All Forum Posts by: James Sunderland

Well here's what I figured out, using the first link as an example ($52k triplex, assuming 1 unit is vacant):

-Taxes

Indianapolis, marion county, 3.13% or $1627 a year, though there's a homeowner deduction that reduces it by half If I live in the house.

-Sewer and Water/Trash/Heat/Electric (for two units)

40+30+70+70 = 210 x 2 = 420 x 12 = $5040

-HOA

Honestly no idea, found an email to contact but i'd rather not bother them now, I'll guess $100 per month. 

-Cap Ex and Ops (I always budget at least $150 per month per roof)

I'll go with $100 based off your 150 rule, and apply it to each of the 3 units. so $3600/year on maintenance.

-Insurance

$933 annually (state farm quote, should be accurate for multi-family house)

-Mgmt Fee - as a % (general consensus here on BP is 10%. include it even if you think you are going to self manage)

If this is personal profit I wouldn't count it. I'd probably have to recycle everything back into the house to make it a nice rental.

Vacancy- as a %. (8% represents 1 vacant month/unit/year)

If it's a triplex, I'll guess one apartment is always vacant to play it safe, so 33%?

So if rent is 450 per month, that means i have $10,800 from two rented units to work with.

$10,800(rental income) - 1627(taxes) - 5040(utilities) - 1200(hoa) - 3600(maintenance) - 933(insurance)  = -1600

..seems like I'll have 0 wiggle room with vacancy then.

These figures are off but I tried to overestimate them. I know I overshot maintenance but I figure with an older home a big expense will pop up eventually. I obviously have more to learn about.. if anyone has any critique on this harebrained scheme pull no punches! thanks for the guidance guys. I'm probably gonna need more money.

Aaron Montague, yes, my plan now is to buy a multi-unit house and live in one unit while renting out the rest. Since I'm buying a home as well as investing I'm making sure I get exactly what I'm paying for, hopefully keeping nasty surprises at a minimum.

Thanks for outlining the expenses for me, I'll post back in a bit with what I find.

Okay here's the deal, i'm 22 with a two year associates degree, no debt, no current income(unemployed, living at home), and perfect credit. I've been saving my money over the past six years and have about 65k, 15k in an investment I can tap if I need to. I'd like to buy a place I could live in and flip/rent in the future, the only catch is it has to be something I can support through minimum wage, at the very least. Here are some places I've looked at, mostly C/B- neighborhoods:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5...

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1...

What I'm wondering is if it'd be worth taking out a loan to get a more expensive place with better/easier rent. I have never taken any debt nor want any but, if I'm going to be living in the place and doing work on it myself then I'd be okay with the risk. Although I don't have a problem with lower class neighborhoods. Also I'm not sure how the loan process works, if you have no current income/future prospects.

I've never looked at REI before but this is looking really appealing as a personal business you can support yourself with while working from home. I've always wanted my own place, if I can get it to pay for itself I'm sold. Hopefully over time I can build a portfolio and become a full time landlord. I've really been enjoying the material in these forums, it's a great place here.

I'd go for a triplex, two 2/1s and an efficiency in the attic/basement. that would probably work easiest.

sounds ambitious. you don't have any money for a down payment of some kind? what's your salary? have you owned real estate before?