All Forum Posts by: Bill Brown

Thanks for the reply @Brandi Baker. Are you getting bookings from the STR platforms, have you used furnished finder with any success, or anything else?

Thanks for the detailed response @Anthony Angotti. 15% extra would not be worth the effort to me, but I’m happy to hear about others using the strategy. 

Anyone doing MTR in Pittsburgh? How has your experience been?

I have a property in the city we are considering using as a MTR. By some metrics, it should be in a good area for it, but I've had a hard time finding convincing data.

From what I've gathered, it costs $ for decent design software. I've tried messing around with a few free/ cheap ones and they have too many limitations. I've heard plenty of goods things about sketch up, but don't have the patience to learn it.

Kitchen designs boil down to fractions of an inch, so most free software programs won't get you very far unless you're just trying to choose backsplash colors or something. For cabinet layout, I use pen and paper with an architect's rule to get an idea... and then rely on a pro designer. If you find something great, let us know.

@Miranda Micire are you able to get full market rent at this time of year?

Most people use 5-10% each for vacancy, cap ex, and repairs. You can adjust your numbers based on the condition of the house. These numbers also depend on the market that you’re looking in. What will the tenants expect? Look at rental comps in the area.

Also look at average rents, maybe the subject property can command a higher rate, maybe less. 

For taxes, I don’t use current numbers. I assume the property will get reassessed upon sale and add that in. There doesn’t seem to be a predictable pattern to reassessments in the areas I’ve been looking in, but I plan for the worst. 

And for insurance, you can get an idea by getting a couple quotes for different properties from different providers.

The trickiest part would be figuring out the mortgage payment with changing rates right now. If you may only be cash flowing $80/month, be careful not to assume your interest rate won’t go up by the time you close.

Live-in flip!

I heard Y & Q and Kitchenramma have decent prices for cabinets. They’re counters are lower priced. I just used a line that Home Depot carries called JSI that was a great price for the quality but their delivery time was a little up in the air. 

Agree with the dirty work first! Easy lesson to learn for me.

I believe my mortgage broker said they can use 75% of the rent without waiting for a tax return. Just need to show security deposit and first month rent for new tenant. This was for conventional loan pre-approval.