Toyman01 wrote: In reply to OHSCrifle: Interesting.
Far more interesting than writing a large check at a closing, I must say. Having done both, I prefer the tax free profit.
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to OHSCrifle: Interesting.
Far more interesting than writing a large check at a closing, I must say. Having done both, I prefer the tax free profit.
OHSCrifle wrote:Toyman01 wrote: In reply to OHSCrifle: Interesting.Far more interesting than writing a large check at a closing, I must say. Having done both, I prefer the tax free profit.
In retrospect, however, this may have helped fuel the housing bubble/ speculation. Along with, you know, letting people who made 75,000 a year buy 1/2 million dollar homes,
Fine tuning and getting exact numbers.
On a good month, putting away $150 for repairs on the rental, we would clear $300 over the mortgage on the rental.
However, we would be paying extra interest overall on our house, being a 30 year note rather than a 20, but that would potentially be made up when the rental sells.
Also, we cannot afford land and the house we want alongside the rental. To get what we desire in a 20 year note, we would need to only have one mortgage. I just don't have the income nor down payment to swing that.
I'm going to be blunt, but if I didn't have at least $15k in a savings account that could be pulled right now without impacting my finances, I would not want to own/maintain two houses.
When you have a tenant in your house, they're going to want anything that's broken fixed/replaced immediately. If you're in your own house, you can space things out a bit. Generally, you can do things quickly, or cheaply, but it's difficult to do both (especially as a side-job).
Some of the unexpected housing expenses we've had over the years:
Those expenses were only with one home at a time. This doesn't factor in the many times I've fixed our appliances on our own as opposed to replacing them (washer, dryer, fridge, dishwasher - 3 times, etc.) We just bought mostly used appliances off of CL to upgrade our kitchen.
When you're trying to rent a place out, most people want it to be reasonably up-to-date. A minor bathroom facelift (vanity, sink, lighting, paint, flooring, trim, towel bars, possibly toilet) runs at least $500 (we've done several) - if you do all the work yourself and shop sales.
Kitchens are not easy to facelift for cheap (we just tried). In our old house we did one for $2k - we got our cabinets for free from a rip-out and did all of the work ourselves (my father-in-law does kitchens for a living). The counters were around $1k and were the only thing we spent significant money on. And that's without touching appliances.
Maintenance can also keep you busy at the rental - lawn care, snow removal (not sure if relevant for you), and spring/fall clean-up can take up time when spread across two properties.
In reply to dj06482:
Blunt is what I need. Definitely do not have that kind of cash. I would have guessed the tenant would do mowing/snow, am I mistaken?
Everything is pretty up to date. I suppose the water heater might be the next to go, but that's only a grand.
Well, we have a meeting with a realtor today and another one on Monday and we'll get an idea. If we can get out of it what it's worth with creativity relating to the house next door, we'll probably just go and sell it. That way we can also afford a lot more land on the new house since it's only going to be one mortgage.
It can go all kinds of ways in terms of what the tenant does/doesn't do. When I rented a house, the landlord took care of the lawn, and the other tenant and I took care of the snow (thankfully he worked for a plow service). People rent for a variety of reasons, but one reason is that they don't want to deal with the upkeep.
When figuring out your rental strategy, much of it will be dictated by the market. You'll want to make your house the best (or nearly the best) in terms of the things you can control (cost/cleanliness/how updated it is). If other landlords are including things like lawn care, you'll likely be forced to do the same, in order to attract a renter.
One area to budget for is reconditioning. Even with the best tenant, there will likely be cleaning (painting, carpets, etc.) that needs to be done before you can turn it around for the next renter. At worst, it can be a nightmare - my brother in law rented his condo for two years and is still cleaning up from the last tenant.
Being a landlord can work out well, but it's definitely more work (and expense) than you'd think. If considering it, I'd make sure you have a significant buffer in terms of money and time in order to work out the kinks as you start out.
I think you're taking the right approach by meeting with the realtor and seeing how it goes. If you're willing to put a little bit of work into the house next door, it won't have too much of an impact on your house.
I found this blog incredibly helpful when we were selling our old house and buying our current house: http://searchlightcrusade.net/
My biggest concern would be a renter leaving and the house needing $10k in repairs before you can put it back on the market. If you don't have $10k and you no longer have rental income coming in, you're between a rock and a hard place. I saw at least two rented homes go this way after the last hurricane. The renter's left and a combination of storm damage, delay in rapiars, and eventual vandalism resulted in both houses being torn down within five years.
It was watching my friends with rental property chase their tails for months after the storm that convinced me not to rent. They've all done very well over the years, but it was a level of stress I didn't want.
mazdeuce wrote: My biggest concern would be a renter leaving and the house needing $10k in repairs before you can put it back on the market. If you don't have $10k and you no longer have rental income coming in, you're between a rock and a hard place. I saw at least two rented homes go this way after the last hurricane. The renter's left and a combination of storm damage, delay in rapiars, and eventual vandalism resulted in both houses being torn down within five years. It was watching my friends with rental property chase their tails for months after the storm that convinced me not to rent. They've all done very well over the years, but it was a level of stress I didn't want.
Yes, that's essentially the balance. The two big risks are tenants which don't pay the rent and are difficult to evict, and tenants which wreck the place. I will add one, no tenants.
We could pay the bill in all three of these on a monthly basis, but it would be thoroughly unpleasant and scary. If the perfect storm came along and new-house broke something in any of these three scenarios, it would be bad.
I recall a neat story from a landlord buddy in NY. Granted, the laws are likely different here in SC. His tenant stopped paying, and yet would not leave. If I remember correctly, he could only enter to change the locks if nobody was home. He could call the police, and they could show up and request that the tenants leave, but they could not force them to. Since there were many people there, it was never unoccupied. The tenants basically squatted for like a year and wrecked the place in the process. A situation like that would bankrupt me.
Realtors just came. We're not renting. Can't get enough for this house.
Well, removing options certainly simplifies things. 
In reply to mazdeuce:
Yup. Still moving though
Do the realtors think you can sell for what you hoped?
We can get enough out of it that it's worth selling. The value won't be much affected by the neighbors house if I reassemble the dude's mailbox
Mailbox build thread?
I reassembled the mailbox, and spent two weeks painting every room in the house and their ceilings. We put in a new countertop/sink/faucet in the master bathroom, and new vinyl floors in the hall bath and master bath. We took half of our clutter to a friends basement, and put a lot of stuff in the attic. I took my compressor down from the ceiling and spackled over the holes. We cleaned like crazy people, and did a ton of free landscaping.
The clan went away for the weekend to allow showings to happen freely. We had one showing on Friday, and then all was too quiet as we drove to Greensboro. After lots of praying, we got phone calls. All in all, we had eleven showings over the weekend. We got three offers within 72 hours, all at asking price. The winning bid was within 24 hours of listing. We signed papers yesterday and also signed papers to buy another house. Closing date is April 28th.
So, not much in the way of truck thread updates, but wow, I need to get some rest and pack everything up.
holy carp!!! congrats, brian.
did you also get a bigger shop and better yard out of the deal?
Hey that's they way they do it on Flip or Flop. Congratulations!
Dusterbd13 wrote: holy carp!!! congrats, brian. did you also get a bigger shop and better yard out of the deal?
The lot goes from 0.4 acres to 0.8 acres. I get a bigger garage with a small workshop bay, an attached-yet-separate shed big enough for the mower and lawn stuff, and the house itself has a few more rooms. No more "homeschool offices in the kitchen/dining room/bedroom/living room". Assuming we keep all three Tunaboys in the same room, we get a dedicated office/sewing space and the bedrooms can be for beds.
The landscaping on this place is really nice, and they already have some gardens which we will add to for vegetables. More attic space, too.
We're stepping back from our hyper-aggressive 10 year note to a 20, so despite being a more expensive house, monthly payments will drop slightly. It's all we can afford for now.
spitfirebill wrote: Hey that's they way they do it on Flip or Flop. Congratulations!
I don't know that show. I haven't yet mentioned that I was up until 2 at the earliest for those two weeks.
We're closer to you, now, by the way, I believe I've moved into the same county.
Congratulations and HOLY E36 M3, that went FAST< FAST< FAST !
I think the hardest part will be moving tunatruck. The best approach seems to be to change the valve seals on the engine, paint it, and reinstall it temporarily. No thoughts on the rest.
Congrats man that was fast!!
On the truck, you're awful busy getting ready for the move. Might be worth getting a flat bed tow. Should be around a hundred bucks. Consider how much time reinstalling the engine would take and the risk of damage on the drive...
Yup. Tow it.
Heck, I'll come help if you want me to. Dad's got a diesel and a dolly.
dculberson wrote: Congrats man that was fast!! On the truck, you're awful busy getting ready for the move. Might be worth getting a flat bed tow. Should be around a hundred bucks. Consider how much time reinstalling the engine would take and the risk of damage on the drive...
The truck is definitely getting towed.
I simply think that reinstalling the engine may the easiest way to transport the engine/motor mounts.
I am a long way away from driving it.
Dusterbd13 wrote: Yup. Tow it. Heck, I'll come help if you want me to. Dad's got a diesel and a dolly.
I am pretty sure a dolly isn't in the plan. The rear end is still dry and untested, so I'd rather a flatbed or a full trailer.
Still working on that...
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