Almost ready to rent my first income property..

[Ken Parker]

I probably should have joined this forum a year ago, before I started looking to invest in an income property.

I bought a month ago and I'm now close to having the property ready to rent.

I'd like to submit the particulars of the deal for analysis.

Am I in the right place?

[David Beard]

By sales comps, the "ancient" past of 2007 is completely irrelevant. The rule of thumb is to find closed sales (not listings) in the last 6 mths and within one-half mile of your property -- preferably condos. Your agent can pull these numbers very quickly using the MLS.

Condo associations create a lot of unknowns and extra risks of special assessments and mismanagement, particularly when numerous units are vacant, as people have pointed out. If you can make $5-10K from flipping that would be my course of action, then find a better property.

Your cap rate (net yield on your 73K investment) will be a paltry 5% if you hold this:

1600 rent per mth
- 750 HOA
- 225 taxes/insurance (est).
- 20% of 1600 for vacancy, repairs, prop mgmt
=305/mth NOI

That's poor in any context. Please consider moving on.

Good luck, David