All Forum Posts by: Warren West

I am in the process of closing on a duplex that I plan to do owner occupied, near Providence, RI.  I am very close to a local college and have been starting to wonder about renting to students.  For those who have done this what are the major pros and cons?

I figure I can charge them more than a typical renter, but there is the stigma about college students being irresponsible and partying.  I'd be living either above or below them.  Also, for those who see a downside of having summers with an empty house, I went to school in the area and know that typically landlords have students sign year leases here even if they don't plan on living there during the summer.

I just won the bid on a duplex that I plan to househack as an owner occupied.  I'm working on the inspection and rest of the closing pieces at this time.

As I get closer to closing I need to start thinking about renting out either the top or bottom unit.  As this is my first rental property I would love to hear from more experienced people to hear about the errors you initially made, or just things you had wished you'd done differently, so I can learn from you and start off on my best foot.

Thanks @Anthony Thompson.  I always try to be conservative in my analysis because if things end up being better than expected it's only gravy but I wouldn't want to shoot too high and then reality ends up being a breakeven or worse.

Thanks for the input @Nancy DeSocio!

The current house I was analyzing is in Warwick but closer to the Cranston line.  I saw 2 properties renting in the same area with the same square footage.  One was 2bed listed at $1,100 and another was a 3bed listed at $1,275.  I have yet to see the inside of the unit I'm considering to know condition.

I would say the conservative would be $1,100 as I would expect to be able to get that for a 3bed unless it is in horrible shape (in which case I would either pass or negotiate price for improvements anyway).  I tend to be very cautious with my analysis of properties by taking 26% off the top to cover repairs, vacancy, CE, and management so cash flow for me comes into play after taking away 26% and then subtracting the monthly mortgage payment.

@Anthony Thompson @Frank Patalano @Nancy DeSocio

Thanks all for the suggestion on the meetings.  Unfortunately, I actually have a job interview this evening up in Providence and wouldn't be able to make it to this one.  How often do these meetings happen and where would I go to get updates on things like dates, locations, etc?  I'm thirsty for knowledge.

Also, happy to grab coffee and having a discussion with anyone willing to impart some knowledge, and who knows maybe I'll have learned something you don't know yet!  I do work every day of the week; however, am typically free weekdays after 5 or Sundays.  I am open to anyone that would like to reach out to me.

I'm pretty good when it comes to analyzing a deal besides one aspect: figuring out what a reasonable monthly rent would be for a property.  I can plug in hypotheticals to see what the cash flow would be, but I struggle to get a good estimate on what the place would actually rent for.  I know that everyone mentions using other rental listings in the area as guides, but I'm in RI and don't often find a ton of rental listings to use as comparisons.

I asked my agent on one particular property that I looked at and he said I should be able to do $1,100 for a 3 bed unit if it's in medium shape in an area where I saw another listed at $1,275 and rentometer gave me an average rent cost in the area of $1,467.  Now these are  3 very different numbers and really change the way cash flow comes in.  They're all cash flow positive; however, if he is right about $1,100/month then it's not the best deal as the cash on cash would only be around 6-7%.  This is obviously a dilemma since renting at $1,450 puts my estimated cash on cash return around 32%.

What is the best trick to finding the right amount before actually buying and listing a property?

Hi Everyone,

I'm pretty new to everything Real Estate Investing.  I'm turning 29 in a week and want to own a house before I hit the dirty thirty.  Have spent my life thinking more about stocks, bonds, and ETFs for investing in my future.  Over the past few months I have been looking into buying a house and along the way realized how well RE Investing (done right) can be used to grow wealth.

Currently I am on the search for a multi-family in Rhode Island for a househack.  From there I hope to grow my portfolio and would like to have 5 properties in the next 5 years.  My background is in marketing and bartending, along with years of random part time jobs.  I have my bachelors in Marketing from Johnson & Wales University.  Much more of the analytical minded side of things which is where the analysis part of RE intrigues me.  So far I love plugging in numbers and hypotheticals to see the profitibility of listings I see.

If anyone has any advice for a new investor or is in the RI area and would like to connect I would be more than happy to.  I have always been of the mind that knowledge is power so I try to absorb as much of it from as many different sources as possible, and since experience is the best teacher those of you who have been in this field already have likely seen many potential issues I may come across.

I look forward to connecting, chatting, and possibly meeting some of you.  Happy hunting!

-Warren