All Forum Posts by: Rob Brautigam

Welcome to BP, @Dean Samnang. Nice to see other investors from CT.

What type of investment are you leaning towards? Are you actively searching for deals in any CT market?

First post...Welcome to BP...introduce yourself!! You have NYC listed, as well as limited capital. Are you looking to invest in the city? What are your goals? Experience? Connections?

As Trevor said, you will definitely be able to find great areas to invest with little money down within a 2 hour radius of NYC. Up here in CT, you can find small multifamilies (2-4 units) in the $150k to $250k range with little work needed. If you are living in the city and are only planning on investing (and not owner-occupying), with conventional financing, you will most likely be required to put down 20 to 25%.

 Nope, just CT. Was just giving an example.

Hey @Armando Mejia, as @Andrew Meyer explained, you will definitely want to run your calcs based on both units being fully rented to tenants (including vacancy factor).

Along with your PITI, you will also want to include all owner-paid recurring expenses such as water/sewer/garbage, an average maintenance expense (lawn, snow, general repairs), and long-term capital expenditures (new roof, furnace, etc).

Once you are happy with your approximate monthly/annual cash flow assuming both units are rented, it will be easy to compute what your required living expenses will be if you were to live in one of the units.

Be aware that typically a 3-plex or 4-plex will allow you to live for cheaper and cheaper in comparison to a duplex.

@Susan Antani, have you set up BiggerPockets Keyword Alerts?? I set them up for Connecticut and a few more related terms, and I know a few guys in CT will respond often to new members and to members looking to connect.

At a minimum, I would set them up for 'Milwaukee' to get immediate notifications/emails when it's brought up in a forum post.

@Kristin G., since you have listed you're from Tennessee, I'm curious why you are looking into cities as far as Detroit.

For a first time investor, I feel like it is wayyy easier to invest locally (within a 2 hour drive) than long distance. This is due to your ability to physically drive to the property (and surrounding markets) on any given day, fully immerse yourself in the town/city and talk with the locals, get a feel for where the good/bad areas of town are, and many more benefits.

Are you familiar with Detroit or planning on moving there to invest?

Congrats Josh, sounds like you're on the right path...signing up for the class is the first step!

 I agree...straighten the mailbox, really?

Anyways, you can think of it this way, you just got a free inspection done and in certain cases, it's better to have a tenant that cares too much than cares too little. Better to be aware of the need to re-caulk the bath than having water damage which costs more to repair down the line. Just my two cents.

 Haha nice...when you said banner, I imagined like a 4 ft plus banner rather than a election-sized bandit sign. The size is typically what's regulated by zoning.

I tried searching for the podcast and couldn't find it with BP/Google keyword search...hopefully someone has a better memory!

Welcome @Nick Salafia. My one piece of advice is that even though you're planning on getting your license, you may still want to use a Realtor during your first investment property purchase. Not only is there no additional commission on the buyer's side, but it will be a great way to start off, meeting the right people and having assistance with the entire purchase process along the way.

You might also want to check out the Real Estate Agent forum.