All Forum Posts by: Matthew Botos

Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, etc. all lag behind MLS and won't have all its listings. But for comps, you're just looking for a few similar (square feet and beds/baths) places within a few miles in the last 6-12 months. Sale price is the more important number.

@Todd Solberg Good questions; I've been asking the same as I debate renting out the condo I live it.

1. To use any of the real estate rules of thumb, assume you're buying it at present value with your choice of financing 5/20% down. Then you can compare cash flow and return to other potential rentals. I also did a cash-on-equity return to decide to compare with other investments like stocks.

3. Property managers I've talked to quality applications on an income 3x the monthly rent.

Your numbers look reasonable, but that's a long time to have negative cash flow. If you think the appreciation will be good, maybe just hold it for a few years until you can break even on a sale.

Two others I've heard professional property management companies using are PropertyWare and AppFolio.

Good research on the location, but those trends are discouraging. Have you been able to find any info on local vacancy rates or how long the current tenants have been there?

@Raphael Thomas I actually run a Salesforce CRM consulting business, thought Salesforce itself would be rather expensive for a small operation.

There are a ton of free and low cost generic CRMs out there. My advice is to find one that's already tailored to what you need, whether that's tracking real estate deal specifics or integrating with direct mail campaigns.

@Kevin D. Interesting that "If you don't live in the area, most towns will force you to hire a property manager." Can you tell us more about how that evolved and how common such laws are?

Hehe - if nothing else maybe my nerd skills will lead to a new career as a real estate data consultant...

Heat map for commute times:

Compare to rent prices:

Not much of a relationship :-( 

Here's the actual light rail map:

Again there's not much of a relationship to rents. Property descriptions often mention light rail proximity, though, so perhaps it's a softer selling incentive...

"Centennial thinks it can triple the ridership of its existing dial-a-ride service.

Beginning August 17, citizens within a service area will be able to summon free Lyft rides to and from the Dry Creek light-rail station that serves the city of Centennial, which sits southeast of Denver. Riders will have the option of putting in their request on the Lyft app or on Go Denver, a mobile platform developed by Xerox that integrates scheduling and payment information for transit and ride-hailing services around the metro area."

Being walking distance to rail has always been worth a premium. Will this Lyft deal encourage higher rents further out?

@Matt M. and @Bill S. - thanks for setting some expectations for the area.

I'm working with a few lenders now, so I should have a budget within a week.

@Chris Mason Your drug dog inspection idea is brilliant! Writing that as an offer contingency would certainly be unique.

@Dustin Palls Look forward to hearing how this your story evolves...