All Forum Posts by: Mark B

Check out this article at the Atlanta Post: http://atlantapost.com/2011/01/21/wouldnt-gangs-make-good-real-estate-investors/. The author makes a compelling (but scary :D) point.

What Scott said! He took the words right out of my mouth. I like fourplexes. I'd look for rehabbers in edge neighborhoods that are coming up. I'd sell some once I got the rents up and I'd keep others that have better locations for the appreciation.

I could also look at doing a larger rehab with mixed-use: commercial ground floor and apartments above in the hip areas of town.

Stan, so what happened? Did you get this house? Let's hear the update.

I'm happy to see Albuquerque on the list! It's true too. We're growing and have a great climate. There are tons of smaller houses from the 50s and 60s that make great rentals, and if you hit the location right, they can really appreciate as younger families are returning to the center of the city (rather than the sprawlburbs).

Mark, I'm not sure what your market is like, but 3600 dollar deposit would be very high around here. For a renter to have 3600 or 4800 ready to put down just to move in is really limiting your number of possible renters. I would lower that amount, and definitely advertise on craigslist - that's where I get all my renters.
M

Sounds like a fairly good deal. But for me, I'd look for ways to increase rents. Are these units already being rented for the upper amounts the market will bear? Is there any way to improve the prop for little cash, but that will be an amenity the renters would pay for? Like adding W/D hook-ups, or private fenced yards? Or converting a dining room into another bedroom...

How long have the tenants been there?

And what is happening in the neighborhood in general? Is it appreciating?

The bedrooms will be quite small to fit that many into that space. If there is one larger bedroom - you may be able to realize profit by adding a master toilet room (and larger closet) to that room via an addition. This would increase value quite a bit.

Many successful rehabbers in my neighborhood take old 2/1 houses and add a new Master Bedroom suite to make a comfortable 3/2 and do very well on the profit.

Good luck.

Wow. Guam is such a small island without that much development - good luck finding someone who knows about it specifically, but maybe someone who knows the overriding laws for u.s. territories in general. Good luck! Would be fun to visit on "biz trips" but expensive to get there too. :-)

I fully recognize that my perspective might be considered old fashioned, but in my mind if you borrow money you pay it back. That's regardless if you borrowed 10 bucks from your friend or 250K from the bank.


Just to be clear, I totally agree Joe. I just find it to be comical considering the lack of moral responsibility that is running rampant in our country. Most people will just do what works best for their pocketbook in our it's-not-my-fault culture.

Interesting WSJ article Charlie. So what do you think this trend of walking away from mortgages means exactly?

Also found this quote to be funny: "Banking-industry officials and others have argued that homeowners have a moral obligation to pay their debts even when it seems to make good business sense to default." Yeah, right!