All Forum Posts by: Michael R.

There some great strategies mentioned in this thread. I like to use a bit of all of them to get as much information about a market as I can.  Zillow, Craigslist, rentometer, actual apartment web sites and any other source. 

But $ / Sq foot to me is not enough as I like to look at the class of neighborhood, property type (duplex vs apartment) all of the elements that can impact rental rates. The more info the better. 

This also helps me in ways that, when I present to a prospective tenant or a tenant that I am presenting a rental increase to, I know as much as I can about my market and no matter where that tenant goes to look for other comps, I will have presented my property to them with integrity and can show them why my rental is a great value.

I hope that helps.

Consider a cloud provider. Zoho has multiple functions to include email and CRM that are very reasonably priced. 

To be clear you are thinking asset protection and that not actually owning the asset would help? That seems I'll thought to have a financial strategy dictated by your legal structure. The short answer is of someone is going to sue you, they are going to sue you.

Do you have an attorney to consult? I would imagine that as long as you are doing things right and you get into a legal battle that your legal fees are going to be your problem before a property is taken away.

How are you currently structured? Are things in your name or in an LLC? Is this one SFR are you flipping or buying on the court steps? Are you looking to scale?

I hope that helps.

Why don't you ask the builder for his template and have him run through his process with you? That way you would both be on the same page so to speak and when each of you look at each others documentation you wouldn't have to struggle to interpret it. 

I hope that helps.

Oh okay, so it sounds like an informed comparison to me @Joe

This is why vacancy must be factored in too when you run your numbers.

Welcome to the community. Be sure to turn on your key word alerts.

@Carlitos, How you finance may dictate how much you have to put down.  There are varying opinions - put down less for your primary residence and you'll have more for your rental - but again that can depend on how you finance that and the rules for each home.  Have you considered buying your rental first? Or buying a multi-family?

I have a VA mortgage which, from my understanding, is similar to the Hometown Heroes Program. You'll want to get all of the program rules from your lender. I would shop around and ask two or three lenders how they administer the program to ensure you are getting a consistent message along with shopping your mortgage rates.

I hope that helps.

Call three agents and get quotes.  Make sure you get quotes for full replacement (rebuild) and for cash value.  If they won't insure for cash value they may offer a discounted rate that is cheaper than full replacement.

Why would you assume the ARV? Do you know any agents that can run some comps for you?