All Forum Posts by: AJ Smith

@Ross Carlson Welcome to BiggerPockets! I'm a newbie just like you, and I'm looking to buy my first rental somewhere in Eastern Iowa (either Des Moines, IA City, or the QC) in 2019. Good luck on your journey!

I've seen some great advice on this thread, and I would like to compile it all in this post to make sure I'm absorbing it right:

1) Verify your rent numbers in multiple locations and with a local realtor.

2) Research local Vacancy rates and Crime rates to ensure your Vacancy allowance is high enough. (~7% allowance?)

3) Have a conservative budget for repairs, even on flipped properties

4) Check out the property's history, and understand why any hidden problems that may be putting it on the market

5) Get more meat.

If my rent-o-meter freebies have run out, do you all have any advice on finding preliminary rent comps? I've checked Trulia and Realtor.com, which is where I found my $1k figure for the area, but maybe I am looking at the wrong things on these sites.

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Cool little analysis I just pumped out to buy a flipped property in my hometown of Davenport, Iowa. Brand new roof,  returns 12.63% at the Full Purchase Price assuming $1000 rent per month (3/1 with new interior) that I pulled from nearby comps, though I'm sure negotiation could lower purchase price or closing costs by a few grand to improve return.

Thoughts on the deal?

Yes it is a good idea to check the rent price. Do you have any tips on how to do that for free? 

As for the work done, these are my guesstimates. Any tips on making those more accurate?

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*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

What do y'all think of this analysis? Any ways I can improve my analysis process/assumptions? 

*Note* $14,000 in Repair Costs include new interior and exterior paint, new vinyl flooring, new windows, and a $1000 budget to polish wooden kitchen cabinets.

Thanks for your response Clayton. How would you recommend I bump up my expense percentages to make them more accurate?

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Hey y'all,

I think I found an awesome BRRRR deal and I wanted to get your thoughts! I have calculated several BRRRR deals before but never had much luck with the return, though this one is showing immense returns even in the initial rental period.

A bit of background on the house:

I believe this house is in foreclosure, which is why its going for only $15500, though I am not sure. I would do an inspection and a S.O.W by a contractor before committing to buying, but boy oh boy do these numbers make me excited.

I think this house has amazing potential for value add based on old kitchen hardware, gross (peeling, scratched hardwood) floors, and nasty colors on the walls. Paint and replace the hardware, refinish the floors, and repaint the walls and I think she would be ready to go, although of course this is contingent on the inspection passing. But even if there were some structural problems it may still be a good investment based on the numbers I have now.

Someone please tell me if/how I did these calculations wrong. I recognize that I may be too excited by this analysis, to the point where it may be blinding me to some serious calculation errors. So I would love to get your feedback on my numbers.

***Forgot to say, this property has been assessed by the County at $80,000, according to the property taxes section of Realtor.com. It is currently listed for $15,500.

Hi all,

For all you Duplex Investors in the Iowa City / Eastern Iowa Area: I'm curious what assumptions you make when running your numbers? I am looking for your conservative assumptions when running costs like Utilities, Insurance, Property Management, etc, because I want to improve my process when analyzing homes. I also only account for utilities when the plexes are not metered separately, otherwise I assume that I will be able to put in the rental agreement that tenants pay for utilities.

As a point of comparison, here is what I normally estimate:

• $100 Electricity, $100 Water and Sewer, $100 Insurance
• 5% vacancy, 7% Repairs and Maintenance, 7% CapEx, 10% Management Fees
•  2% Annual Income Growth, 2% PV Growth, 2% Annual Expense Growth, 9% Sales Expense
• $50 monthly mowing expense if it has a lawn

I look forward to learning from you all and your experience!

 I figured this would be the case based on what I had heard around BiggerPockets and in some videos. Do you have any advice for filtering out the 90% to get to the 10% gold?

Are Craigslist FSBO Deals worth it?? I have been finding some amazing fixer upper deals in my area on Craigslist and see a ton of potential in BRRRRing these houses, but I want to hear about other people's experiences with Craigslist or FSBO before seriously considering them.