like a work area to add a br where the added br does not put you above the normal for the area can add value.Similar if a neighborhood is virtually all 3 br and 4 br properties and you find a 2 BR, it could be a value add to add the bedroom via new construction.  

This increased demand is in areas that all ready have limited supply.Since the rates started to rise, my appreciation forecast has been conservative (as I have indicated in numerous posts) for my San Diego market (I have been underwriting at zero appreciation near term) and fortunately for me the market out performed my forecast.  

When we create our business plan, we also include our exit plan.We'll only proceed if we can clean this up, acquire new tenants at higher rents so we can increase our NOI, which in turn should reflect our cap rate and profits.Since this asset class is new to us we will tread cautiously.Scheduled to preview tomorrow. 

From what I've seen, Jacksonville has attractive housing prices and rental rates.

Hey @Vanessa Lule, both @Chris Seveney and @John Underwood make good points and Chris's list is right on the money.So is the $3600 a month market rate?

I always run the numbers with long term rental rates.

@Mike Grudzien @Tim Delaney do you guys think it'd be worth joining a credit union in the city I used to live just to get the rate even if I'm out of state now, will they still give a better rate? 

Private lender will be close to a credit card interest rate for them to finance something like that.