All Forum Posts by: Jack Gray

Thanks again for the ideas everyone! My goal is to improve ROI by bumping the rents up and I'm trying to determine the most cost effective way to do that. I have an offer in so I'll keep you guys posted.

Any suggestions on how, specifically, to improve the exterior and interior appearance of these duplexes would be hugely appreciated.  Each duplex is 1600 square feet.  Each unit rents for $800/month so the suggestions need to be cost-effective for a blue collar neighborhood. My initial thoughts are they don't have much privacy and the kitchen is a bit dated.  I pledge 1 beer for every good idea!

Does anyone know where to find a good residential lease agreement that is legal and enforceable in Florida?  

I found the standard, generic Florida lease agreement online, but since I'm about to try self-managing a rental property on my own for the first time I'd like something that's been customized to be as landlord friendly as possible to cover all my bases.  

@Brandon M.  Would you mind passing me contact info for your insurance guy?  

Thank you!

As near as I can tell, the general trend for the past few decades is for locations in the Midwest and South to have better cashflow but poorer appreciation potential than coastal locations.  

Are there any places in the U.S. that defy this rule, with consistent job and population growth, rising prices, and solid cashflow for rental properties?  

I can find great 10% cap rate properties in markets all over the country in bad neighborhoods, but does anyone know where  A-quality multifamily properties (duplexes, etc) can be found that beat the 1% rule?  

If you do, please post here or PM me. 

@Jack Tucker 

Hi Jack,

I'm considering the same strategy in Florida but the numbers don't seem to work out nearly as well. Property taxes and insurance are huge and my cleaning costs would be much higher ($100 per cleaning at least 4x/month). How did you get your cleaning costs down to $50/month?

Any other markets you'd recommend for this strategy?  

@Jack Tucker

Hi Jack,

I'm considering the same strategy in Florida but the numbers don't seem to work out nearly as well.  Property taxes and insurance are huge and my cleaning costs would be much higher ($100 per cleaning at least 4x/month).  How did you get your cleaning costs down to $50/month?  

@Cal C.

I spent 7 years in the DC area and have no interest in ever returning or investing there thanks to the traffic =).  I'll end up in Tampa next and probably settle there although I'm not sure how well rental properties cashflow in Tampa in good neighborhoods.  

I'll be sure to say hi to Rich for you.  And I'll start doing some research on Spain, which I hadn't considered.  Thanks again!

@Cal C: Yeah, I work at the JAC, but I don't have any interest in UK real estate.  The market here has just been skyrocketing and the laws are so biased in favor of tenants the owning a rental property seems unacceptably risky.  I prefer to stick to the U.S. 

@Elizabeth C: How did you manage to find a lender that only requires 15% down on investment properties?  

I should probably jump in here and clarify that I'm a U.S. citizen working in the U.K for the next few years.  I can make it back to the states on short notice if need be, or take substantial time off (a month if need be) but I don't want to do the back-and-forth every couple months due to the high cost of plane tickets.