Buy a 1 BR condo or not?

Question

Chris Mason · Answer

@Dom Jones,

Like others I'm generally skeptical of condos as investments, and 1 br in particular, but adding the beach to the equation makes me think of a furnished rental...

Alex Bok · Answer

1 bed condos are not bad and have been looking into these for investment purposes. Find the one that has been sitting for several months (there will be several) and get a fair priced offer and expect to hold for the next cycle or so

Kimberly G. · Answer

@Dom Jones I agree with @Chris Mason suggesting furnished rental.  Pending HOA rules on minimum leases altho military orders would excuse that rule and you are near CP base. Tons of short assignments for military orders at that base.

I lived in o'side back in my 20's... Was on the strand.. I recall my rent was $1k and when the owner sold the home she was asking 300k. I would bet its a 1mil home now :)

With the job markets around the area I have no doubt you could furnish it and offer it to short term renters. Not vacation rental as you would have high vacancy but offering it to relocating professionals. Some military officers would probably grab it for their short assignments at CP. My model is furnished housing and I will say the smaller the better as most are single people or having to telecommute during their contract work while they support a household elsewhere. You could capture a higher rent offering it furnished, probably never have to show it (as out of town-ers will book it), you'll capture class A & B tenants that treasure their credit. Furnish it, you furnish all utilities as well but cap the electric and water to a reasonable rate so they dont leave the door open with the air on and run up the billl, provide internet and put in a Ruko device, charge a cleaning fee (find a good cleaner), and you are ready to roll.

Never book out and post no more than 2.5 weeks of its availability date as the power of the deadline for tenants will make them book it. Otherwise you will get a flood of calls of people still narrowing down their choices. I offer my tenants the flexibility on their stay as some don't have a set departure date... nurses on contract sometimes go for extensions... or a professional relocating may not know where they want to buy or have an official closing date and we all know how a closing can get pushed. There is a lot of VALUE there for a tenant to have an owner work with them on departure dates. It could be the deciding factor that gets your unit booked.I have been in this situation my self and it really bites to start off in an hotel to wait on availability at a furnished unit that has a move out date sooner than I needed to only end up at another hotel or airbnb to finish the stay. My tenants communicate their departure date as soon as it is confirm for them and I advertise only 2 weeks out. I have 0% vacancy (except the one time I booked out;) The tenant is out by 11 and the cleaner is there to clean before the next tenant checks in at 3pm.              Your unit stays clean, filters get changed and most importantly you capture quality tenants. Good luck.. hope that helps!

James Syed · Answer

Welcome to BP.

@Dom Jones

Generally speaking, one bed or studios are problems because of high turnovers, however, in some market like Chicago, New York, Los Angles, etc, it's just fine to go with one or studioes because the rents are so high that many people are forced to take them.

Hope it helps.

Buy a 1 BR condo or not?

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