All Forum Posts by: Aaron K.

Are you looking to buy rental property, or are you a realtor looking to place people in rentals, or?   I'm corn fused.

If you can't get the utilities turned on you'll just have to make some assumptions about some things.  Your inspector should be able to tell the condition of things like furnaces, water heaters, gas/oil lines, etc. without utilities being on.  Of course you won't be able to check for functionality, but the visual condition should give some clues.  For example, if a water heater is rusting at the bottom or the water main is highly corroded, you don't need utilities to see that there are issues.  It adds some risk for sure, but a good inspector can at least give you an idea.  You might want to add some buffer to your budget as a worst-case scenario for the items that you can't truly verify are working.

Sounds like you dodged a bullet.  If there's no signed contract, I don't pay anything until the job is done.  If they provide a contract specifying deposits, amounts due upon completion, etc., then I review CAREFULLY and proceed.   Definitely no money up-front for materials with no signed contract, and I certainly won't do business with someone who shows up unannounced to collect a deposit that we didn't discuss previously.

Among other things it may depend on your existing mortgage terms. We have a few rental properties, all purchased under LLC's except for one under our name. We tried to do a transfer into an LLC but the mortgage company will file a quit claim per the mortgage agreement. So we just bumped up our insurance for that one.

Welcome!

Most counties in NY have a tax map, or parcel access map online (google it + your county).  You should be able to find the address on the tax map, and that'll give you owner info.   What county were you in?

Welcome!  

Welcome!  I went to Ithaca College, I know the area well.

When I do my deal analysis, I always figure (among other things) 10% vacancy, and subtract 10% from gross rent for regular maintenance.  Make sure you're figuring for any utilities paid by the landlord.  Around here landlords usually pay for trash pickup, and communal electric (hall and exterior lighting).  Depending on your property type you may need to account for snow removal and landscaping.  

Here's an excellent spreadsheet that's helped me analyze a bunch of deals:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/jasonscott/file/20-sfh-rental-analysis

It sort of depends on your local market.  Before doing any renovations, figure out what comparable homes are renting for in your area - and the condition they're in at that price.  You may find that the market won't support substantially increased rents for brand new kitchen, bigger bath, and premium finishes.  It's always nice to present a perfect rental, but if homes in your area aren't commanding substantially higher rent for premium condition homes, it may not be worth it from a financial standpoint to dump a ton of money into the place.  Of course if the place is falling apart, you should certainly update the house to rent-able standards, but I'd take a look at comps in your area and see how much more rent you could actually get for the amount of money you want to put into the place for renovation.  Numbers won't lie.