All Forum Posts by: Thea Linkfield

I'm currently under contract for my first real estate purchase! It's a concrete block single family house built in 1960, with 3 bedrooms/1.5 baths. My plan is to move in, and live through a renovation. I might not be staying in the area long, so if I move, I will re-sell or rent it out, depending on if I'll want to buy or rent in my next location. I have financing through a conventional renovation loan, which includes cosmetic renovations. Currently, the plan is to have the roof replaced, complete re-plumbing, convert the 1.5 bathrooms to 2 new bathrooms, and a new electrical box. The roof estimate is $8,300, the re-plumb is $2,000 and the electrical box is $800. Bathrooms are currently unknown so I'm going to through in a placeholder of $10,000. The loan only requires $1900 down. Cost of house is $200,000, but including those 4 mentioned repairs, and excluding the $1900 down payment, the loan would be for $219,200. I'm trying to figure out if I should throw in the cost of window replacement to the loan, not replace them at all, or pay for them out of pocket at some point down the road. The 4-point inspection will happen after all renovations are done and that's when my insurance quote will come in. I understand new windows will decrease my insurance, but is that worth how much windows would cost? It will also help with resale, but once again, is the money worth the return? The property is in Jacksonville Beach.

Does anybody a good window company that they could refer me to in the Jacksonville Area? Also, all resources I read online talk about windows being incredibly costly; does anyone in the Jacksonville area have any stories about window replacement, or lack of window replacement and how it affected resale/rent-ability/electric bill?

Thanks guys, and wish me luck!

at an REIA meeting an investor told me auction.com only sells properties with clear titles. He said he wasn't a pro in that area of acquiring properties, but that was his gathering. I understand you should always do your due diligence, but curious if anyone had knowledge disputing what the investor said? Any personal experience with multiple lien properties or anything of the like on auction.com?

Hop around the Big Island of Hawaii for super cheap! If you get an air bnb or something of the sort, lodging is close to nothing, if all you're looking for is a bed and don't mind an outdoor shower! Hop into the nearest ABC Store (convenience store, not liquor) and grab a book: "The Big Island Revealed" and it's perfect for finding all the cheap hidden gems. Surfing, waterfalls, hiking, cliff jumping, active volcano, blue ocean views, paradise! 

Internationally, I highly recommend Ireland, although it sounds like it's way out of your way. Cliffs of Moher are a must, and you can take a bus from Galway or Kinvara. Or a day trip from anywhere. Also, Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland was amazing. Well-worth-it day trip.

If you go to Thailand, spend little time in Bangkok because it's incredibly hot, crowded, and dirty, and the buildings are very lack-luster. But if you do go to Bangkok, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha is the best temple in my opinion. Very extensive and beautiful. There will be temples everywhere- but that was my favorite. 

Skip Miami! It's crazy expensive and crowded and the people can be rude. The best part are the beaches but they are crowded and unnatural. 

I've used Air BnB for almost all of my world travels. A few of them have had great local hosts that will show you around the cities from a local's perspective, so just search the reviews for the word host and see what the reviews say.

@Charles Marshall and @Gabe G. : You guys are having a portion of the discussion I was getting at.

If I hold a property in a good/growing part of town, and pay off the mortgage every month (for next to nothing, because of rental income), I would be growing my equity. I'm not talking about owning 30 properties. Let's say, for the sake of argument, I only have 1 at $260,000. I've put 10% down ($26,000 not including closing costs), so I'm paying mortgage, insurance, taxes, and repairs. Let's say it rents for $2000 a month - this will be reduced to $1833/month including 1 mo. vacancy/yr. Not including repairs, monthly costs: $1117+$291+$133+$100(PMI)= $1643 (accustomed to taxes/insurance in my specific area). This leaves about $200/month for repairs to break even (As taxes go up, rent will go up). I hold the property for 15 years, with net cash flow of $0.

Assuming no appreciation/depreciation: At the end of 15 years I've spent $26,000 but only owe $151,642 on a $260,000 home. If I turn around and sell it right there for the same price, I've made $82,358. $5,490 / year.

Now, @Patrick Britton @Gino Barbaro and @Edward B. why can't I assume at least a level of appreciation? I chose this specific area because of the estimated appreciation value, being on the beach, in a developing block, and with a 15 year period. If there is a crash, I can ride it out and continue to rent. Am I naive in thinking this?

Assuming appreciation: Let's say at the end of 15 years, the property has appreciated 20%. I've now made $136,358 in 15 years. $9090 / year. 

I'm looking at buy-and-hold properties in Jacksonville Beach trying to determine if certain properties are worth looking into more. I've been reading about the 2% Rule and 50% Rule, both of which seem pretty unattainable in my area. This is mostly because purchase prices are almost exclusively over $200,000; which I realize deflates the 2% Rule, but I'm curious how much the 50% rule is effected by higher purchase price? Multi-family homes seem more investment-friendly in this area due to the 2% rule, or even 1-1.5% rule, being less necessary because most monthly expenses will be less of a percentage of my total costs in a duplex compared to a SFH.

Houses in this area will appreciate, especially since they are near the beach, and Jax Beach neighborhood is random ( Every other street is high-end, every other street is a bit run-down ), but over-all improving. If I'm looking for a long term buy-and-hold (+/-10 yrs) at the beaches, is the appreciation value more important than the 2%/50% rule? Is 1% too low if appreciation is probable?

There are multiple Watson Realty's throughout Jacksonville (I think almost 20). As a renter, I dealt with the one off Sunbeam, so I can only speak for that one. We rented a 4 bedroom SFH off Kernan for 2 years and although we were told there would be random inspections at least twice a year, there was only one inspection the entire time. Our agent was incredibly hard to get into contact with, and would only call back if you emailed. Even so, it sometimes took weeks to get repairs acknowledged (we went 2 weeks without our kitchen sink draining and it smelt horrible). We had called twenty times and left messages and emailed, and eventually our harassment paid off. When it eventually came time to move out, contact with our real estate agent was difficult, as always, and then one day a different agent contacts and says the other one hadn't worked there in the last month. That would have been good to know. I'm not sure how it was from the owner's perspective, but I wouldn't recommend that particular location.

I'm very curious about the same process. I'm looking at a duplex (2 adjacent townhomes) in Jacksonville Beach. This area is littered with townhomes. Most currently for sale are just one side for sale, so splitting them is definitely an option. I'm just curious on the process of splitting them. We figure we will need an attorney but really unsure of what is necessary to make this happen and how much it will cost.

Hey @Jake Thomas great input! I didn't think about the fact that the ability to lower your closing costs, therefore lower your sale price, by taking away some of your own taxable income. 

Thanks @David Faulkner ! That's really helpful. I've actually thought about a lot of those, especially the designer/interior decorator; home staging. I used to want to be an interior decorator and more recently have thought maybe I'll start a home staging business in the next few years. But working for a home staging company hadn't crossed my mind. I sometimes have this notion that I can do everything by myself. That list has helped me take a step back. It's also helped motivate my creative juices.

I always look at photos of properties for sale and think either - wow, I could do better; or wow, that photo really makes that property look more expensive that it probably is. Why not offer my services in that way? I have a good camera... and it could help me see first hand properties in my market.

Thanks again for the input!

@Patrick Wheeler Well said, that's exactly the point I was originally trying to get across. Thank you! Anyone have any ideas on REI-related jobs besides property manager and real estate agent?