Fixer uppers

[Ren]

Not that I’m any kind of expert, but I would be wary of older properties. In my mind, older is anything prior to the 90’s, since I would plan to keep a rental for a decade or more. I have visions of water and termite damage.

[Fearful]

[quote=sd_matt]From what I’ve read it’s the cosmetic fixers, and not mechanical/electrical fixers that are get the most return for the buck.

Although lately I have seen a fair amount of houses with lots of cosmetic upgrades for good prices (at least compared to a year ago). Maybe this should be what I look for…

Again I’m not looking to flip but rather the best cash flow. [/quote]
I believe that if you want to be a landlord, your best ratio of income to purchase price is generally in cosmetically weak properties. No deeper defects, as they will take away your income stream while the defects are rectified. Best income is from being a slumlord.

The best resale values come from heavily improved properties, provided that the improvements are sufficiently mainstream. Pink marble floors are out; granite countertops are timeless. Buy someone else’s passionate investment.

Tenants will likely not pay for the value of excessive improvements.

Of course, if you can find something that has defects that sound bad but are not really, you can do very well. To do that, you need to attain expertise in repair.

[Fearful]

[quote=sd_matt]From what I’ve read it’s the cosmetic fixers, and not mechanical/electrical fixers that are get the most return for the buck.

Although lately I have seen a fair amount of houses with lots of cosmetic upgrades for good prices (at least compared to a year ago). Maybe this should be what I look for…

Again I’m not looking to flip but rather the best cash flow. [/quote]
I believe that if you want to be a landlord, your best ratio of income to purchase price is generally in cosmetically weak properties. No deeper defects, as they will take away your income stream while the defects are rectified. Best income is from being a slumlord.

The best resale values come from heavily improved properties, provided that the improvements are sufficiently mainstream. Pink marble floors are out; granite countertops are timeless. Buy someone else’s passionate investment.

Tenants will likely not pay for the value of excessive improvements.

Of course, if you can find something that has defects that sound bad but are not really, you can do very well. To do that, you need to attain expertise in repair.

[Fearful]

[quote=sd_matt]From what I’ve read it’s the cosmetic fixers, and not mechanical/electrical fixers that are get the most return for the buck.

Although lately I have seen a fair amount of houses with lots of cosmetic upgrades for good prices (at least compared to a year ago). Maybe this should be what I look for…

Again I’m not looking to flip but rather the best cash flow. [/quote]
I believe that if you want to be a landlord, your best ratio of income to purchase price is generally in cosmetically weak properties. No deeper defects, as they will take away your income stream while the defects are rectified. Best income is from being a slumlord.

The best resale values come from heavily improved properties, provided that the improvements are sufficiently mainstream. Pink marble floors are out; granite countertops are timeless. Buy someone else’s passionate investment.

Tenants will likely not pay for the value of excessive improvements.

Of course, if you can find something that has defects that sound bad but are not really, you can do very well. To do that, you need to attain expertise in repair.

[Fearful]

[quote=sd_matt]From what I’ve read it’s the cosmetic fixers, and not mechanical/electrical fixers that are get the most return for the buck.

Although lately I have seen a fair amount of houses with lots of cosmetic upgrades for good prices (at least compared to a year ago). Maybe this should be what I look for…

Again I’m not looking to flip but rather the best cash flow. [/quote]
I believe that if you want to be a landlord, your best ratio of income to purchase price is generally in cosmetically weak properties. No deeper defects, as they will take away your income stream while the defects are rectified. Best income is from being a slumlord.

The best resale values come from heavily improved properties, provided that the improvements are sufficiently mainstream. Pink marble floors are out; granite countertops are timeless. Buy someone else’s passionate investment.

Tenants will likely not pay for the value of excessive improvements.

Of course, if you can find something that has defects that sound bad but are not really, you can do very well. To do that, you need to attain expertise in repair.

[Fearful]

[quote=sd_matt]From what I’ve read it’s the cosmetic fixers, and not mechanical/electrical fixers that are get the most return for the buck.

Although lately I have seen a fair amount of houses with lots of cosmetic upgrades for good prices (at least compared to a year ago). Maybe this should be what I look for…

Again I’m not looking to flip but rather the best cash flow. [/quote]
I believe that if you want to be a landlord, your best ratio of income to purchase price is generally in cosmetically weak properties. No deeper defects, as they will take away your income stream while the defects are rectified. Best income is from being a slumlord.

The best resale values come from heavily improved properties, provided that the improvements are sufficiently mainstream. Pink marble floors are out; granite countertops are timeless. Buy someone else’s passionate investment.

Tenants will likely not pay for the value of excessive improvements.

Of course, if you can find something that has defects that sound bad but are not really, you can do very well. To do that, you need to attain expertise in repair.

[NotCranky]

A lot of the best opportunities for some of us depending on our druthers are going to be in older homes. These are houses that have served fixers/entrepreneurs well through many cycles and have a few more in them. The money is in the dirt/location. I would worry more about vacancies and expenses to keep the rentals decent. I wouldn’t want a really crappy house because I could not be a slumlord for many reasons.

This has been covered already on this thread but I would rather have a small old house in town than a big equally priced equally rent-able one in another area. It hurts less when the tenants trash it. Small low maintenance yards are good.

The termite issue is way overblown. Water damage can be fixed. Old houses stand up to hidden leaks and such much better than the new ones do. This is because there is less particle board, osb and plywood. Unless it goes on for a really long time in an old house you can often times just let the thing dry out. In newer homes where these newer products are involved you might have an extensive ripout and repair the first time they get wet.

Water is an issue with rentals though because sometimes tenants don’t care if something comes loose and drips. They will do stupid stuff, like plug up the waste drain and overflow so they can fill the tub to the rim and not care if it overflows to the floor and seeps into the house a little every day.

[NotCranky]

A lot of the best opportunities for some of us depending on our druthers are going to be in older homes. These are houses that have served fixers/entrepreneurs well through many cycles and have a few more in them. The money is in the dirt/location. I would worry more about vacancies and expenses to keep the rentals decent. I wouldn’t want a really crappy house because I could not be a slumlord for many reasons.

This has been covered already on this thread but I would rather have a small old house in town than a big equally priced equally rent-able one in another area. It hurts less when the tenants trash it. Small low maintenance yards are good.

The termite issue is way overblown. Water damage can be fixed. Old houses stand up to hidden leaks and such much better than the new ones do. This is because there is less particle board, osb and plywood. Unless it goes on for a really long time in an old house you can often times just let the thing dry out. In newer homes where these newer products are involved you might have an extensive ripout and repair the first time they get wet.

Water is an issue with rentals though because sometimes tenants don’t care if something comes loose and drips. They will do stupid stuff, like plug up the waste drain and overflow so they can fill the tub to the rim and not care if it overflows to the floor and seeps into the house a little every day.

[NotCranky]

A lot of the best opportunities for some of us depending on our druthers are going to be in older homes. These are houses that have served fixers/entrepreneurs well through many cycles and have a few more in them. The money is in the dirt/location. I would worry more about vacancies and expenses to keep the rentals decent. I wouldn’t want a really crappy house because I could not be a slumlord for many reasons.

This has been covered already on this thread but I would rather have a small old house in town than a big equally priced equally rent-able one in another area. It hurts less when the tenants trash it. Small low maintenance yards are good.

The termite issue is way overblown. Water damage can be fixed. Old houses stand up to hidden leaks and such much better than the new ones do. This is because there is less particle board, osb and plywood. Unless it goes on for a really long time in an old house you can often times just let the thing dry out. In newer homes where these newer products are involved you might have an extensive ripout and repair the first time they get wet.

Water is an issue with rentals though because sometimes tenants don’t care if something comes loose and drips. They will do stupid stuff, like plug up the waste drain and overflow so they can fill the tub to the rim and not care if it overflows to the floor and seeps into the house a little every day.

[NotCranky]

A lot of the best opportunities for some of us depending on our druthers are going to be in older homes. These are houses that have served fixers/entrepreneurs well through many cycles and have a few more in them. The money is in the dirt/location. I would worry more about vacancies and expenses to keep the rentals decent. I wouldn’t want a really crappy house because I could not be a slumlord for many reasons.

This has been covered already on this thread but I would rather have a small old house in town than a big equally priced equally rent-able one in another area. It hurts less when the tenants trash it. Small low maintenance yards are good.

The termite issue is way overblown. Water damage can be fixed. Old houses stand up to hidden leaks and such much better than the new ones do. This is because there is less particle board, osb and plywood. Unless it goes on for a really long time in an old house you can often times just let the thing dry out. In newer homes where these newer products are involved you might have an extensive ripout and repair the first time they get wet.

Water is an issue with rentals though because sometimes tenants don’t care if something comes loose and drips. They will do stupid stuff, like plug up the waste drain and overflow so they can fill the tub to the rim and not care if it overflows to the floor and seeps into the house a little every day.

[NotCranky]

A lot of the best opportunities for some of us depending on our druthers are going to be in older homes. These are houses that have served fixers/entrepreneurs well through many cycles and have a few more in them. The money is in the dirt/location. I would worry more about vacancies and expenses to keep the rentals decent. I wouldn’t want a really crappy house because I could not be a slumlord for many reasons.

This has been covered already on this thread but I would rather have a small old house in town than a big equally priced equally rent-able one in another area. It hurts less when the tenants trash it. Small low maintenance yards are good.

The termite issue is way overblown. Water damage can be fixed. Old houses stand up to hidden leaks and such much better than the new ones do. This is because there is less particle board, osb and plywood. Unless it goes on for a really long time in an old house you can often times just let the thing dry out. In newer homes where these newer products are involved you might have an extensive ripout and repair the first time they get wet.

Water is an issue with rentals though because sometimes tenants don’t care if something comes loose and drips. They will do stupid stuff, like plug up the waste drain and overflow so they can fill the tub to the rim and not care if it overflows to the floor and seeps into the house a little every day.

[Author]

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