All Forum Posts by: Matthew Vedder

Thanks for the info @Troy Gandee. I just sent you a message. 

My girlfriend and I are thinking of moving to Charleston next year. We want to buy a house, live in it, and fix it up. I was thinking a 3br ranch on James Island, but we have yet to visit the area. Would love to be able to bike to the beach and downtown if possible. We are making a trip out there in October or November. Any tips for where to buy, what to look for, and the best agents and contractors? 

Thanks @Daniel J Dominguez and @J Scott! That really helps to clear up the misconception I had about the Houston market. I'll be sure to look into the Houston area more deeply now, as it looks like it is full of promise. I appreciate you both pointing me in the right direction.

@Joseph Cornwell thanks for the market specific info! I knew I'd be off on some things. I think the neighborhood grade of C-, D+ is a deal breaker for me. Just to wrap up the loose ends I adjusted my numbers using the info you gave. I dropped the per unit rent to $700 (looks like the median for a 1br in this neighborhood is $650), increased the repairs and maintenance to 12% given the neighborhood grade, and increased the water bill to $250. This reduces the estimated per unit cash flow to $106.69. I would pass on this property today based on this analysis. I'm still glad I did the workup as I learned a ton. On to the next one!

Thanks for the additional info @Nick Rutkowski! I'll check out the commercial forum as well.

@Brandon Rush thanks for the correction about the down payment amount! I'll be sure to use 25% in my analyses going forward.

@Anthony King It should be in the first post of this thread in a tabular format.

@Khari F. I used Quantarium because it was built in to the realtor.com post. I also have never heard of it before : )

Thanks @Brandon Rush! It's good to know I'm not to far off the mark initially.

Thanks for the tip @Nick Rutkowski. What do you think of this property here? It is a 4 unit in a favorite A/B neighborhood (I think) for investors with a commercial space downstairs. The posting says it rents for $52,800 and the asking price is $335,000. Using the 50% rule, it would cash flow at $2,166 per month. Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of for this strategy? Is it harder to keep a commercial space rented in a post covid economy? Is there a higher vacancy rate in general for commercial spaces?