Looking for Some Advice on My Current Real Estate Situation

[Thomas O'Donnell]

This is what my current situation looks like:

I live in one side of a duplex and have been struggling to get qualified renters for the other side. Even after lowering rent and being a little flexible, I am still paying a $2500 mortgage by myself instead of the $1000 I thought I would be paying for my portion prior to purchasing this house-hack. This is draining me of my funds and not allowing me to save any money for future investments. I have a bunch of people who reply to my ads but most of them do not meet the minimum requirements that are literally listed in the description. 

I am currently studying to take my state exam to be a home inspector next week or the following week. I am hoping to do this part-time in 2023 in addition to my W2 job until I can possibly switch over to full-time inspections.

What I want to Achieve in 2023:

This year, I am looking to purchase another house-hack via FHA loan on either another duplex or a 4plex here in Columbus, OH with a small value add opportunity. I would love to have my living expenses even lower than the $1000 I expected to pay here once the other side is rented. However, because I am struggling to get it rented I can't really put away any cash for this year's investments.

I would love to hear some of your advice on my current situation and how I should be looking to attack this year and get a tenant soon, as well as add an additional property or two to my portfolio by 2024. I have a very driven attitude and I am willing to put in the work, I am just a little lost at the moment on where I should be started or how I should go about my situation and my goals.

[Brett Merrill]

Hi @Thomas O'Donnell. Don't get too discouraged, most have been in a similar situation to this or another completely different situation that is just as challenging. I think you are being smart by screening your tenants thoroughly. You certainly do not want to rush the wrong people into your unit to collect a little cash as this can turn into a much more expensive expense down the road. However, I do want to make sure that you are not over screening with too strict of criteria. Do you mind sharing with us how you are currently marketing the property and what your current criteria is? I have looked into Columbus and it seems to be a strong enough rental market so there is something that needs to be tweaked. Also, does the property have any other ability to produce rent such as a garage for storage or do you have an extra room in your unit that a friend or family could rent? Hope this helps. 

[Owen Dashner]

Where is your property located and what advertising methods are you using?  Are you doing Zillow, Facebook Marketplace, etc?

[Kenneth Garrett]

@Thomas O'Donnell

Congrats on the house hack.  This time of year is the most difficult to find tenants in the Midwest.  I’ve had to lower my rent in January and February.  March always seems to pick up.  Look at your competition and see what they are offering with amenities and overall quality of there units. Look at there qualifying criteria.  Most tenants don’t read the requirements, I think they only look at rent and location.  That is frustrating, but it just comes with the territory.  Sometimes based on our market we ask for too much where we limit ourselves.  Not saying you are doing that, but for instance I want a credit score of 700 and an income of four times the rent.  That reduces your pool of tenants and your market has to be able to support that or be reasonable.  I agree screening is the best avenue to selecting quality tenants, just don’t over do it.

[Thomas O'Donnell]

Quote from @Brett Merrill:

Hi @Thomas O'Donnell. Don't get too discouraged, most have been in a similar situation to this or another completely different situation that is just as challenging. I think you are being smart by screening your tenants thoroughly. You certainly do not want to rush the wrong people into your unit to collect a little cash as this can turn into a much more expensive expense down the road. However, I do want to make sure that you are not over screening with too strict of criteria. Do you mind sharing with us how you are currently marketing the property and what your current criteria is? I have looked into Columbus and it seems to be a strong enough rental market so there is something that needs to be tweaked. Also, does the property have any other ability to produce rent such as a garage for storage or do you have an extra room in your unit that a friend or family could rent? Hope this helps. 

 So it’s a 3bed 1bath duplex, and market rents are 1200-1500 in the area. I am asking $1300 water included because it isn’t split. My basic criteria is 600+ credit, no smoking, no evictions, renter’s insurance and income 3x the rent. Many leads that I have got have been asking for section 8 but I have not gone through that process to get certified yet. It has an unfinished basement that can be used for storage. I moved her from California back in late July and did not know anyone in the area which rules out renting to a family member or friend. 

[Thomas O'Donnell]

Quote from @Owen Dashner:

Where is your property located and what advertising methods are you using?  Are you doing Zillow, Facebook Marketplace, etc?

 Zillow, FB marketplace, Avail, apartments.com etc

[Susie Fabrocini]

I advertise in all the online spaces but my best tenants have always come from a sign in the front yard with a phone number with an area code that matches the neighborhood.

[Diya Wahi]

Quote from @Thomas O'Donnell:

Quote from @Brett Merrill:

Hi @Thomas O'Donnell. Don't get too discouraged, most have been in a similar situation to this or another completely different situation that is just as challenging. I think you are being smart by screening your tenants thoroughly. You certainly do not want to rush the wrong people into your unit to collect a little cash as this can turn into a much more expensive expense down the road. However, I do want to make sure that you are not over screening with too strict of criteria. Do you mind sharing with us how you are currently marketing the property and what your current criteria is? I have looked into Columbus and it seems to be a strong enough rental market so there is something that needs to be tweaked. Also, does the property have any other ability to produce rent such as a garage for storage or do you have an extra room in your unit that a friend or family could rent? Hope this helps. 

 So it’s a 3bed 1bath duplex, and market rents are 1200-1500 in the area. I am asking $1300 water included because it isn’t split. My basic criteria is 600+ credit, no smoking, no evictions, renter’s insurance and income 3x the rent. Many leads that I have got have been asking for section 8 but I have not gone through that process to get certified yet. It has an unfinished basement that can be used for storage. I moved her from California back in late July and did not know anyone in the area which rules out renting to a family member or friend. 

 Hi Thomas! It sounds like this is potentially tough time of the year regarding weather to find great tenants. Out of curiosity, can your unit be rented as a mid-term rental for traveling nurses or PAs? Columbus is a college town. How about professionals related to the university to temporary trips? Or Airbnb? Since this may be the wrong time of year for a long term tenant, could another option be better band aid until the Spring/Summer?

[Thomas O'Donnell]

Quote from @Diya Wahi:

Quote from @Thomas O'Donnell:

Quote from @Brett Merrill:

Hi @Thomas O'Donnell. Don't get too discouraged, most have been in a similar situation to this or another completely different situation that is just as challenging. I think you are being smart by screening your tenants thoroughly. You certainly do not want to rush the wrong people into your unit to collect a little cash as this can turn into a much more expensive expense down the road. However, I do want to make sure that you are not over screening with too strict of criteria. Do you mind sharing with us how you are currently marketing the property and what your current criteria is? I have looked into Columbus and it seems to be a strong enough rental market so there is something that needs to be tweaked. Also, does the property have any other ability to produce rent such as a garage for storage or do you have an extra room in your unit that a friend or family could rent? Hope this helps. 

 So it’s a 3bed 1bath duplex, and market rents are 1200-1500 in the area. I am asking $1300 water included because it isn’t split. My basic criteria is 600+ credit, no smoking, no evictions, renter’s insurance and income 3x the rent. Many leads that I have got have been asking for section 8 but I have not gone through that process to get certified yet. It has an unfinished basement that can be used for storage. I moved her from California back in late July and did not know anyone in the area which rules out renting to a family member or friend. 

 Hi Thomas! It sounds like this is potentially tough time of the year regarding weather to find great tenants. Out of curiosity, can your unit be rented as a mid-term rental for traveling nurses or PAs? Columbus is a college town. How about professionals related to the university to temporary trips? Or Airbnb? Since this may be the wrong time of year for a long term tenant, could another option be better band aid until the Spring/Summer?

 I do not have the funds to furnish the whole unit, or I would have thought about doing mid-term since I am less than a mile from Nationwide Children's Hospital. I am about 15-20min south of the college so renting to students wouldn't make much sense. 

[Nicholas L.]

@Thomas O'Donnell

lower the price until you get multiple strong applications.  vacancy is the #1 cash flow killer.

it's not worth it to hold out for $100 a month more in rent.  do the math - one month at $1200 lost is like renting for a year at $100 a month less.  2 months is $200 a month less.  etc.

[Calvin Watkins]

@Thomas O'Donnell You're in the door so that is awesome!

Personally I found that the cap rates in Columbus are a little too narrow for me personally but my brother was in a very similar boat and this is what I told him as well.

Option 1: If you have a little extra money you could utilize Furnish Finder for traveling nurses or just a mid term rental in general. These individuals need a fully furnished location but they normally pay a decent premium on the location for 3-6-12 month rents depending on if they extend leases. The benefit of these tenants are that they come from out of state/city so you are expanding your tenant pool as well.

Option 2: Expand your search for your second target property slightly outside of the Columbus loop. Adding 20 minutes to a round trip drive in and out of work is likely going to lower your 2-4 unit prices and allow you to negotiate more with the seller. This should mean that the property would become more attainable 

Option 3: Slightly Pivot your plan similar to what I did (JV with private money). I could not find a multi family here in Columbus for less than 250k that made sense for me to move in to. I currently do the rinse and repeat strategy of buying every couple of years and making my previous (now updated) home a rental. Because of the pricing in Columbus I purchased a 4-plex in Kettering, OH. Though I am almost certainly going to run in to the same issue with having some unqualified tenants apply to live there, the rents were about $200 below market per door when I bought it and it was only 225k. Gross after updates and rental bumps should be about $2,900. I pay generously for property management (testing a new strategy) so my take home will be between 850-1100 depending on if tenants want to have pets. That should put your living cost far closer to the $1,000 a month you were looking for.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions I am happy to talk strategy with you!

[Jonathan Styer]

You're getting some great advice here. If I can add, I would look to do an 18ish month lease when you do find a great applicant to prevent being in this same situation again. This is the hardest time of year to find a good tenant and you want to get on the warm month schedule if at all possible. 

[Leo R.]

@Thomas O'Donnell some excellent suggestions in this thread.  My two cents: before you buy a 2nd property, zero in on why your current property isn't performing, and fix that issue. The only thing worse than one vacant property is two vacant properties.

As others have mentioned, the vacancy could be caused by many things--rent price is too high, wrong neighborhood, the grade of the property is lower than competitors, winter (esp. the holidays) is dead season for new renters, insufficient or poor advertising, the type of property doesn't match the needs of the local tenant pool, etc., etc., etc....I don't know which issues are causing your vacancy specifically, but I do know you'll want to figure that out before going for property #2.

Plus, figuring out why your current property isn't renting will help you better understand what type of property to buy next (and what types to avoid).

Good luck out there!

[Thomas O'Donnell]

Thank you so much for all of this great input! I really appreciate all the responses.

[Drew Sygit]

where are you advertising this?