Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2017 · 35 posts · 2 votes
Age of Rental Property, Brick or No Brick .. Whats is preference?.
Hello BP Rental investor community. I am getting close to making my first offer for a rental property. Here are few questions i am sure others are thinking through as they are getting close to pulling the trigger on their first:
- Age of the property, whats your preference if you willing to invest about $5k to $10k in the property?
- Brick or no-Brick ... any preference on that?
- School ... do we really only care about the top schools or we can get away with medium-quality schools?
Bossier City, LA · Member since 2015 · 122 posts · 50 votes
9y
I personally buy properties built after 1965 because I avoid many problems with electrical and plumbing which can cost you a fortune and eat your cash flow. You can find this in older houses. For the electrical, they usually do not have a ground and the material used for cable insulation will deteriorate over many years. On Plumbing, They usually have crappy galvanized supply lines that will break down from inside out. It's a huge mess. Please stay away from it.
I like brick houses because it requires less maintenance over the years and looks better in my opinion. You also get a slight discount on your insurance for having brick. It adds up when you have many houses.
Try your best to buy in a better school district because you will get better quality tenants. They will want to stay longer and you will have less vacancy. Your property is more likely to appreciate too.
Hope this helps a little.
Bossier City, LA · Member since 2015 · 122 posts · 50 votes
9y
I personally buy properties built after 1965 because I avoid many problems with electrical and plumbing which can cost you a fortune and eat your cash flow. You can find this in older houses. For the electrical, they usually do not have a ground and the material used for cable insulation will deteriorate over many years. On Plumbing, They usually have crappy galvanized supply lines that will break down from inside out. It's a huge mess. Please stay away from it.
I like brick houses because it requires less maintenance over the years and looks better in my opinion. You also get a slight discount on your insurance for having brick. It adds up when you have many houses.
Try your best to buy in a better school district because you will get better quality tenants. They will want to stay longer and you will have less vacancy. Your property is more likely to appreciate too.
Hope this helps a little.