All Forum Posts by: Sebastien Hitier

@Quinton Slay

House hacking is a decision you have to own. She does agree to give let you try, which is positive. Whether she is willing or able to help is another matter. Some spouses do not share the passion for hunting / sewing of their other half.

Concerning her finding a good deal, because she knows the area. Be aware that sites like neighborhoodscout.com and rentfaxpro.com allow to gauge the profitability of a given neighborhood from a cold, calculating stand point. There is a risk that she directs you to an area she has good feelings about. So if the purpose is house hacking, I would advise you to try those to identify suitable areas for you first, and then go through the list with her after you have done your homework.

In Jan 2007, I came accross https://web.archive.org/web/20070216134932/http://... that explained about "mortgage reits" traded on stock exchange, in Jan 2007. They showed updated mortgage reits yield daily...

So I decided to start watching mreit, though I was not convinced yet, and the yield kept creeping up. In June, the website stopped being maintained daily. The next year, the website had disappeared.

investors buy only when they anticipate favorable price move, but they may sell when they need the money or estate planning reasons.

I hear you, it is also the case that decent SFH property did cashflow better in DFW and Atlanta back in 2009-2013... They just doubled in price so the gross yield is now halved.

I understand that you see value in  apartment and mobile home parks at present. What kind of retail price per unit and rent would you be looking for those deals to make sense?

There are many valid points in this thread.

- rental build value of home is anywhere $90 to $150 per sqf, if house is selling below $90k, it means there are problems with the social and economic surroundings of the house.

- it will cost much less to maintain a house in a good area than in a war zone. Rents above $1000 per unit will absorb unforeseen expenses quicker. 

- the median household salary in US is around 60k, so if you plan to charge more than $1600 per month, the house is not affordable to most americans.

- the rental yields for lower priced home are currently much higher, so there is a lot of potential if you buy things you know how to manage. 

@David Song,  many people here talk midwest market, so getting some variety of view is good. You mention buying a $1m house in CA, are you actually renting those or waiting to get a retail buyer at higher price? I am just curious what kind of numbers you would consider are the typical deal that makes sense in your market in CA? 

Worked with turnkey in GA, FL, TX, MO, NC... you can PM me for more info.

Zillow home value forecast at US level is +3.2%, so experts do not have a bubble bursting as median scenario on the horizon. Anyone predicts at more than 1 yr will need several scenarios.

 Buy where numbers make sense and houses are affordable for the people who live in them. Check zillow for momentum of the area.

i would advise anyone looking to invest in real estate to first save some money (getting a job is the standard way), they should see how their carreer and finances stabilise after 4 years so you know what you can afford to buy. 

The way I see it, the numbers are aspirational: don't think it is a bargain unless u get 20%, don't wish an improvement pays for itself unless it can increase value by 10%, don't think it will cashflow unless you got that massive margin of safety.

If you apply the rules blindly, you'll get the problem house in D hood. I can see where this insistence on yield is leading.

You can try mashvisor, they give airbnb vs conventional rental profitability comparisons. Some vacation cities are better for airbnb, but others have so much vacancy it is preferrable to go conventional.