All Forum Posts by: Anna Shaver

@Wendy Vaidic  They talked about breaking the cost for water, sewer, and garbage apart in the podcast #60 with Serge Shukhat.  It was called a ?rub? system.  A third party company bills for them.  You are still paying the city and being reimbursed by the third party.  They have a submeter at a shutoff in front of the building.  In this instance there was an extra $5 or so being billed to the tenant and he (the property owner) didn't have the upfront cost to build it out.  

You may want to also look into this option.

Well done, @Scott C. 

It looks great. Did you find it on the MLS or via another method?

@Emily B.   You may also want to keep in mind your first 4 loans will be much easier to get so you may not want to waste them on really inexpensive properties that require you to come up with a fair amount of money out of your pocket to fix.  If you look for a property in a better condition that doesn't need quite as much work you are financing the money you would have had to put in anyway (depending on the price point you start at).  Obviously, each property has its own pro's and con's.  Just be careful to not buy in bad areas.

@Sharad M.   Thank you for sharing.  

@Roy N.  Great Point, note to self, next time get a refrigerator without an ice maker or water line.  It is a very simple way to prevent future problems.  I have had a water line problem on a ice maker in a rental and it caused some floor damage.  Tenant said it is leaking a little but it is ok so no hurry.  Only waited a few days and should have sent someone out faster.

@Kyle Mack  I would go check it out and fix it to show your responsiveness and also to prevent it from causing other damage.  With water lines you never know if it has been going on longer than the tenant realized.

Welcome @Chris Siegler, it looks like you and I have similar goals.  I have found this site to be an amazing resource. I have been looking at using the 1% rule, which works out to be about 10% vacancy, 10% management (I currently pay 7% but to give wiggle room), taxes, and insurance.  Doesn't look like it would leave much for reserves if bringing in $200 a month but gives a quick initial way to calculate it.  

I am currently in the beginning stages and just exploring my options. I am not certain I am going in any specific direction yet.

@J. Martin I think that the entry costs without enough cash flow is what is driving my curiosity about outside of the bay area.  When you say real cash flow, do you mean without taking into account depreciation?  I would like to offset some of what we have with actual money in our pocket each month.

@Jerry Poon Some condo complexes may disqualify themselves.

@Paul Schuw   Good point about the ratio of renters to owners.  Even if the complex doesn't limit them it can become difficult to initially finance or refinance it later if there is too many non owner occupied properties in the complex.  The complex we are in has this issue.

@Jerry Poon  Our oldest property is a condo.  We only have it because it was our first home.  When we bought it, we got it from a friend who wanted out, so we only had closing costs. Because we didn't have much into it, we have kept it.  The hoa eats too much into the profit and when it is paid off, it won't make as much as a similar property without the dues because we will still have the hoa and taxes.  

@David Mamsa  Thank you for your feedback.  I am trying to determine what my options would be if I were to stay local.