All Forum Posts by: Carl Rowles

Hi BP Fam!

We are closing on our first rental property TOMORROW! Very excited! It's a 3bed/2ba SFH that needs just a little TLC. We have the vendors all lined up ready to come in and fix stuff next week and it's nothing that can't be done within 1-2 weeks, even if our own DIY things.

My question: If we want to have a tenant in place on or around Oct 1, when should we begin advertising? I know we want to try to wait to show the property until fixes are done and it looks the best it can, but how much lead time before that? A few days? A week? Or are there other metrics/guidelines/rules of thumb I could use to help gauge that part of our timeline?

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

Section 8 is not a great option for first-time landlords just because it requires more upkeep and working with the municipality. You can't say you aren't taking Section 8, but you can say all applicants will be considered as a whole and it has not been licensed for Section 8 in the past and you had no plans to do it. When you list it for rent you can make a decision if you get who you think would be a good tenant either way. But you should know if it's a B or C neighborhood that you are buying in.

Why can't I say I'm not taking Section 8? Nothing I've read in the state Landlord-Tenant Law says anything about it as a protected class, and I know the governor recently (2023) signed into law allowing landlords to not accept it.

Hey BP fam!

We are officially under contract for our first property - a SFH in what I would gets is a B-C type of neighborhood. Looking for advice on whether or not we should accept Section 8 applicants? I've read (all my knowledge is theoretical) that tenants on government assistance can be really rough on properties (I also see that as painting with a broad brush) but the government assistance side of that is pretty stable income, and it doesn't seem terribly difficult to raise rent either, just requires 60-days notice instead of 30.

Thoughts/recommendations?    

I'm *almost* under contract for my first rental!  

Hubs' and my finances are through Ally Bank. Love it being online and our savings acct rate is 4.2%.  I've read that I should open a business savings and checking at a local institution - particularly for the security deposits.  

Is it terrible to just open another savings account in our Ally Portfolio explicitly for rental income and leave the security deposit at a local institution? I have a hard time giving up that interest rate on rental income that would be hours, but I see the validity of having a local institution.

Hey BP Fam, looking at my first deal and wanting to have folks double check my work! Property is a 3bed, 2ba SFH (Cedar Rapids, IA) listed for $96k (was purchased in March '24 for $90k...looking into that)

Market rent is $1,300 (could nudge up $50 maybe). Taxes, Insurance, Vacancy, Repairs, CapExp add up to $615 (insurance may be a little high until i get it quoted). My goal is to get my Mortgage payment below $490 with less of my money involved in a DP. At $490, it would cashflow around $195/mo and have a Cash on Cash ROI of around 9.9%. BUT, if I could potentially get the seller to buy down my interest rate in closing, that could increase my ROI to just over 11% and increase monthly cashflow by ~$45.

Thoughts? Am I too deep in the weeds? Do you need more info?

Hey there! Just getting started myself. I'm glad Allison posted the Facebook group. There's also a Landlords of Linn County professional organization you can join. They seem to have a bunch of resources and a monthly meeting with presentations.

This is my first BP Forum post - please be gentle! 

Looking to buy our first invesment property. One we're looking at is a multi-family duplex. Tenants have been there for 7 and 10 years respectively, but rent is is about $350 under market value. They're on month-to-month leases. How would you proceed in this situation if you were to pursue the rental? I still have to see what's happening with utilities, but right now it would cashflow anywhere from $150-$300 (depending on the loan type and DP we select) with a CoC ROI between 9.9%-10.8% (lower than some other options we're looking at, but it already has tenants...)

Thoughts?