buying rental property as an investment

peacocoaNMOpeacocoaNMO Posts: 99
edited February 2008 in All Encompassing Trip
has anybody here done this? i'm thinking about getting in to it but i know a couple of people who have gotten burned.
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • How did they get burned? This type of investment intrigues me also.
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  • my best friend bought a 4-plex and a 3-plex. both were in bad parts of town (which i think was a mistake). he couldn't get all of the apts rented out and the tenants he did have were terrible and didn't pay rent and did a lot of damage to the building. the 3-plex got foreclosed and he ended up selling the 4-plex and losing a lot of money. so his credit is completely ruined now.
    my brother-in-law bought a duplex in a good part of town but ran into the same problem of a bad tenant. he still owns the property but had to sell a lot of stock to keep it.
  • mookie9999mookie9999 Posts: 4,677
    my best friend bought a 4-plex and a 3-plex. both were in bad parts of town (which i think was a mistake). he couldn't get all of the apts rented out and the tenants he did have were terrible and didn't pay rent and did a lot of damage to the building. the 3-plex got foreclosed and he ended up selling the 4-plex and losing a lot of money. so his credit is completely ruined now.
    my brother-in-law bought a duplex in a good part of town but ran into the same problem of a bad tenant. he still owns the property but had to sell a lot of stock to keep it.

    I don't own rental properties, but as a real estate agent I would say it could be a great investment. The people that I see running into trouble are those that don't have about a years worth of rent in the bank in case you get a bad tenant that you have to evict. Also, others run into trouble when they only put down the bare minimum for a down payment which leads to them either breaking even or losing money on a monthly basis. The best results I have seen are from those that are able to put down at least 25% and who also go for a interest only 5/1 arm mortgage. Of course my experience is strictly based in NYC which is a market to itself not experiencing the downward spiral that most of the country has suffered from.
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  • Get_RightGet_Right Posts: 13,143
    It can be a great investment
    but:
    1) have AT LEAST six months cash reserves to cover bad tenants-dont rely on tenants to pay on time.
    2) have cash or an emergency line of credit for sudden improvements that need to be made-such as when that hot water hearter blows up in the middle of the night or the furnace dies.
    3) Have a reliable handyman or contractor on call to quickly make minor repairs

    I leave the financing advice to the experts.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    I think it can be a good thing if you are careful about who you rent to, buy the properties in cash and have a good reserve of cash to fix problems. Also, you need to live conveniently to the properties so you can be there to take care of them.
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  • awesome advice. thanks. i'm going to read a few books on the subject before i do anything. are there any books or authors that are better than the rest?
  • I bought a house in Atlantic City in 98. Fixed it up and lived there for a few years. Then rented it out for a while. But It needed all new windows, new heating system etc... i sold it and made 30 grand. Okay I guess. I put that into my house now.
    My mother and I also went in together on a house in a expensive town. We cleaned it up and renovated it nicely. Sold it in a few months, made good money.
    When the market is right I suggest you try to flip one. But, do your homework first on the property. Have a plan on what it needs to up the selling price and how much of a demand there is for it in that area.
    My mother has flipped 6 houses bu herself so far so i got more info if needed.
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  • I bought a house in Atlantic City in 98. Fixed it up and lived there for a few years. Then rented it out for a while. But It needed all new windows, new heating system etc... i sold it and made 30 grand. Okay I guess. I put that into my house now.
    My mother and I also went in together on a house in a expensive town. We cleaned it up and renovated it nicely. Sold it in a few months, made good money.
    When the market is right I suggest you try to flip one. But, do your homework first on the property. Have a plan on what it needs to up the selling price and how much of a demand there is for it in that area.
    My mother has flipped 6 houses bu herself so far so i got more info if needed.

    i've heard of people doing this but never thought it was for me since i know absolutely nothing about home repair/construction/etc.
  • i've heard of people doing this but never thought it was for me since i know absolutely nothing about home repair/construction/etc.

    Actually, a lot of it can be cosmetic. new hardwood floor or Ceramic Tile.
    New Kitchen cabinets or countertop. New fixures in the bathroom. New paint and curtians etc. You would be supprised what you can do to a old beat up place with a little amount of money. Some people would buy it cleaned up b/c they do not have a vision of it looking nice.
    Get em a Body Bag Yeeeeeaaaaa!
    Sweep the Leg Johnny.
  • My wife and I have talked about buying a duplex and renting out one side, and us living in the other for at least a while.

    Her parents had a few rental properties and had a lot of trouble with bad tenants, so that sort of scares us a bit.
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