All Forum Posts by: Savannah Esposito

I have noticed that on multi-family properties a lot of them say they have long-term tenants renting month-to-month. 

Have you found it better to offer month-to-month versus longer term leases (i.e. 3,6,9,12 month)?

@Michael Noto Thanks! I did some digging and it says unit one rents for $750 and unit two rents for $650 (two long-term tenants rent each unit out). 

The property does need some updating for sure (painting, new appliances, tear down the pantry cupboards and put in a newer one as the wood in the pantry does look old, etc.). I didn't see anything from the listing that would be a major red flag. If each unit was updated I assume then the rent could be raised to accomodate the upgrades.

@William Collins Thanks and we were thinking of Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Albany... but not sure. Again the NY would probably be in the future versus now. 

I found a multi-family in Watertown... 2 units, each having 2 beds 1 bath... Are you familiar with the watertown rentals and what they would go for? I presume each unit is aprox 1,100 sqft

@William Collins Thank you! 

1. Yes as of right now I work in Bridgeport (partly in office partly remote), live in Wolcott/Waterbury, and my husband works in Ridgefield (although we are looking to have him eventually quit his job there and be a stay at home dad for a bit before deciding his next venture/direction career wise). 

2. At the moment I don't have anyone who would move in with us if we go the multi-family route. 

3. Overall goal is to have the multi-family property be a launching point to begin to replace my husbands salary. Given my job in Bridgeport, I don't see us leaving CT for at least 5+ years and **if** we were to move, it would be potentially upstate NY.

Hello I have been doing research for some months on investing, and trying to figure out what I would like to do within the next 2-5 years in terms of investing in a property with the goal of monthly cash flow. 

I read an article and they mentioned RoofStock, can anyone tell me whether they feel that is a good tool for investment? Thank you!

@Andra Kay Johnson We live in Waterbury/Wolcott right now (on the town line). We are currently selling our house and the buyer fell through and so we now have a potential opportunity to go for a multi-family for us to live in one unit and rent the other out. My goal would be for the other unit to pay for the mortgage essentially (we have enough for 20% down which makes renting a unit to cover the mortgage doable for the price range we are looking within).

@Brent Kane Thanks! Though New Britain looks like the schools are poor... I know whenever you look at housing, school districts play a huge part of value of the home. Are there certain areas of New Britain with good schools?

Hello I have been wondering about multi-family properties, specifically in CT from the NY line to just before Hartford.

Are any of those areas worth investing in?

I found some properties in Bristol, Southington, Watertown... 

Would love feedback/suggestions! 

@Bjorn Ahlblad Thank you for your response!

I will get that book and start reading it and check out the podcast too.

So it's okay to ask for the tenant history with payment history? 

I have a great inspector that I like and trust and plan to use him for the inspection of the property.

What is an Estoppel Cert? 

I will search for the property management courses, didn't know they were available! 

Hello, my husband and I are currently selling our house and we found a duplex in Newtown/Sandy Hook CT (a place we would like to live) and I started researching becoming a landlord, what owning a duplex is like, etc.

My questions are:

1. What is the best advice you would say for a first time investor in a duplex?

2. How do you know whether the property is worth investing in?

3. Helpful screening techniques for tenants (currently the property has one unit rented and we would live in the other)

4. How much money should we keep in savings for emergencies (I was thinking 7-10k minimum)

I know the current rent on the unit occupied is $1200/month (2 bed 1 bath)

I don't know what the sqft is of each unit but the total of both units combined is 1,682 sqft

Right now I know the property doesn't have laundry in the units (we would be adding that to each unit)

We also would want to add wall unit AC/Heating (save on monthly expenses as oil is expensive)

I don't think there are separate meters for utilities (I assume utilities are included in rent?)

I also wanted to add 2 storage sheds so that each unit has a shed they can store extra things in

My thoughts were that if we are adding features to the units/upgrades, does that mean we can charge higher rent (I was thinking $1350-$1500). 

Newtown CT is a highly desirable town to live in and single family home prices are a barrier for many to enter that town. 

My husband and I visited the property and it has .5 acres of back yard, and we saw the unit we would live in but not the unit the current tenants are in (if we want to move forward with this, we would find a time to see that unit). 

The unit we would be in would be a downsize in space for us, but a better school system for our son (which is a huge reason we are selling our current home - to get him the best he can get). 

I remember talking to my husband before we bought our first home about a duplex but he wasn't thrilled with that idea, but now he seems onboard and even a bit excited. 

I just would love to hear from others who have invested - the good, bad, ugly. I want to make sure our expectations are realistic and this is a well thought out decision for us.

Thank you in advance to anyone who offers insight/advice/thoughts!