All Forum Posts by: Chuck B.

Great topic!  Should probably be re-created in the local real estate forums though, no?

Welcome aboard, Marcus!

I agree with @Raven Parmer , it's hard to make good numbers in Old Louisville without getting a great deal.  Your estimate (30K?) for turning it back into a well laid out single family might be way shy of where it needs to be, too.  I'm also a little biased because the Old Louisville preservation group is insanely unreasonable, or at least they used to be.  The area has been sketchy for decades and I don't see that changing any day soon.  Also, most of these places do not have fully separated gas, electric and/or water.   I wouldn't even consider one of those for rental unless the gas and electric was separately metered.  (I've fixed/flipped in Old Louisville in the past.) 

Now, with all of that said... if you can fix the place up into a solid SFR for 60K or so and then earn 100K+ in a handful of years by selling it, and have a place to live in the meantime... it may all make good sense. Everyone has to have a place to live and you probably shouldn't always use ROI when making your quality-of-life decisions.

Let us know what you decide to do!

@Eddie T. - The cheapies I mentioned were not door stops, though I used them that way, and I got them at Lowes or Home Depot a number of years ago.  They were thin plastic pads on one side with a rubber pad on the other side and were used to protect floors and help in moving furniture.   You would put your furniture legs on these pads and that would protect the floors and allow you to move furniture around easily on hard surfaces. I just added some double sided tape to the rubber side and stuck them right to the walls where the door handles would hit. They make door stops that are just hard plastic discs with the double sided tape already on one side of them but they charge something like $2.00 or $3.00 apiece.  

I've found this style of door stop to be far more durable and trouble free in the long run as you can't guarantee that the rigid or spring-based ones that go on the baseboard trim won't be knocked off by a vacuum or bent by small kids and then the next time the door is pushed too hard you have a dent in your wall anyway.  

I've heard of a place called Titos(sp?) out near Radcliff, one of my buddies gets granite and installation (in Louisville) from them at very reasonable prices.  I've also heard very good things about Cardinal Kitchen but I've never used them.  

Hi Joseph,

I have trouble imagining there's much to be made in fix/flip in the west end but fix/hold works well for me from a cash-flow perspective. 

@Noel Felix III - West side can really cash flow but it's a total ground game and not something I'd try remote.  You have to know the blocks, you have to have outstanding processes for vetting tenants, the right sort of help and a tough skin.  You also have to be patient if you're renting Section 8 as everything can take longer.  I really like my west end properties and tenants and it's been good for me but it's not for everyone.  

I was reading a thread earlier where a guy was talking about tough neighborhoods in his state and he said he wanted to have $60K to $80K all in (ARV) and rent them for $600 to $800. I like our numbers better... on the west side I want to have ~$45K ARV and rent them for $850 to $900.

I don't think that's possible with a commercial/portfolio loan.  If you wanted to buy it with a conventional loan in your own name though...

I'm in barring any unforeseen conflicts arising.

I've got it on my calendar and I'd be happy to share a story... the good, bad and the ugly. :)