All Forum Posts by: Joshua Storm

Hey all, my apologies for not replying sooner. I appreciate the advice provided, and after looking more into it I decided to move away from this property. I really appreciate all the feedback given, I was not expecting such a generous wealth of investing wisdom! I feel like I learned a lot from what you all had to say, especially about really digging into a property and making sure I understand what is going on. Again, thank you all!

~Joshua T. Storm

@Dylan Eldred, thank you for explaining. Yes, an extra $200 a month doesn't seem too bad to keep the extra money on hand.

@Evan Polaski, thank you for the detailed explanation on HOAs! I had heard that they can be a pain to deal with, but generally I thought it only had to do with some of their regulations on what you can do with your property. A family friend of ours also advised against HOAs, but his main concern was that they eat up a lot of your profits. It's good to hear this advice reiterated, but with a different twist.

@Zee Abbas, I looked up the reported crime at this complex, and it looks like over the past year there were 8 reports of crime, including aggravated assault and burglary. That seems pretty high. I appreciate the condo suggestion - I will be looking into that as.

@Jordan Fontanilla, I had to look up what the term "house hacking" meant, but yes that is exactly the goal!

~ Joshua T. Storm

Thank you all for the responses!

@Dylan Eldred, I considered that, but from my understanding that would require some mortgage insurance if I do that. I don't know how much mortgage insurance is, so I don't know how to run it in my analysis. Would you recommend going for the 3.5% with an FHA loan?

@Wesley I., thank you for the suggestion. Did you also get hurricane insurance? I am not sure if they are the same thing or not. If my wife and I move forward with this property, I will make sure to reach out to you and your contact. I appreciate the help!

@Evan Polaski, those are some good questions and points. My wife and I have been traveling for the holidays and just got back to Houston, so we haven't been able to go visit it yet. I can let you know if we pursue this property more and how well maintained it and the surrounding properties are. I am not sure what you mean by a fully funded HOA or special assessments (I am not familiar with HOAs). Can you explain that a little more to me? I appreciate the advice!

@Zee Abbas, thank you for the input! I appreciate you sharing what some of your experience has been. I haven't been able to visit the area to see what the tenants might be like. Just looking at Google maps the area seems pretty nice to me, but it is hard to tell until you have driven around. Also, as someone new to investing, does cash or conventional usually mean that there is something wrong with the property? Thank you for doing a lot of research into this and giving the feedback - much appreciated!

~Joshua T. Storm

Hello all!

My wife and I have been exploring the option of real-estate investing, and through the advice of friends we stumbled upon the BiggerPockets podcast. We have listened to several episodes, and are trying to get a feel for our market and how to analyze a deal.

One of the suggestions on the podcast was to come here to the forums and get that hep - so here we are!

The deal I am looking at right now is a quadplex in Houston, TX (where my wife and I live). It is a four-plex, which seems ideal for starting out. It has (4) units - (2) 1 bed/1 bath, (1) 2 bed/2 bath, and (1) 3 bed/2 bath. For the Zillow link, see below:

Link: https://www.zillow.com/homedet...

Our goal is to live rent-free in our first property. I have developed my own rental analysis calculator (based on the one here on BP), and assuming a rent of $750 a month for the 1 bed/1 bath, $1,400 a month for the 3 bed/2 bath, and assuming we live in the 2 bed/2 bath, and an interest rate of 3%, I anticipate to pay less than $150 a month to live here. For a break-out of my anticipated expenses, see below. Can anyone confirm that my numbers are reasonable, and point out anything I may be missing? Thank you all, and excited to join the BP community!

Purchase Price - $300,000

Purchase Closing Costs - $4,500

Rehab - $10,000

Loan Down Payment - $60,000

Loan Interest Rate - 3.00%

Loan Term - 30 Years

Rental Income - (2) * $750 + (1) * $1,400 = $2,900 / month

Property Taxes - $5,622 / yr (from Zillow)

Insurance - $200 / month (unsure about this one)

Repair & Maintenance - $290 / month (10% of rent)

Vacancy - $145 / month (5% of rent)

CapEx - $145 / month (5% of rent)

HOA Fees - $745 / month (from Zillow)

Other - $50 / month (LLC Licensing)

~ Joshua T. Storm