All Forum Posts by: Bryce Y.

I'm not sure how old the roof is. I must admit, my initial reaction was to try and squeeze a few more years out, and it seems like there are valid arguments for both sides....

Roof is not in great shape (hail damage), but is functioning fine and not leaking. Insurance will not cover a new roof since I bought it in this condition. Would you replace it now or try and squeeze a few more years out of it? I have budgeted to replace it but it just seems wasteful to replace something that is not broken (yet).

While this is a great strategy on paper, there are some not-so-obvious drawbacks that I have come to realize.

The biggest drawback to me is that at least here in Dallas, 4-plexes that make sense from a cash flow point of view are not in the most desirable areas. $950 gets you a pretty nice apartment in a great area, probably close to lots of bars, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. Most 4-plexes will not give you this.

Basically what I'm saying is you must sacrifice lifestyle for money. That is a personal decision and one that will be different for everyone. Now if FHA is the only way you can go to get started investing, then this doesn't necessarily apply, but sounds like the OP is not in this situation.

I am of the opinion that home ownership is vastly overrated, especially when you are young and single.

I would recommend the OP spend 6 months on this site reading and learning, then re-evaluate after. After that time, you will have a much better idea of where you want to go as well as a good chunk of cash to make that happen.

Insurance seems absolutely ridiculous. You should be able to get it down to less than half that easily. If I couldn't find cheaper insurance I would probably pass...

Check out Gaylene Lonergan at Capital Title

I'll be there. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

That's very interesting about leaving off the return address. That would definitely save a lot of effort hand writing the envelopes.

However, I don't know how common this is, but recently I mailed out a batch of yellow letters and when I checked my PO Box about half of them got returned. Turns out the person scanned the mail pieces backwards and so it came back as no stamp detected. I took it back in to the post office and they apologized and fixed it. If there was no return address I would've been out a good chunk of change on stamps.

Has this happened to anyone?

I'd try to get something in writing saying that they will vacate for $2k. If that fails, I'd try to negotiate with the seller and tell him that you're effectively losing $1k every month and would like to be compensated. 11 months left = $11k reduction in price. You may not get all $11k but it's a starting point.

Jon Holdman

I'm curious. How long does your average tenant stay when you do month-to-month leases from the beginning? I'd be concerned with a tenant moving out after a couple months, then I'd be stuck with the whole turnover process so soon...

FYI Cap rate is independent of debt service. So you can add back in your mtg payment. It should be a 6.6 cap.