All Forum Posts by: Scott P.

In my opinion, the fact that you're considering this is an indicator that you could have a bright business/real estate future!

Could you clarify on House 1....are there are 3 "units" within the house?  Does that mean 3 bedroom(s), each with a kitchen and a bathroom, and maybe other rooms also?

If so, are you saying 1 of 3 units is a 2 bedroom unit itself and you and your friend/renter will share a kitchen (and maybe the bathroom) in that unit?

If I understand it correctly so far, can you say more about why the 3rd house-within-a-house is not 100% zoned?  I'm guessing it's zoned R2 or R3 but not R3/R4 or whatever it would need to be?    

Does the City/County do inspections and require you to post a sticker to rent to students?  For example, in my experience, West Lafayette Indiana does this but perhaps Terre Haute Indiana / Vigo County does not.  

Also, would you tell us:  Are you a full-time student and do you have a part-time job or maybe a full-time job?

The reason I ask is that my decision on what I'd do depends on these factors.  All those questions would figure into my decision if I were in your shoes.

A less important question is:  why are the investors kids moving?  Maybe they are graduating?

-scott

Exactly 50% of my properties have had them. (Therefore 50% have not. ;-) )

It depends on the market.

If you have vinyl/resilient floor, the advantage to providing them is that the tenants are not moving theirs in and out as they come and go.  Every time the machines are moved, you take a chance on tearing the flooring.

@Bob Woelfel I'm curious why you definitely not provide them where the basement has the hookups? If you see this post and have a minute I'd appreciate the background on your thought on that location?

The single thing I do that has the biggest impact on my success is listening (or reading) others' advice and excising good judgement regarding that advice by sorting and acting on the wisdom of others.

That's why I came to BiggerPockets.com!

(Up vote for me anyone?!   :-) )

I'm curious too.  Or maybe you decided the time was not right to go forward?

I would think slab would cost less than crawlspace.

thanks,

scott

I don't think you'll have a problem.  There is surely some way to show your pension income?  I would see if you can get a pre-approval before applying.  

Maybe you could assuage any concerns about income by offering a larger deposit or offer to pay 2 or 3 months in advance.

I do a lot of transactions remotely but it would seem odd to me if you did not want to visit the property before renting.  The other reason it would not be odd is if you knew you would only be staying temporarily, maybe for the initial lease term only, in which case online photos or review would be enough for you to decide you could surely like it enough for a minimum term.

I regret I don't have any thoughts on rental estate agent or rental company.  Maybe I don't understand the question.  

I might start looking 30-60 days out, even if that meant I paid rent for a month before I moved fully into the new location.  I would rather do that than try to time the move perfectly.

Good luck!

Time.  Time is your biggest advantage.  I graduated w/a engineering degree also. That W2 job is another advantage.

Have you ever heard, "Don't wait to buy Real Estate.  Buy Real Estate and wait."  ? The point is that in time the value of the asset normally increases.

In exchange for a decent place to live your tenants will pay for properties for you as the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months and months turn in to years.

Everything I bought or built under $120k was a 15 year mortgage (some fixed rate and some variable but no balloons).

I see no problem doing a 30.  You can always make more principle payments.  Not knowing anything else about your situation, I'd do the 30.

The last house my wife and built was a 20.  It offered no advantages over a 30 other than forcing us to pay it down sooner.

On the subject of college, if you sell 15 years from now you'll probably pay big capital gains taxes.  (Ask me how I know.) An alternative 15 years from now would be to re-mortgage it and let new sets of tenants pay it off again over time.  I've borrowed against paid for rentals also.  There are pros and cons and various factors that you'll weight at the time you make the decision.

@Basit Siddiqi and @Linda Weygant have stated what my closest associate experienced, selling on contract (which i think is the same as "holding the note") meant for him that the Buyer started getting the depreciation and he got to immediately pay a lot of tax since he'd depreciated for so many years prior.  I understand  @Jay Hinrichs like of buying and flipping just the land ;-)

Mortgage interest until the mortgage is paid.  Then Depreciation - but that's sort of not an expense.  Depreciation is almost tied with property taxes most of the time for me.  So Property Taxes would be next.  

After that it would be CapEx in the year's when there is some. New roofing has been my single biggest CapEx. I've always done tear offs and never done a 2nd layer of shingles over existing shingles but I might do that some day in a jurisdiction where it's allowed.

If there is no capex next would be insurance.

Next would be prepwork for the next tenant when one moves.

If there is no capex and no one moves in a particular year next might be mileage for me because mine have been scattered and I enjoy visiting them to fix small things that don't require a licensed plumber or electrician and sometimes I even like to visit when those trades are there.

After that on my Schedule Es it's probably lawn care related expenses.

Willing to take a calculated risk.  They optimistically see opportunities with an abundance mindset not a scarcity mindset.  Don't blame others for their problems.  Pay their bills on time.  Most that I know work a lot - but take vacations too.  (If you're a FIRE type you can work a lot less once you reach your goal, but the crowd I run with tends to grow and grow and never stop working.)