All Forum Posts by: Kyle Lewis

Hi @Anthony LaGuardia here's a link to the excel spreadsheet I use to analyze properties. Regardless of financing, I look for a 10%+ cash return every year. 

Red flags - foundation issues, water damage, roof, etc. All of this can be fixed, but the cost to fix the issues needs to be built into your offer price.

Hope this helps!

Thanks @David Terbeek, I hadn't heard about the Vacant Property Inspection. Good to know!

Hi @Harman N., I'd say the increase in value is a factor of the additional rent you're able to collect by adding the unit. Having lived in SF and knowing the crazy rental demand, I think this is a great general strategy. With rents being so high in SF, I'd guess that it makes sense to add the unit, if you can do it at a reasonable cost.

If the strategy is to hold, I'd look at the cost to add the unit and increased rent and decide if you like that return. If the strategy is to buy, add the unit, then sell shortly afterwards, I'd find the new value using the formula VALUE=NOI/CAP. I know CAP rates are usually used for commercial properties, but I also like using it for triplexes. Another approach to value is to look for comps in the area. Look for the average difference in price between properties similar to your current property and properties similar to what your property would be with the added unit.

Hope this helps!

Hi @Saar Avr, I live in California and decided to invest in Cleveland for the cash flow. I don't own any property in South Euclid, but I've seen many other investors and realtors recommend South Euclid. One unique cost to watch out for in Cuyahoga County are the property taxes and some cities have Point of Sale inspections (South Euclid isn't one of them).

Also, there are probably better deals to be had. I just closed on a property in Euclid for 35k, will put 20k into it, and hope to rent it for $950/month. Hope that helps!

Hi @Eugene Chi, have you checked out the BP calculators?

There are also a lot of options in the BP FilePlace. I've uploaded an Excel file I use. Here's is a link. Hope it helps!

Hi @Chad Wedderburn, this would probably be a good place to start -- https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investin...

Good luck!

Hi @Boris Peyzner, there are a couple good conversations about this already on BP. Here are links:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/247...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/334...

I use Cozy for the real estate specific tasks like listings, applications, credit checks, rent, etc and use waveapps for the accounting. Hope that helps!

If it were me, unless it needs work now, I'd probably just finance the initial purchase and let it sit for awhile. Then rehab the units between tenants. This approach would push out your cash out refinance payday, but it lets you keep that 10-15k in your pocket right now and the property's cash flow might be able to fund the rehab when the time comes.

Hope that helps!

Welcome! I would have started at a younger age (like you are) and consistently bought 1 cash flowing property per year. Good luck!

Some you may need to add are maintenance, advertising, utilities, leasing fee (if you'll be paying someone to fill the units), and city inspection fees (fire, occupancy, etc). I usually include PM fees even if I plan to self manage to make sure that I have the option to outsource management in the future. The hard part is estimating these numbers accurately. On a single family, my estimates for CapEx, repairs, and maintenance usually come out to around $250/mo. Good luck!