All Forum Posts by: Lindsey Thomspon

@Stephanie P. Wow! I appreciate the perspective! Good to take a moment and be thankful, but also, reality needs to be addressed :) 

Math. is. king. 

After the encouragement and advice from these awesome BP friends, I think we will pull a Brandon Turner and give them two offers--One with the price knocked down to make up for the repairs, and the other requiring the issues to be resolved before we close. Either way, the numbers will work. 

I really appreciate your reply. Thank you Stephanie!

@Ned J. Wait, I thought the first property was supposed to be a unicorn... I appreciate your encouragement and advice! For repairs, should we talk to a GC or companies/individuals or specialize in specific areas?

@Dennis M. Great to hear! I appreciate your incite on the mold--we have no basis for anything at this point. But we will absolutely be using the issues as leverage! I really appreciate your advice!

@Jim K. Yes, I know part of the process is learning from mistakes, but I would love to avoid as many as possible! But I'd definitely rather make a mistake as a real estate investor than not start at all!

Dennis--Just to clarify: The sellers are giving us the $7,400. Those are not part of our expenses.

Dennis, 

I'm new, so please let me know if these are not the numbers you're looking for! 

$89,000 for duplex

$1,000 for mold remediation (the original surface mold we saw) and $1,000 for washer and dryer hookup

$5,400 for closing and points

We would house hack and the other side would rent for $600 paying the mortgage/taxes plus change. 

We pay the mortgage for the duplex we currently live in, but won't officially own it for another 2 years (made a deal with my parents a year ago). Anyway, the mortgage is $600, One side rents for $675 and the other for $650. 

We estimated about $5,000 in repairs for the new duplex. 

We would live in it for 6 months then house hack at a new place charging at least $600 for the second side. 

Does that answer your question? As you know, there are dozens of numbers in this game!

Lindsey

Russell,

Thank you! From your reply, I gather the mold is probably the biggest concern and the others are just typical upkeep issues. 

I really appreciate your swift response! 

Lindsey

We are in the process of buying our first official real estate investment! (YAY!!) We got the inspection back today; the issues are as follows: 

mold beyond the surface mold we originally noticed when checking the house out, wood rot in left side floor, damaged roof joist, poor ventilation in the attic and mold, many of the chimney bricks are loose, standing water in crawlspace--potential mold, leaking shower and toilet leading to damaged floor/ceiling underneath, plumbing material issues, electrical not all properly grounded. 

Because we are new, we see all of these things as bad :(

I know we are supposed to be "problem solvers" as real estate investors per one of the podcast guests, but we also don't want to move forward if the problems are bigger than the budget. 

As it stands, this will be a cash flowing property by about 400 a month after costs. Does that justify staying with the deal and handling the issues? 

Thank you in advance for reading this far and for your help! 

Lindsey