All Forum Posts by: Kristin Caras

@Colleen F. thanks! The more I look at the space I think the room would be small but still able to fit a dresser and a queen sized bed with enough walk room... something to think about! It is a strange set up as it is right now 

@Ray Harrell and @Jake S. thank you! The room closed off would still have two windows and a closet luckily but the size and service to the room is good to consider as we're checking this property out  - thank you!

@Jake S. thanks! I think it needs to be closed in, even if it makes the upstairs space a little tight, closing the room would add more value to the property for resale.

@Randy Thibodeaux I would consider house hacking (buy and live in a multifamily property, rent out the other units to live for either free or a highly discounted rate with the other tenants paying the mortgage for you). As others have said, you can use an FHA loan to put just 3.5% down. Also - this website is a huge resource for education. Listen to all of the BiggerPockets Real Estate and the Money podcast and read some of the books: The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No and Low Money Down, and the two Rental Property books by Brandon Turner. If you can spend a few months diving in with books and podcasts you'll get a great education which will help you as you begin your real estate journey. Good luck!

In one unit of the duplex we're looking at there is an upstairs that leads to a bedroom, bathroom and another bedroom that is not closed off (sort of like a loft space). Essentially you have to walk through the open bedroom to get to the (only) bathroom and the other bedroom. 

It appears right now that there is a family who lives there currently and their child has the closed off room and the parents sleep in the open bedroom...it seems to work OK for them but I am concerned that down the line other renters would not consider this a second bedroom and we would have to price it as a 1 bedroom unit.

To close off the open bedroom would make a very small bedroom and make a tight hallway to the bathroom and other bedroom.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of layout? I imagine it is similar to having a rental property with a loft bedroom (less privacy). Do you think it is worth it to close off the bedroom?

@Richard Updegrove congratulations on getting started with real estate! I would consider advertising your units by listing the property online and then have your friend send the friend-of-friend the link (rather than you just directly forwarding an application to them). Then you can treat the process as you normally would but you'll have some more options likely with tenants who are applying, and the friend-of-friend won't feel so "entitled" to the property because they have connections  (and they'll know they have some competition).

@Dan Wynn thanks for the input, we are about to submit an offer on a duplex in Watertown! I'm still located in DE but once I head back up north after deployment ends, we'd love to meet up and talk real estate!

@Michael Ablan thank you so much for clearing up the tenant screening! Our realtor was familiar with the law but not very well versed on the specifics, and I had not been able to find much through my own research.  We’re currently looking at a multifamily property in Watertown, hopefully if all goes well we’ll close on it soon!  I’m glad you’ve had success in this area - gives us hope!  Haha 

Hey everyone, I recently wrote a post about investing in the Fort Drum area/ Watertown NY. Still researching, but one of the problems my boyfriend (currently deployed but stationed at Ft. Drum) and I are running into is with our agent - he is very down on the Watertown area with rental laws, the tenant pool (aside from military) and a lot of the properties we have been looking at (condition wise). 

We don’t quite have the time/resources to do a total renovation, but we were always hoping to house hack in a decent multifamily that we could do some cosmetic upgrades on and could hold and sell down the line after he moves from Ft. Drum. 

Anyone have any experience with buy and hold multi family properties in Watertown NY (or even the surrounding areas of Clayton NY and Thousand Islands)? Is this a market you’d recommend? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks Hakeem!