All Forum Posts by: John K.

Paul Zofsak - looks like a great find! You'd do a huge ROI on your money down as long as the 152k is per duplex.

http://rentalmodeler.com/property.php?id=64&secret=53e882f0

Shema Turner - I think generally speaking you have a great plan! I feel like real estate is a fast walk, and people who run too fast end up getting in over their heads. After you get your first property you end up learning so much about all the ins and outs.

My one pro-tip for being organized is keep everything, keep copies of letters you mail to tenants, copies of all the checks you receive as rent, copies of all bills, etc. I've found being over-organized to the point where some might think you are crazy is the best thing I've done, since when you need to reference something you have it within seconds.

Jon Holdman - just revised numbers, since he said he was going to finance it after a few years I modeled for it being financed. ROI is horrible when you pay cash (still better than a savings account, but just bad in comparison). I just raised closing costs to $800 worse case scenario from a title company, also raised management fees to 10% to overall reflect more for leasing. Raised expenses to $50/month (since he said it had lots of newer updates, odds are good overall the expenses would be less).

Hey Trevor - looks like a great deal! Good 20% Return. Here is a model with numbers close to yours. I modeled for 20% down as though you would finance it.

http://www.rentalmodeler.com/property.php?id=60&secret=313488330

John

Patrick Painter - I got all my ducks in a row with my first property - I was pre-approved for the mortgage and knew my limits from my banker not just from a lending side but what they were looking for from an income property side with existing tenants and leases. I had a great real estate agent that was aware of my situation, knew what I was looking for - and started taking me through probably 15 properties over about two months. When the one I purchased went on the market (it was bank foreclosure), I had a offer in on it about 12 hours after it went up - and within two days I had an accepted offer. The only reason I "won" over about 10 other offers was the offer was reasonable and more importantly I had all the financing in order and was ready for a rapid close. I don't think it's worth buying so/so properties that cash flow OK, I've just started looking at properties again ready to buy the next one - and I'm being even more strict making sure I find ones that are great. I should also say that I do it with my brother - and he is doing the hands on property management side of it, and I'm doing all of the business side - so after we now have our feet wet I feel like our operational model is ready for scale. Even though it's fun to grow fast in business and buy a ton, the ultimate end game of winning with tons of cash flow in my mind comes from lots of strategy and being extremely organized and picky. However when the right property comes along and it meets all your criteria - there's no time to wait and just make a offer immediately.

Patrick Painter -I'm in your same boat - I'm 27, purchased my first income property a year ago with 20% down - and I am seeing about 30% return on my investment when all is said and done on my first duplex. I've run the numbers over and over again - my plan is to continue to buy duplexes when the right opportunities present themselves (I will only buy when the numbers on paper are 40% or better). My plan is to start buying 4-8 unit buildings in about 5-8 years after I get my feet wet with duplexes. My understanding is you have a lot more issues with 4-8 units, from having to clean common spaces to increased noise complaints since the density of tenants is so much closer. On the flip side, the 4-8 units provide GREAT cash flow - I've modeled some 16 unit buildings that do 50-60%/year based on down payment.

I don't think so, still should be: http://rentalmodeler.com/property.php?id=25&secret=39ksn3

Katherine Wieser - I did account for $333/month or about $4000/year in utilities in the model. Numbers still look really good. at $239,000 the numbers look even better. I updated my model with your new price.

Matthew,

your numbers look pretty good just going by the numbers - here is my quick model on your building:

http://rentalmodeler.com/property.php?id=26&secret=293kd

Katherine,

Your Property looks like it would have a great return with your numbers!

http://rentalmodeler.com/property.php?id=25&secret=39ksn3