All Forum Posts by: Susan Maneck

I have started telling tenants I won't replace ice-makers. If the fridge comes with one, fine but it won't be replaced. As for storm and screen doors where I have houses (Mississippi) they are a necessity. I'm not sure I agree that renters don't have their act together. Sometimes they are simply poor and in Mississippi where an assistant manager may only make $8 an hour it is hard not to be. My lease does not allow smoking and I want to meet any pets. But you lose money when tenants move out no matter what you or they do. 

Like @Matt Bishop I've started using vinyl planks. 

Hi Marshelle, 

Whereabouts in Mississippi are you located? I just retired as a JSU professor (though I still adjunct online.) I relocated to California during the pandemic to stay with my 90 year old mother but I still own seven doors in Jackson. 

You don't want to buy in a war zone but I have always bought my properties "cheap' but then I was living in a cheap state, Mississippi. 

After Katrina it is hard for me to understand why anyone would build a house on the beach. I just remember New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf trying to fit into Jackson, and we weren't in very good shape. Short memories, I guess. 

I have a house in Jackson, MS where the street has flooded so much I've seen tires float down it and my driveway was often flooded. I ended up buying flood insurance even though technically it isn't in a flood zone just to protect my property against the water ever entering my house. 

I see no evidence that demand for real estate is being destroyed. The agents I talk to tell me that things are just returning to normal. 

Another Mississippi investor here (though not on the Gulf Coast.) Mississippi real estate has been underpriced for so long I can't help but think prices will either remain stable or increase, although I would not do what @William Anderson suggests and bid what I think the property will be worth down the road. I want to pay what a property is worth right here, right now.  During the Recession I was buying properties for 30K that rented for $850 a month. We are talking about 3/2 houses with two-car garages on a 1/4 acre lot. You won't find those anymore unless they are real mess. That same house is now worth 86K but will rent for $1050. With those figures more and more out-of-state investors are looking at Mississippi. There are some risks with that, because they don't know the area, but still hard to beat numbers like that right now. 

I bought my last property in Mississippi through a Mutual of Omaha agent working out of California. Costco used to have a real nice program through their Executive Membership that saved a lot in closing costs (which alas, they have canceled.) They were kind of a pain to work with but the interest rate was right, so I went with them. If you are buying a really cheap property owner occupied then you probably need to use a local bank because the big ones don't want to deal with anything under 80K and by law local banks have to if you otherwise qualify. Don't be afraid to shop around, but I would avoid brokers if you can because they just add to your closing costs. 

Mind you, though, I had been buying real estate in Mississippi for 18 years. I didn't need a banker to show me the ropes.

I don't think you can get a VA loan without an inspection.