@Susan Sutherland Hey there!! I have a friend name Micheal heading up to Charlotte next week, he’s an investor agent coming to the area can I give him your info so I can pass it on to him? 
Just starting off with real estate as part of my retirement strategy. I'd like to invest in an investment property in coastal NC. Is it worth purchasing in Wilmington, NC or other recommendations? It's either that or Florida lol...
@Alex Thomsen couldn't agree more! Charlotte is a great market for sure. We continue to see impressive growth despite the turmoil and uncertainty of 2020.
I went and drove around central NC and down into western SC to areas that had lakes. I can see good possibilities in the surrounding towns but all the countryside would likely be a NO GO. I finally understand why homes don't appreciate out there, you'll have one amazing house and right next door is a dilapidated trailer/mobile home overrun with foliage. Incredible beauty and access to lakes and outdoor lifestyle, great weather, tax breaks in SC, but nobody wants to pay $$$ to live next-door to a dump.
I went and drove around central NC and down into western SC to areas that had lakes. I can see good possibilities in the surrounding towns but all the countryside would likely be a NO GO. I finally understand why homes don't appreciate out there, you'll have one amazing house and right next door is a dilapidated trailer/mobile home overrun with foliage. Incredible beauty and access to lakes and outdoor lifestyle, great weather, tax breaks in SC, but nobody wants to pay $$$ to live next-door to a dump.
Pretty much. But lots of high dollar lake communities. Except no tax breaks for investors. Investors get ~2.5x tax bill than homeowner.
I'm moving to NC in March and looking to buy an investment property down there. I'll be somewhere near Fort Bragg/Fayetteville area but it sounds like alot of people are investing in other cities. I'll have to check them out.
@Jeremiah Fennell Hello amd greetings. We are actively buying in the Foothills and Western NC (Surry, Yadkin, & Wilkes Counties). ...I’m always excited to connect and work with others for our mutual success!
I'm living/investing around the Piedmont Triad area and have noticed houses are starting to go quick in this area, and for above asking price in a lot of cases. Definitely a hot market out here it seems. Always open for networking with others around here!
We just closed on a deal in Wilmington this Tuesday. It was a FSBO in the Ogden area. Not the greatest numbers and cash flow. Property has new roof, HVAC, and no trees or crawl space (learned my lesson with those). First time buying a 90s property with vinyl siding, which I hope won't cause too much maintenance issues.
Here are the numbers: Purchase price was $205,000, listed at $215,000. I have listed it for rent at $1,740 with lawn care and maintenance included. Cash flow at $370 after cap ex, PITI, etc. While we haven't been overwhelmed with requests, we have gotten enough for me to continue with pricing as is.
I am curious how others handle lawn care? I prefer to have it taken care so I know the lot continues to look good and neighbors will be satisfied. That said, it ups the rental cost by about $100, which can make a big difference in interested tenants. Do others offer to provide lawn service as an additional fee? If I did that the listing would be shown at $1650 instead of $1740....Sorry to hijack the post.
I do not offer to provide lawn care as part of my agreements. Tenant is responsible for yard maintenance per the lease and any HOA violations are passed on to the tenant. For SFRs, tenants are usually willing to take care of lawn maintenance and pest control.
...I am curious how others handle lawn care? I prefer to have it taken care so I know the lot continues to look good and neighbors will be satisfied. That said, it ups the rental cost by about $100, which can make a big difference in interested tenants. Do others offer to provide lawn service as an additional fee? If I did that the listing would be shown at $1650 instead of $1740...
I will be offering lawn maintenance at an added fee. For example I would say $1700 +optional $50 for lawn maintenance.
...I am curious how others handle lawn care? I prefer to have it taken care so I know the lot continues to look good and neighbors will be satisfied. That said, it ups the rental cost by about $100, which can make a big difference in interested tenants. Do others offer to provide lawn service as an additional fee? If I did that the listing would be shown at $1650 instead of $1740...
I will be offering lawn maintenance at an added fee. For example I would say $1700 +optional $50 for lawn maintenance.
Thank you for the reply. I ended up reducing the rent fee by $100 and removed the lawn service. As a result, I got a lot more interest and had a lease signed within two days.
I just bought my first investment property; a one bed/one bath in Wilmington which is fully furnished. It's still vacant after 1.5 months so that's a bummer. The HOA doesn't allow short term so, obviously the furnishings are limiting my tenant pool. If I need, I will put the furniture into storage and use it for my next property, which will likely need to allow short term rental.
@William Gourley I have the same problem. I bought a 3 bed/2 bath single family house in Charlotte and it is still sitting vacant after 1.5 months. I am not sure what is going on - my property management company seems to have gotten many applications but all of the potential tenants were not qualified.
@Alex Thomsen With any luck we can get these places rented. It’ll happen. My PM keeps asking if I’d consider lowering my rental rate, which I’m not going to do. It’s priced correctly.
@William Gourley Yes, I hope it will happen sooner rather than later :-) I have actually asked if we could lower the rate, which my property manager didn't seem to like - in his defence, I think my house is priced fairly compared to the other houses in that neighborhood. I am not quite sure what to do in this case - at what point would you expect the property management company to have a tenant placed?