Rental Property Investor · Annapolis, MD · Member since 2011 · 232 posts · 170 votes
I found a motivated seller on craigslist for a townhouse in my area. It's a 3BR, 2.5BA, End Unit,1440-sf, built in 2002 and has HOA of $45/month. It is currently being rented out on a month to month basis for $645 which is about $100 lower than its comps. This is a FSBO and they have it listed for $63,500 which is about market value. They said they are motivated because they have bought a single family home and outgrew this one and would like to sell ASAP.
This would be my first deal so I still have a lot of questions. I did the formula that Sean Terry has talked about on his podcast ARV x 70% = end buyer price. So in this case 63,500 x .7 = 44,450 would be the end buyer price. So if I could negotiate the price with them to around 40,000 would that be worth going after?
Again I am new all this and this would be my first deal. Any advice or input would be great.
Assuming you'll be marketing it as a rental property, the 70% rule of thumb doesn't really apply. A buy and hold investor will be looking for a certain return, which will depend on other factors. Currently, I'm trying to get rentals at less than 75 x rent, because at that number I can get my desired return with current interest rates.
When you say market value, do you mean in it's current condition or after repairs? Is it rented for less than market rate due to its condition or some other factor?
The 70% that rehabbers use includes repairs, so to market to flippers this must be subtracted out. If repairs would cost 5k, a rehabber would want to pay 70% less repairs, or 39,450. Unless, of course, a moderate rehab could boost the value to say 75k. Then the numbers change.
You will really need to determine a few things here as others have stated. To start a formula with the ARV, you must know the ARV. You must also determine a repair estimate to get the unit to that price.
Are any of the buyers on your list into town homes? I have found that most are leery due to the HOA and special assessments.
The 70% formula doesn't take into account repairs. The formula I think you're referring to is ARV x 70% - repairs = MAO. If your wholesaling the property, reduce the MAO for your profit. Again this formula is for rehabbers, not buy and hold investors.