All Forum Posts by: Nazz Wang

Hi BP family, What do you typically pay for finders fee? A % of purchase or a fixed fee?

@Darrin Carey @James Syed 

James and Darrin,

That information is extremely helpful! Thank you. In the process I also realized PPT % is a lot higher in the Midwest as well. 

Hi BP family, I am looking for good PM recommendations. I am out of state and really need to have a solid management system in place. Please help?

I am curious. What kind of questions should one ask a pm during interview to determine if the pm is a good one?

Aim for the 2% rule? Look in markets where the prices are still meeting this criteria?

I am working on my first out of state buy and hold purchase and am debating if I should get general home inspection. It is a cash purchase and contract has physical inspection contingency. At my home location i started to not get a general inspection: too much detail on obvious stuff and not enough details on big items. I started to only get electrical, plumbing, roof and structural inspections. Now, what should I do for an out of state purchase that I don't get to see in person? Should I just pay for the specific inspections or get a general one with the specific inspections? I don't want to spend too much scoping every property. What are your practices?

I look in places where cash purchase buy and hold is a good strategy with high returns. I also try to figure out what is a profitable niche close to me.

Hi BP'ers in Milwaukee,

I am looking at some estimates of repair and want to know if anyone can help with a ballpark figure for a new roof in Milwaukee, single story Cape Cod style SFR around 1200 sqft. I have seen out here in California anywhere between 10k to 30k and want to know if anyone can help me out.

Thank you very much!

Nazz

Stephen Woods Haha we are on the same train of thought. Great minds...

I would account for these when purchasing a condo aiming for student renters: 1. vacancy in the 10-15% range. The rental market is extremely seasonal. Everyone wants to move in in August and move out by the end of May. Every year you will have a slight time lag (a week or two) due to repairs and time it takes to rent. If you ever try to lease the property outside of the summer( after school has started) it is going to be a lot more challenging to rent out. So, really account for high vacancy specially if you are hiring a pm, as often it takes more than a couple of weeks to just do the rent out. 2. Also add lease out fee for pm. Make sure to understand the local property management pricing structure for finding new tenants. Depends in the area it might be up to 1 month rent. All being said, sorry to say that the numbers are in the red on this one. For condos, You also need to consider factors like: A. how is the HOA? How easy/hard is it to deal with them. B. how easy/hard is it to get from the gate to your unit? That would be a red flag for me if it is difficult to do showings. C. How far is parking from unit? D. How are your upstairs and downstairs neighbors? Middle floors are noisier. All these factors will effect your pricing so be sure to use caution when estimating rent price. Do not be over optimistic. If you can afford 100k, have you considered single family homes that are in nice surrounding suburbs? Just my 2 cents. A lot also depends on where you are. For instance next to university of California, Santa Barbara, this is a community immediately adjacent called Isla Vista. There you can rent out anything without ever having to bring it back to rentable condition first. You will get a lease signed 4 months ahead of time. That is not the norm though. Hope this helps.