First Deal, Duplex in Charlotte North Carolina

First Deal, Duplex in Charlotte North Carolina

Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 4 votes

Hello Bigger Pockets Community,

My name is Elliot Criss and I am new to the BP forums. I have watched numerous podcasts, read numerous blog posts, and attended a few of Brandon's webinars. The last webinar was on deal analysis and Brandon challenged us to analyze three properties a day for a month. I have been doing this and have found an intriguing property that I would love to get some feed back on.

I was unable to figure out a way to incorporate the report I created for the property into this post so I created a spreadsheet below to give as much info as possible.

 The basics to this property are it's a 4 Bed 2 Bath duplex in West Charlotte out by the airport for you locals. The asking price is $120,000 but I believe that it could be purchased for lower considering its location and potential repairs. I put down a purchase price of $110,000 for this report.

I had some trouble figuring out the Annual Property Taxes for this property as well as others. I had a hard time understanding the reports from the county assessor. On Zillow, the website has the 2014 Property Taxes as $1,186 and Property Assessment as $61,500. I also looked up the average property tax for Charlotte which was around $1,400, however I set the Annual Property Taxes as $2,000 to try to be as conservative as possible. Any tips on how to analyze property taxes would be much appreciated!

I valued the property at $150,000 after $20,000 worth of repairs as that is the average price for a 4 Bed 2 Bath in this zip code (28208). I also estimated Closing Costs of $3,000. When I research Charlotte's average closing costs, I found it to be $2,400 but I wanted to be conservative.

I have a down payment of 20% at $110,000 price so the loan amount is $88,000 with 4.5% interest (I took the interest rate from calling my personal bank as a reference point). I put down 1 point charged by lender and loan fees/points are paid out of pocket. This is a 30 year amortized loan.

When researching the rent in this area it ranged greatly form 1,000 to 2,400. I also researched how much 2 Bed 1 Bath rent ran to get a better perspective and they ranged from $850 to 1,200. I settled on renting both sides of the duplex at $800 each to give me a total gross monthly rent at $1,600. I would also have the tenants pay for Electricity, Water & Sewer, and Garbage. I did not put down PMI since the loan is at 20% and no HOA fees apply. I added monthly insurance of $60 because I was not sure how to determine if that is applicable or not, so again I went conservative.

Below is an Excel Spreadsheet that I created to give some of the important numbers. I did go pretty conservative on things like rent, annual property taxes, repairs, vacancy and repairs/maintenance because this is one of the first deals I have analyzed. I believe the rent per month could easily be $1,800 and property taxes are probably a few hundred dollars lower. 

Any feed back would be much appreciated! I look forward to hearing from you all.

Overview:
Asking Price: $120,000
Monthly Income: $1,600 Purchase Price: $110,000
Monthly Expenses: $1,216.55 Closing Costs: $3,000
Monthly CashFlow: $383.45 Total Project Cost: $133,000
Pro Forma Cap Rate: 6.63% After Repair Value: $150,000
NOI: $9,952

Total Cash Needed: $45,880 Down Payment: $22,000 (20%)
Cash On Cash ROI: 10.03% Loan Amount: $88,000 (80%)
Purchase Cap Rate: 9.05% Loan Points: $880 (1pt)


Loan Fees: 0
Debt Coverage Ratio: 1.86 Amortized Over: 30 Years


Loan Interest Rate: 4.50%


Monthly P&I: $445.88
Expenses:


Monthly Insurance: $60 Total Cash Needed: $45,880
Vacancy: $128 (8%)

CapEx: $288 (18%) Annual Income Growth: 2%
P&I: 445.88 Annual PV Growth: 2%
Repairs: $128 (8%) Annual Expenses Growth: 2%
Property Taxes: $166.67 Sales Expenses: 10%

Thank you in advance.

1Reply
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Most Popular Reply

Realtor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2014 · 935 posts · 467 votes
9y

@Elliot Criss Or you could just loan out your same $45,880 at 12% and receive $458.80 montly in interest. 

See this reply in the discussion

17 Replies

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  • Realtor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2014 · 935 posts · 467 votes
    9y

    @Elliot Criss Or you could just loan out your same $45,880 at 12% and receive $458.80 montly in interest. 

  • Tyler WattsPro Member
    Buy & Hold Investor · Shelby, NC · Member since 2015 · 136 posts · 68 votes
    9y

    @Elliot Criss Your numbers are conservative and as you learn I think you will be able to dial them in more but your off to the right start. Your cash on cash return will be higher, I would think realistically b/w 12-15%. Use some creative thinking and you can get to 20%. Charlotte is a booming market and depending on the area will depend on rent. You can use rentometer to help gather your rent rates. Also drive the neighborhood and get an idea of the comps. Is this an A or D neighborhood and look for properties that are available to rent and see what they are asking. Google properties to rent in your area and see what hits you get. The market is strong and rents are climbing. Downtown has developers left and right building apartments. 

    Once you see the comps then think " How can my property stand out". Maybe it's cheaper rent. Maybe you supply appliances. Maybe the landscape needs to look nice. Maybe the renovations are better  (i.e. central heating and air vs.. window units). There are creative ways to stand out. It could be a combination of all of these.  The sky is the limit!

    If your property is solid and working and stands out, vacancy will be more toward 4% if that. Capex and repairs won't be that high either if you fix them to start with which I would recommend. Nothing worse then having an issue with a tenant living there, trust me I've been there. It's like the world is coming to an end for them.

  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2016 · 18 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @Elliot Chris You may be able to get a more accurate tax estimate by going to http://meckcama.co.mecklenburg.nc.us/relookup/ and search by address. This may be a better estimate than doing an average for the county. Also, to get a better estimate for insuring the duplex, call your insurance agent and they will be able to tell you exactly how much you should expect to pay. Lastly, if you will be using a property management company now or in the near future, that figure needs to be added to the spreadsheet.

  • Curtis WatersBusiness Member
    Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2013 · 291 posts · 176 votes
    9y

    I recommend you attend the Hobby Millionaire Charlotte meetings (held multiple times each week) - find on meetup.com.  You will find other local investors who can assist you in finding the data you need plus local analysis.  I attend or facilitate many of these meetings.

  • Contrarian Investor · Greensboro, NC · Member since 2016 · 219 posts · 174 votes
    9y

    Elliot, you can get the exact amount charged for 2016 Taxes from Mecklenburg county website, probably less than your estimated $2k but you can get the exact dollar amount as it's public information. Your rents sound high for a 2 bedroom. I have a duplex on the north side of charlotte, 2/1 each side and they rent for $675 a month. You can theorize numbers all you want but there are things the best of us can never predict. I had a water leak behind a wall in a unit last year that resulted in mold remediation and repairs to the tune of $18,000.00. I never projected that in my original CapEx budget. Since then I just use fifty cents on the dollar for operating expenses (management, vacancy, maintenance, taxes, insurance and CapEx) and if your debt service P&I are less than that you should have cash flow. So if each side rents for $700 a month you should get about $250 a month in cash flow. Stick with around 7% for vacancy in my opinion. For anyone who was investing back in 2008 era, many people lost jobs and consolidated housing. So it reduced occupancy rates and if you plan on holding 20-30 years you'll probably see another time like that. Best of luck!

  • Curtis WatersBusiness Member
    Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2013 · 291 posts · 176 votes
    9y

    Other investors are getting $800-850/month in West Charlotte.

  • Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @Don Harris Are you referring to hard money lending? I am new to the concept, is that more of a short term deal versus long term? Thank you for the comment. I will definitely look more into what you are suggesting.

  • Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @Tyler Watts Thank you for the comment. When you say you take care of Capex in the beginning, do you still include Capex in monthly expenses just at a lower rate? Let's say that the water heater, floors and HVAC need repairs but the roof just got replace 2 years ago. Instead of accounting for Capex in monthly expense as I did, would you incorporate water heater, floors and HVAC into upfront repair costs and then denote Capex at maybe 7% for monthly expenses? Thank you again for the feed back.

  • Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @Lecia Montague Thank you for the direction to meckcama.co. I will take a look at this. I was having a lot of trouble deciphering the county assessor report. I couldn't seem to find the yearly rate. As for the property management, I  plan on running that myself for my first couple of deals to understand what it takes and what systems I need in place to grow later on. Would you recommend still incorporating those rates into my analysis as of now. Thank you for your adivce.

  • Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @Curtis Waters Thank you Curtis. I will look into those meetups this coming week. I look forward to introducing myself in person. Hope to see you soon.

  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2016 · 18 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    I would absolutely add the Property Management fee into your calculation. Once you get a taste of dealing with tenants you may decide that it's not something that you enjoy. Give yourself the option of being a hands off Landlord as you grow your portfolio. 

  • Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @Jason E. Smith Thank you for the advice Jason. I was looking at rentometer for rents and plugged in the address of the duplex and it gave a wide range as I stated above. To be honest I thought they sounded high but I truly don't know the area well enough so thank you for stating your rents as a reference. I like what you said about the 50% rule. I've read a several blog post on this subject and whether it is a valid rule or more of an estimate. I am looking for long term investments and not so much on the quick cash side,  so I can appreciate the conservative thinking. I hope you have a good rest of your week.

  • Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @Lecia Montague That definitely makes sense. Thank you again. 

  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2016 · 18 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    You are quite welcome ! Good luck to you.

  • Tyler WattsPro Member
    Buy & Hold Investor · Shelby, NC · Member since 2015 · 136 posts · 68 votes
    9y

    @Elliot Criss

    I personally have my Cap ex at 5% for my properties that I buy and do a full rehab on. Just from my experience and the rehab I perform on my properties and reading the forums I found 5% to be a good fit for me. Take all of the your variables into account, even property management. I manage all of my properties, but still take 8% off for that so when I do use one down the road it's not a big deal. Right now that "8%" is cash flow for me, I don't pay myself I use it to re-invest! Again your taking all of this into your calculation and it's a conservative measurement aka "worst" case scenario. Typically you'll pull more cash flow out than you predict, but taking this approach protects you. As you research and run numbers don't get overwhelmed or you'll be the zombie setting at a computer scared to death to make a decision. I review all the numbers and do my due diligence, but fall back on COC return. If it's >15% ( and no major red flags) I'm going to pull the trigger. Just my method and it works for me. With the market I'm in and the proprieties I purchase >15% COC return is not hard to achieve.

    Having money in your account NOT making $ is the problem! Some return is better than 0.

    Good luck!

  • Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @Tyler Watts I like the idea of keeping the Property Management element in their  for the future so you know your numbers. Thanks again for the great advice!

  • Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2016 · 374 posts · 189 votes
    9y

    I am rehabbing a home off of Glennwood right now.  I will get $850 for it and that is probably a tad bit low.  If you want to get together and I can show you around the CharMeck website. I would be willing to do that.  I live near Pineville if you want to come to my house and we could meet at my rehab in the area you are looking into.  Feel free to contact me.  It is my first name at ThePoultons and that is the .net domain.

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