All Forum Posts by: Axel Ragnarsson

Buying a property vacant has lots of benefits including what you mentioned (getting to place your own tenants). I have witnessed horror stories where the purchaser of a MF had to spend thousands of dollars evicting the existing tenants and dealing with the damage they left upon leaving. If your market is as near as hot as mine and you are quick with filling the units, you should only look at a couple weeks worth of vacancy after you buy.

Carolina, your on the right track. It is good that your including all of the expenses you will be immediately be paying, but don't forget to include maintenance and vacancy expenses. You want to make sure you set aside funds each month so that you can cover any potential repairs and unit turnover. For a property with smaller units like this one, I would use 10% of the monthly rent each month to set aside for vacancy to be safe. Your monthly maintenance expense depends on things like the class of tenants you expect to have renting your units and the age of the property. For example, I own a rental with an A class area, so I don't expect to spend a lot of money on repairs that are the tenants fault. However, this particular unit was built in 1900 so I set aside more dollars each month than I normally would because of the age related repairs I predict I will need to make. As for a number, I use 15% for this property. I hope this helps you in your analyzation of this property and other properties in the future!

Hey Brandon, I totally get what you mean. We all know how important it is to network, but it's a hard thing to do. I have a rental property in Chester, and am from the Derry area. If you want to meet up and chat at any point let me know, I could certainly help you out in your search for a property or with anything else for that matter.

I'm a pretty young investor (21) and whenever I talk about real estate with my friends or peers I get blank stares and negative comments. Just go to bed at night knowing that you'll be much happier and secure in five years than any of 'em

Hi Laura, I work out of the Portsmouth KW office and am familiar with the local market. I'm sure you know that Portsmouth has been growing recently and finding rehab deals has become increasingly difficult. If I can help you on your search, let me know. As a generality, finding SFHs in Coastal/Southern NH that cash flow as rentals is a tough task. If you intend to buy and hold, why not focus on MFs?

Hey Nicholas, I work in your area and am also looking for properties in the Southern NH area. I'd love to help you in any way I can.. I grew up next to you in Chester NH, and am about to close on a triplex there. Hope to talk to you soon!

@Adam Swift@Kevin GregoireHey guys, I also work near Derry and would love to assist you in any way I can while you look for investments. I have a triplex in Chester that I am currently renting and understand the investment business very well, give me a shout if you need anything!

Let me preface everything I say here with the fact that there isn't necessarily enough information for me (or others) to definitely tell you whether it is or isn't a good deal. If you are looking at the property as a straight investment, then at first glance it does not seem to be a great deal. Many people on BP use the 1% rule to quickly evaluate properties, and this property does not satisfy the 1% rule (this rule is basically a quick way to screen whether or not a property has the potential to cash flow and refers to the rent needing to be 1% or more of the purchase price.) As I said, that rule is just a quick way to screen properties and further analyzation is required. However, your goals may be different than that. You mentioned it's for your daughter to live in while at school, and if the goal is to provide her a place to live at school while paying slightly less than on campus living or renting, then maybe you would consider this further. However, as a pure financial investment, it does not seem like a great deal.

In New Hampshire the class is inexpensive and relatively short so I just took it while going to school for the education. After I got my license, I just went to a few brokerages and found out which one would work with the most, given my schedule. I work at Keller Williams now, and signed on to a team within the brokerage that has helped me a lot with my education and through leads. In my opinion, the experience far outweighs the compensation I'm receiving. You will find that many brokerages will be happy to help and work with you. @Andrew Waltner

I'm currently 21 years old, a junior in college, and working part time as a real estate agent... and am under contract for a my first investment property, a triplex. The biggest hurdle you will face is obviously getting financing. I talked to over 15 banks and credit unions in my area and eventually used a combination of a conventional mortgage mixed with private money to acquire my first property. If you find a good deal, the money will follow. The only reason I ended up getting financed by my money partner and the bank was because i found a very good deal. I definitely agree with @Jacob Sampson that house hacking is by far the best option you have right now. In my opinion, you should house hack a four unit rather than a duplex/triplex. If you can find one for a good price, you will have a much better chance of living completely free or even cash flowing.