If you use a 5-10% figure for working up a pro-forma, in most cases that should be reasonable, but there are never any guarantees.Here, our hotel units are at record low occupancy of 69%, while commercial space is less than 4% vacant.

If you use peel 'n stick tiles or sheet vinyl, you may get a better look, but ONE wrong move and the floor is trash.A similar trick with carpeting was that rather than the typical beige or brown solid color, we used a carpet with a variegated color and rather long nap.

On the other hand you would have to give space for a certain number of days of visits due to the historical value of the home.What I did is I bought apartments under the “Loi Malraux”.

8)sorry to take space on your thread Minna...Specialist- stupid question....why do you say 6 months from now?

Could likely rent for a couple hundred more, based on rentometer.com info.Home has very nice tile and wood flooring, 4 yrs new, could use some small touches inside and will look much better with landscaping outside, needs some curb appeal.My biggest problem here is: WHAT in the world to do with this property??

if you move, 17k will go a longer way and you'll find "creative financing" is more welcomed.17k in NYC is like a dollar crumpled up on the floor in a crack house.

Though, maybe you could put in laminate floors instead of carpet, would that hold up better?

Getting off the soap box now and opening the floor for discussion and rebuttal...Regards,Scott Miller

the owner just had a stroke and has other properities. this one is the only fixer-upper, he basically just wants out. i,m taking an equity loan on my house for $40000 for down payment, closing, and a small credit line(about $12000). my main concern is the labor charges of contractors in my area. the on-hand cash would enable me to get local handymen and cheap laborers to cut into alot of the cost of teardown and disposial. also a friend workes for a local home builder and is willing to do alot of the drywall work and floors on the side.

and i don't regret it at all. sure it's nice to have made a great profit on my first transaction but i viewed the situation as:1) i can continue to rent...2) ...or own a property paying the same amount of rent and expenses while gaining experience.in both instances my cash flow (i'm going to include the income from my job) would have stayed relatively the same---granted i pay about 200 more due to taxes and insurance. but 200 extra a month was not as important to me as it might be for some one else who has a tighter budget. but since i made the leap definitely feel more confident navigating the entire process over again and also learned how to do some rehabbing on my own (tiling, staining, flooring, light plumbing..etc...)I also now have realistic timelines as to when certain jobs can be completed----at one time i thought I could gut and fix my kitchen and two bathrooms by myself in under 2 weeks only working weekends.