All Forum Posts by: Nicolas Jefferson

This is a question for all the real estate investors on the forums, would you mind helping a new agent out?

No, no. I don't want your business, I want your advice (which is just as valuable!)

I just recently started my career path of being a real estate agent, and I really wanted to focus my attention towards real estate investors for a couple reasons...

1) I want to invest someday, so it would be a great way to make connections.

2) Repeat business is key in the industry.

However, I want to know what investors are looking for. I've read Brandon Turner's "The Real Estate Agent's Ultimate Guide to Working with Investors" and that gave me some great ideas. But I want to hear from individuals on the forum as well.

What are you looking for in an agent? What qualities?

My main proposition to investors on why "I'm the man" is that real estate is my life. I'll be on call 24/7, always there for you, no beating around the bush - it's time for business mentality. But who knows? That might be the wrong way to look at it.

Thanks!

Welcome to BiggerPockets, joining this website is already a huge advantage you will have over the competition.

@Dave K.

I have noticed that since I've been at college. The university I'm focusing on only uses 12-month leases for their houses, but another college I have looked at offers August to Mid-May leases. I'll have to ask the PM company I'm working with what they do with sub-leases. Thank you!

@Al Williamson

Thank you Al, it would make things a lot easier for the client you're right. I definitely appreciate the input!

@Al Williamson

I never thought about that; having a furnished rental also makes it different from the surrounding rentals making it stick out. I do like that idea.

I was already thinking of including a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall to give it an edge (it's a trend that student rentals include one in the area).

Do you usually include all the utilities in one bill? Do you get any kind of discount by the utility companies if you say you will always use their services with all your rentals (like telling Comcast all your houses will include XFinity)?

@Sarnen Steinbarth

I'm currently in a rental property in the area and we are required to pay all the utilities, but I feel like this could vary from house to house so I might include it into the expenses just to be safe.

It seems like I might have a solid baseline of expenses. I might adjust it more for major expenses like you said (roof, siding, etc.).

Thank for the input!

Hello BP, thanks for taking the time to read and help me out!

I'm looking at several student houses in my area (currently a Master's student myself, so trying to multi-task getting my M.A. and real estate investing) and I've already calculated the monthly expenses/costs for the houses around here. However, I feel like there would be more miscellaneous expenses for student houses than normal family houses that I didn't account for. 

What expenses do you account for when calculating rent for student rentals? Currently the only expenses I counted for were (not including principal & interest):

Property Taxes - Varies by House

Insurance - Varies by House

Vacancy - 10%

Repairs - 10%

Property Management - 10%

Would you increase repairs? I know the current property management company requires a down payment of a month's rent before signing the lease. Also, the houses range in the $60,000 - $100,000 range; so not the most expensive houses.

Thank you!

@AJ Minaker

It is currently not rented out for the next school year, which is concerning to me. That is a great idea to ask the owner for past leases! I'm going to email the current property management company that is overseeing the property and see if anyone has inquired about looking at the property recently and ask their opinion.

@Chad Benedict

That is another reason I like this property; there is room for adjustments. Even if I rented it out for $1,000 a month, I would still make a decent profit. Current +4 bedroom houses rent from $325 to upwards of $450 in the area! But of course, they are closer to campus so they are getting the first looks.

@Chet Mazur

I agree 100% Chet, but it's currently not rented out for next year. This has been a red flag for me and a reason it has been hard to pull the trigger.

@Elizabeth Colegrove

I always love this kind of advice as it makes me want to pull the trigger and show any doubters that I can make it! I'll continue looking at the bigger picture and think that this is only the first in many risks that I would have to take if I want to make it "big".

And I'm still a college student myself, so I hope they take it easy on me ;)

Hello BP family, thanks for taking the time to help me with this dilemma!

I'm interested in student housing, it's actually the niche I've been focusing on for awhile. I found a college where the rent seems to high compared to the prices of the houses, so I did my research on the area and there is one house that popped out to me.

To say as little as possible on the house, it is listed at $60,000 5 BR, 2.5 Bath.  The owner said that the house rented out for the 2014-2015 school year at $325 a bedroom. That is insane to me and I couldn't believe the return the house has. So I asked to tour the house and there is nothing extremely wrong with the property. No major rehabs need to be done, and there is even a possibility for a SIXTH bedroom in the basement (which is mostly done already).

This house has the possibility to rent for $1500 - $1800, and only cost me around $60,000 for the purchase. After calculating expenses, it could be possible to receive around $700 in cash flow from this house. Sounds perfect right?

Well, here is the issue. It is a little further away from the campus and it did not get rented out for the 2015-2016 school year. The owner said this was the first year it didn't get rented out, which could mean it was bad luck. However, around the campus there have been two major apartment complexes built which have been getting the attention of students. While they are expensive, and in my own personal college experience, students prefer houses to apartments. I'm thinking that this could result in a trend of the house not getting rented out because of it's location, which would mean the cash flow is meaningless.

Would you take a risk? I know that there hundreds of variables to look at, and it's impossible to make a comfortable assumption with the details I've given you, but any insight would be appreciated.

PS - I do not believe it is walking distance to the campus, it is closer to the college village (where the night scene is) but still not extremely close. It is close enough to ride a bike however.

PSS - I was also thinking of including a parking pass to the tenants so they can drive to the campus and it will be free of charge (costs $60 per vehicle for the pass).

Finally getting the motivation to work on a project due for my Master's degree, I sit at my computer and start to analyze the data given to me by my professor. Fueled by caffeine and ambition, I start to look for any patterns and start to run statistical tests to find any outlying data. About twenty minutes goes by since I sat down to work, until I realize something; I'm no longer looking at the data. I'm on the BiggerPockets forums, I'm looking at local listings, I'm reading free blogs on how to analyze ARV. That is when it hit me...

I have real estate fever. I'm obsessed.

Anyone else have this "problem"? I'm not saying it affects my education, but just learning about real estate is a passion itself that you can't get enough of.