Closing Friday on my first rental property!!! Nervous and excited

Closing Friday on my first rental property!!! Nervous and excited

Rental Property Investor · Lees Summit, MO · Member since 2018 · 14 posts · 3 votes

Found what I believe is a good deal in Kansas City, MO area from a motivated retired seller. 5 year tenet paying 920/mo (owner pays electric and last 12 month electric bills average to 135/mo). House is a small 2bed, 1bath, 1100 sq foot house. it's not pretty but looks like good potential. looking for thoughts on my strategy. (this is my 1st property!!!) 

I'm paying cash, just under 50k. home value is probably about 75-80k. House next door exact same size and # of bed's bath was flipped last year and sold for 88k in October so 1 year ago. houses in 1/2 mile all seem to be selling between 75&115k. This is on the smaller end for the neighborhood. Next door had a basement, this house only has a crawl space so i'm dropping off 8-13k in value due to that alone. I drove the neighborhood in a 4 block radius and noticed several basketball goals & small kids bikes in driveways/front porch which is telling me relatively safe and comfortable neighborhood. Cars parked in driveways & streets all appear to be newer as well so i'm liking the general surroundings. 

roof is 15 years old, heater, 5 years, AC & water heater are unknown in age. seller has owned for 15 years so at least 15+ years. 

here's my thought: tenet is paying 920/mo and owner pays electric on month to month (electric averages $135). Offer tenet two options:

Opt 1) sign new lease with my property management company and cover their own electric, I'll drop rent to 775/mo.

Opt 2) sign new lease with my property management company and I continue to cover electric, I'll drop rent to 900/mo.

market rent in this area with similar size is about $750-800 but again this house is rough around the edges. 

i'm considering a delayed financing to pull 75% of home value back out in cash if tenet accepts longer lease. if not, i may hold my cash in the property and when the current tenant leaves and expect to spend 15k in renovations to bring value up and cash-out-refi 6 months in... reno would likely be roof (only if necessary), water heater, refinish existing hardwood floors, paint inside (outside paint looks really good seller didn't disclose but i'm assuming it's been painted recently) maybe newer nobs in kitchen and newer counter top probably 15 liner feet today so not too big. 

thoughts or other suggestions? if this goes fairly smooth i'm planning to buy a little higher end house (110-120k value), Jan or Feb time frame and just continue to build my portfolio rather aggressively over the next 24 months. 

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Rental Property Investor · Salem, OR · Member since 2017 · 696 posts · 660 votes
7y

@Lee Carter Got it.  If it were me, and they were paying as is and did not look to be moving, I would just leave it alone, I generally do not care if people are in the lease or not, but I understand that will vary by the market you are in.  I like to have my properties pay for their work, so if things are going smooth, then I would leave it alone OR do your pitch to lock it into a lease, either one is good.  Wait for the tenant to move before you do anything other than NEEDED maintenance. NEVER renovate with a tenant in place...ever!

Good idea...eventually renovate, pull money out and repeat...or take the rehab money and do it now if you can pay for repairs as they come up out of cash flow.

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  • Nathan BrooksBusiness Member
    Lender · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2012 · 403 posts · 188 votes
    7y

    Congrats @Lee Carter... that's HUGE! Taking action. Love it!

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  • Rental Property Investor · Lees Summit, MO · Member since 2018 · 14 posts · 3 votes
    7y
    @Nathan Brooks thanks excited to see if this spreadsheet math works out ;)
  • Rental Property Investor · Salem, OR · Member since 2017 · 696 posts · 660 votes
    7y

    @Lee Carter Awesome work!  I would for sure want to get off the hook for electric as they have no incentive to conserve if you are paying the bill.  If the property is a little rough, maybe come in JUST under what market is so they have the incentive to stay, bank the rent checks until they move then do some of the work (unless something breaks before.)  What is the rent potential after the work is done?  

  • Rental Property Investor · Lees Summit, MO · Member since 2018 · 14 posts · 3 votes
    7y
    @Richard Sherman thanks for the input! Market rent is around 800 in the summer. I’d probably need to drop to 775 if looking this time of year. That’s why I was thinking offering them 775/mo if they go on a proper lease and cover their own electric. I’ll want them to have a lease that is about 15 months so it comes due at a time the market is good for renting. Honestly the main motivation for fixing it up is to force appreciation and cash-out-refinance to get my initial investment back out. I don’t think that extra money invested would raise rent much. If the current tenet left I’d need to do some work to get it rent ready for sure though. At that point I’d likely dump 15-20k into it with a cash-out in mind. I was told to get a “subject to” appraisal after getting a scope of work bid from a contractor to lessen my risk on calculating proper ARV. Again this is only really important if the current tenet leaves and they have expressed interest in wanting to stay. I just don’t know how they’ll take going onto a lease since they have been there 5 years and are month to month.
  • Rental Property Investor · Salem, OR · Member since 2017 · 696 posts · 660 votes
    7y

    @Lee Carter Got it.  If it were me, and they were paying as is and did not look to be moving, I would just leave it alone, I generally do not care if people are in the lease or not, but I understand that will vary by the market you are in.  I like to have my properties pay for their work, so if things are going smooth, then I would leave it alone OR do your pitch to lock it into a lease, either one is good.  Wait for the tenant to move before you do anything other than NEEDED maintenance. NEVER renovate with a tenant in place...ever!

    Good idea...eventually renovate, pull money out and repeat...or take the rehab money and do it now if you can pay for repairs as they come up out of cash flow.

  • Mike D'ArrigoPro Member
    Turn key provider · San Jose, CA · Member since 2010 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    @Lee Carter Sounds like a good plan. Good luck!

  • Nathan BrooksBusiness Member
    Lender · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2012 · 403 posts · 188 votes
    7y

    GET SOME @Lee Carter!

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