All Forum Posts by: Leng Thao

If you looking to salvage the entire home, I'd probably look elsewhere. That type of project can to difficult, costly, and filled with surprises unless you've got a knowledgeable team in place, I'd move on.

@Jim Edmunds  Welcome to the site. You've come to the right place but it is what you make of it. Personally, I've made some good contacts and it has been helpful for my investments ( shout out to @James Wise ).

Let me know if I may be help to you.

Take care.

@Dan Veneski 

I echo the words of @Mehran K. 

The first thing you want to do is develop your plan. Is just for cash flow or is this for appreciation? The answer to this question will help determine your strategy and therefore you're investing criteria.

If you're looking for cash flow, then you may want to look in markets where your dollars will go the farthest with the highest return.

Mehran Brought up an excellent point about the 200,000 LA home versus the 50,000 Milwaukee home. 

Equally important you must have a solid team in place. No team = no investing. I would rather have a good team in a fair market than a fair team and a good market any day. Personally, I would not invest in any location I have not been to myself. You can forget the numbers if the street vibe is bad. However you can only tell that if you've been there. I've learned that lesson the hard way and it is my new rule.

I hope this is helpful and good luck.

@Dawn Anastasi Congrats & well done. 

I would have said YES at the $500 difference but I'm glad it worked out for you. 

Wow! I didn't realize that condo taxes are much less expensive. My SFR in Milwaukee cost about $2400/year but nevertheless it all works out in the end.

Thanks for sharing & inspiring us. 

@Rob Boese 

Welcome to BP. Glad to have a local pm & investor on board. 

IMO if you want your cash back and to improve your DTI, I think lowering the price would be a good idea. I agree with Anthony.
As you noted, your home definitely requires a special someone to purchase this type of property. It may appraise for a certain price but if no buyers are out there for this type of property, it will be hard to move. A better price may entice others to reconsider the property though they were looking for something else. Just my thoughts and best of luck.

Tony,
Welcome to BP.
If you're looking for appreciation, I came across a recent article a month or two ago (data from Zillow) about the "Best City for Mom & Pop Landlords" suggesting that for long term gains / appreciation, the top 5 cities are:
1) San Jose $8900 / month long term profit
2) San Francisco $6000 / mth
3) LA $4300 / mth
4) San Diego $4100 / mth
5) Riverside CA $3600 / mth (I was suprised by this one).
I too invest out of state but those are purely cash flow plays.
Best of luck.

@Dave Carpenter as mentioned by @Dan C. Craigslist is a good tool. You can market it the way you would normally but just make it known to the readers that you will consider such options whatever that may be. 

Yes, a rent to own is a viable strategy but it has a bad rep due to past investors not doing their due diligence on their potential tenant buyer.  As always, your goal is to truly help a family obtain a home & work with them. The tenant buyer needs to understand they need to pay on time & build their credit so they can some day soon purchase the home from you. 

Keep the monthly rents reasonable and the purchase price down the road reasonable as well otherwise the bank will not finance such a ballooned price. 

Thank you Chris. I will be speaking to my property manager about this. Great for rehabs & vacant rentals.