All Forum Posts by: Dave Savage

@Anya K. welcome to BP.  Feel free to post questions specific to Rochester as many of us will chime in if you put 'Rochester, NY' in the post.   

@Barry Cohen I don't think it is too out of line with similar work on rentals I have done.  I would get estimates outside of your PM, but remember don't wait too long because you don't want to lose an extra months rent trying to save $500 especially in the winter.  I will send you one contractor to call as well, but you need to understand your contract with your PM before you go to an outside contractor.

Based on where you mentioned the property is I would definitely consider ripping out the carpets, and then painting the floors (if you can't refinish hardwoods) as they should be pine or oak planks.   Last a lot longer and easier to repaint on your next cleanout instead of replacing the carpet everytime it gets torn up.  

@Greg Baker your last post made a lot of good points about the negatives of changing it to a double.   I am not sure about Gates, but the City of Rochester would be very unlikely to allow you to change it to a double, and I suspect Gates would be similar.  The neighbors would fight it for sure.  

The numbers are tough on this one, although I like you got into it with nothing down, renting a $93k house for $1100-1200(max for Gates) is a tough proposition. The only thing to consider is you will be gaining equity every month, but the high taxes, and PMI make it a tough deal long term.

I would rather see you sell it, and start saving $300-500/mo until you can put a downpayment on a $50-55k double in Maplewood with separate utilities that you get $1300 a month for.  

@Jesse Doyle a few words to consider.    

Definitely look to use a VA or FHA loan to buy a multi and live in it...definitely a first place to start.

I would be cautious on going full time when first getting out without any experience.  You need to have a definite plan of action to accomplish this to generate true cash flow.   I would look for a job with a Property Management company, or Development company to get some income and relevant experience, and learn at night and on the weekends before going full time.   You can burn through your money pretty quickly and finding HMLs and Bank Loans with no income or experience will be difficult. 

It takes real "seat" time to come up to speed and build a network and experience before you can start doing multiple deals and making real money.  It isn't easy but it can be done.  Many investors have gone full time in the Rochester, NY market, but they all did it after a year or two of grinding it out at night and on weekends to learn the hard lessons.   

If you are focused on going full time, rentals shouldn't be an area of focus as it is too hard to build consistent cash flow with a small number, and unexpected repairs could eat into your assets.   Think about partnering on flips where you do a lot of labor, etc to save your capital and gain experience; or wholesaling which in and of itself is much harder than it sounds to make consistent income but won't require you to dip into your assets.  

Keep asking questions and tagging Rochester, NY in your posts and we will be glad to help you start out.  

@Jesse Doyle I agree with Mark, many of the deals in those areas aren't as good as they seem as prices are high vs. rents (Hard to get the 2% rule in those areas).   

Throw one or two properties up on BP as examples and there are a number of us here from Rochester that will help critique the deals to give you more information and it will be a good reference point for other investors looking at those areas in Rochester.  

@Tim Trotta I would call Reliant, Northwestern, and Lyons banks in the Rochester area.  They might all be able to help.

@Barima Opong-Owusu in most cases private lenders, especially ones you haven't worked with in the past won't want to come in in second position on a mortgage - and most banks wouldn't allow it either. They want to see POF from you for the down paymnent.

Your best bet would be to find a partner who would put the money down and house in their name (or set up a LLC with two partners) and then if you were to manage the property and do all of the work you could split the profits 50/50 and on a sale you would split any profits above their initial investment 50/50. One option - but it will depend on the partner and what % they feel they should be getting.

Remember 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing and it will get you into the game. 

@Nelya Calev my quick opinion is it might be worth the $500 it would cost to put them up in a hotel for 5 days to allow you to correct the bathroom issue.  Not sure about the laws in your area, but you probably can not remove access to their only shower for that length of time without making alternate arrangements.  

This money would save you from trying to get them out and then making the unit ready for the next tenants which will be much more expensive.  

@Aniket Thakur  Make a rent roll from the last 6 months a condition of contract which will show you whether rents are coming in or not.   

Beyond that, there is little you can do, but if the rents are falsified on the rent rolls and you have an issue you could have cause for remediation from the seller.  

Also make sure the rents that are being stated are in line with rents in that area - check rentometer, craigslist, or call possible PM companies.

@Cass R. Smith I would slowly transition from one form to the other, and then ensure you are getting good results with the internet marketing before abandoning your conventional marketing.    Personally I find the internet leads to be more competitive as many times those sellers are calling mutliple investors.