All Forum Posts by: Brandon Baker

@Zul Budhwani, when you say North I-30, are you saying close to I-30 but SW Little Rock? My first properties are in Sherwood, Jacksonville, and N Little Rock so I'm doing ok so far. 

Hello Little Rock folks, I've just begun in my investing journey and have started in Little Rock. I"m doing so remotely and have closed on 3 properties thus far. As of now I haven't visited the city but plan to do so in the next couple of weeks. So far, I've been focussed on the numbers but haven't taken enough time to learn the market itself, instead I've leaned on a turnkey provider. 

What I'd like to hear from this group is what areas within LR should I focus on, or avoid? I"m good with Class C or B properties, would like to stay around 100K or a little higher as long as I can get 1%, or small multi-family properties. Any help is greatly appreciated. I plan to tour the city in the coming weeks...

@Basit Siddiqi, perfect! Thanks!!!

I'm looking for a book recommendation on taking advantage of any and all tax breaks I can get with buy and hold rentals. There's a lot to chose from and would like your opinions. Thanks in advance!

Thanks @Connie Chan, I'll check it out!

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your responses...

@Daniel Hyman, yea, I thought about that and may be a good choice. 

@Nick Peters, thanks for the suggestion, those spreadsheets offer an enormous amount of info. The only thing they lack is the ability to track overall profit/expense across multiple properties. 

@Alex Olson yea, it’s the same PM for now. I started downloading templates and will see what the PM provides, then create something as needed.

Hello, I'm about to close on my first 3 properties and want to set up all the necessary ways to track my income, expenses, and overall returns. I'm using a property management company so they'll provide monthly reports, but I'm looking to be able to track trends, etc... Question is, with only 3 properties for now and looking to get a few more, would you do this in a spreadsheet? I don't want to purchase any expensive software just for these basics. Any recommendations? If someone has a nice spreadsheet set up, will you delete your data and willing to share? Thanks for your help!

Thanks @Guifre Mora, I'm not sure but I'll dig into that, exactly what I need, more direction. 

@Kirk R., $1900 is escrow, so only about $4K is actual closing costs. Not a lot, only 1 broker I've been working with. 

Hey folks, I'm about to make my first purchase and I've got some questions about the costs being passed on to the buyer. On a property that will cost about $90K, I'm being told to expect about $6K in closing costs. This seems high to me. Here's the breakdown:

Title fee $1500
Lender origination fee $1500
appraisel $500
prepaid insurance and taxes $1900
inspection $325
termite inspection $100
pluming inspection $250

Does this sound right? Also, when running your cash on cash returns, you would pull out the taxes and insurance in their own category, but are you adding those other costs as one time fees? Thanks in advance for answering my newbie questions!