All Forum Posts by: Catherine McElwain

My opinion is bunk beds.  Either twin over twin, or twin over full.  That would be a good option for the "family" rental if you go that route.  

 We received a letter from HACC within the past 2 months stating that there would be no new vouchers and no new properties - I checked the website and it says "open with exceptions."  Maybe we misunderstood the letter?  

Hi Marco and Christine! Glad to meet you! My husband and I are also building a real estate portfolio through BRRRR and flips. We have a few flips under our belt and own some rentals, but are now looking to really grow!

Check out the PA REI group: https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Real-Estate-Investors-As...

And keep posting and following here - so much to learn on these pages.  

 https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Real-Estate-Investors-As...

We have one Section 8 Property that has worked out well for us. The property is in Chester County - however, Chesco is no longer allowing new properties to become part of the program, and are offering no new vouchers to people due to funding decrease.  Your first step is to contact the housing authority for the county of the property and ask about getting started.  They send you a bunch of paperwork, the house needs to be inspected, and then it can be cleared to rent.  Be choosy with your tenant!

There are 2 episodes on the Bigger Pockets podcast that were helpful for us - #356 and #575.  

Is this for a flip or BRRRR or???

For BRRRR, I use ARV x 0.7, minus repairs

Obviously it helps to have a contractor along to give you a rehab estimate.  There is also a book BP put out years back called The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs.  Materials are more expensive now than when the book came out.  There is also a VERY ROUGH estimate of $20-80 per sq ft depending on what the house needs and what finishes you choose.  Clearly that's not a great way to figure things out, but it's a start

1.  I rent a property to my brother.  The lease is a rent-to-own and states he only needs to pay enough to cover the expenses "taxes, insurance, repairs" etc.  This equates to an amount significantly below market value rent.  Is this property tax deductible?  If not, is there anything we can reasonably do to make it deductible?  

2. Also, I have 3 properties in a LLC. How do I account for the expenses that are general in nature, as opposed to for one particular property? eg - home office expense, supplies, etc.

And thank you!

@Will Gaston THANK YOU

oh.my.word.  That post is gold.  100 broken windows!!!  We've already had 2.   

@Jawei Kuo I definitely appreciate your insight!  All great ideas!  

@Logan Koch  We have been thinking about making the rent "all inclusive" of all utilities, security system (a must at Temple), etc.  I think you are right that it will prevent problems - as will a monthly cleaner.  I appreciate your comments!  

Because Temple is in a rough part of town (students are told by the University to never walk alone after dark), I am thinking about ways to make rentals easier and more comforting to parents/students.  We will see....the numbers also have to make sense.

@Colleen F. We did have drama the first year.  We had to tell 2 renters to leave.  Lessons learned!  This year, we stuck with all females to live with our daughter and it's been easier.  Plus my daughter is good at holding house meetings.  

Thanks for the other advice!