All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Welcome to BP! Its a good time to sell, but depending on where you are right now the rental market is still slow with the holidays. Also depends on if your property is attached or detached. Mainly depends on where your property is in BR too.

@Mark Waldrip

This deal is interesting to consider in this light... $210,000 for 7 condos. $4900 in rents minus $1750 in HOA fees. $3150 after HOA fees.

Alternative is to look for 1 detached single family home for $210,000 that will make 1750 in rent + insurance and tax costs. 

The difference, is the latter you only have 1 kitchen and a few bathrooms to maintain and one a/c, etc. 

With the condos you're looking at 7 units to maintain (7 a/cs, 7 kitchens, 14 bathrooms) etc.

@Mark Waldrip With the HOA owning the water heaters and with them being shared, would be a concern for me. I'm not a big fan of condos already. This is one reason. You get less control of your investment. As @Rhett Tullis mentioned, you really aren't left with a whole lot of margin on the deal either. I think you'll find that condos don't give you the freedom you have with detached homes. Just some thoughts to think about.

@Mark Waldrip Why does the HOA own the water heaters? It sounds like a condo-conversion (Where the units were once apartments.). Doesn't sound like a good arrangement. $250 sounds like a lot for HOA fees. Inspecting each unit would be wise.

I agree with@J Scott that it is very much like gambling in a way. Perhaps it is a "less risky gamble" if you see reasons why the area should improve. The thing with buying vacant land is that there are not many ways to make a cashflow, and the lot may require routine mowing if it is in the city. Perhaps the better question would be, would you be willing to hold on to the property for 20 years, mow the grass for 20 years, pay the taxes for 20 years, etc. with the hope to make a profit? The situation is much more complicated if you have a structure on the property that you don't intend to put into service. (I.E. squatters, fires, and the demo costs if the city when the city requires you to remove it after say year 15 due to its dilapidated condition.) Also, consider that your land is at the mercy of the surrounding market. With a house in rough shape one can force some appreciation by fixing it up. With land one cannot. 

Regarding roaches, provided that the property is vacant, there is much success using Boric Acid. One could remove the fridge from its place and sprinkle a layer of "Boric Acid" under the "fridge area". (Do so with caution, as if you have a major infestation, the roaches will scatter.) Since the roaches will be attracted to the warm motor of the refrigerator, they will get the boric acid on them and eventually expire. There is also articles online where you can make a mixture of flour/boric acid/caro syrup. Then you can place marble-sized balls in areas in wet or damp areas, like under sinks, near water heater, etc. (Just make sure children and pets can't get to the areas you apply the boric acid. Don't breath the boric acid powder either and read up on it so that you can follow safety procedures such as using gloves.)

@Juan Carlos Quiroz Zolezzi Juan has very good points. I agree that the property you are considering seems like a very complex deal that requires a lot of experience to have it done correctly. I'd encourage you to find a simpler deal with a house that is in salvageable shape. It is best to start out investing with simple deals and then grow from there. That way you're able to gauge the deal better and learn from your mistakes. If you do a deal and you make 1 or 2 mistakes, then on the next deal you'll say, "I won't make that mistake again." But if your first deal has so many mistakes made all at once, you may be unable to explain what exactly went wrong in the deal due to the complexity of the deal and all the moving parts.

The bank would likely just choose the highest offer that comes in provided that it meets the highest offer is an acceptable price. 

You have the option to get a termite inspector to inspect what they can see. (They usually aren't allowed to do invasive inspections.) Termites can do a lot of damage to homes, most of which one cannot see from "the outside".