Sign of the times: “Hey you want to buy this property?”

[AK]

Owner-occupied makes a big difference for financing.

I think most lenders want 30% down these days for non-owner occupied.

Owner occupied, you can get away with 3.5% down FHA if it’s 1-4 units.

Huge difference in leverage!

[jamsvet]

I liked 1-4 units also but I really loved the economies of scale when it came to 8-12 units. Give me a good Huffman building and I’d be happy.
As far as the guy downtown living all alone in the condo building, I remember a story they did on him and he said that he used to go out and get rid of his trash in the nude. Why not, he had the whole building to himself. I don’t think that he was paying any rent. He had bought and they had to sell a certain number of units before he had to make payments. Something like that. Great Deal; sign me up.

[jamsvet]

I liked 1-4 units also but I really loved the economies of scale when it came to 8-12 units. Give me a good Huffman building and I’d be happy.
As far as the guy downtown living all alone in the condo building, I remember a story they did on him and he said that he used to go out and get rid of his trash in the nude. Why not, he had the whole building to himself. I don’t think that he was paying any rent. He had bought and they had to sell a certain number of units before he had to make payments. Something like that. Great Deal; sign me up.

[jamsvet]

I liked 1-4 units also but I really loved the economies of scale when it came to 8-12 units. Give me a good Huffman building and I’d be happy.
As far as the guy downtown living all alone in the condo building, I remember a story they did on him and he said that he used to go out and get rid of his trash in the nude. Why not, he had the whole building to himself. I don’t think that he was paying any rent. He had bought and they had to sell a certain number of units before he had to make payments. Something like that. Great Deal; sign me up.

[jamsvet]

I liked 1-4 units also but I really loved the economies of scale when it came to 8-12 units. Give me a good Huffman building and I’d be happy.
As far as the guy downtown living all alone in the condo building, I remember a story they did on him and he said that he used to go out and get rid of his trash in the nude. Why not, he had the whole building to himself. I don’t think that he was paying any rent. He had bought and they had to sell a certain number of units before he had to make payments. Something like that. Great Deal; sign me up.

[jamsvet]

I liked 1-4 units also but I really loved the economies of scale when it came to 8-12 units. Give me a good Huffman building and I’d be happy.
As far as the guy downtown living all alone in the condo building, I remember a story they did on him and he said that he used to go out and get rid of his trash in the nude. Why not, he had the whole building to himself. I don’t think that he was paying any rent. He had bought and they had to sell a certain number of units before he had to make payments. Something like that. Great Deal; sign me up.

[Ricechex]

[quote=4plexowner
some people classify rental units into three categories: A, B and C – an A property is considered a trophy property – something you can brag to your friends about – a B property is considered bread and butter – decent property, decent location but nothing exceptional – a C property is the lowest rung on the ladder – some people would call it slum-lording at the C level

I bought B properties but think there might be more money to be made in C properties – I would never deal with C level tenants personally – if I were going to buy C level units I would have them managed by someone else[/quote]

I do not have the management/investment experience as many on this board, BUT, we have owned a rental house in a C area for 8 years. We keep it up, and respond to tenant problems ASAP. I have found that tenants with dogs on approval are the best bet. Dog owners are more desperate. For over 3 years, I have had a fantastic single woman and her dog and 2 cats. She is clean, pays rent on time, would like to move to better neighborhood, but hears her friends having to move (foreclosures), raised rent (we do not raise rent on current tenants) and has stayed. The tenants I had without dogs, were the worst ghetto group I dealt with—very hard on the place. I find that in this particular C area house, families are much more destructive and unreliable.

Oh, and whoever posted on Jim Kunstler–he is great, I read him too, just ordered his latest book.

[Ricechex]

[quote=4plexowner
some people classify rental units into three categories: A, B and C – an A property is considered a trophy property – something you can brag to your friends about – a B property is considered bread and butter – decent property, decent location but nothing exceptional – a C property is the lowest rung on the ladder – some people would call it slum-lording at the C level

I bought B properties but think there might be more money to be made in C properties – I would never deal with C level tenants personally – if I were going to buy C level units I would have them managed by someone else[/quote]

I do not have the management/investment experience as many on this board, BUT, we have owned a rental house in a C area for 8 years. We keep it up, and respond to tenant problems ASAP. I have found that tenants with dogs on approval are the best bet. Dog owners are more desperate. For over 3 years, I have had a fantastic single woman and her dog and 2 cats. She is clean, pays rent on time, would like to move to better neighborhood, but hears her friends having to move (foreclosures), raised rent (we do not raise rent on current tenants) and has stayed. The tenants I had without dogs, were the worst ghetto group I dealt with—very hard on the place. I find that in this particular C area house, families are much more destructive and unreliable.

Oh, and whoever posted on Jim Kunstler–he is great, I read him too, just ordered his latest book.

[Ricechex]

[quote=4plexowner
some people classify rental units into three categories: A, B and C – an A property is considered a trophy property – something you can brag to your friends about – a B property is considered bread and butter – decent property, decent location but nothing exceptional – a C property is the lowest rung on the ladder – some people would call it slum-lording at the C level

I bought B properties but think there might be more money to be made in C properties – I would never deal with C level tenants personally – if I were going to buy C level units I would have them managed by someone else[/quote]

I do not have the management/investment experience as many on this board, BUT, we have owned a rental house in a C area for 8 years. We keep it up, and respond to tenant problems ASAP. I have found that tenants with dogs on approval are the best bet. Dog owners are more desperate. For over 3 years, I have had a fantastic single woman and her dog and 2 cats. She is clean, pays rent on time, would like to move to better neighborhood, but hears her friends having to move (foreclosures), raised rent (we do not raise rent on current tenants) and has stayed. The tenants I had without dogs, were the worst ghetto group I dealt with—very hard on the place. I find that in this particular C area house, families are much more destructive and unreliable.

Oh, and whoever posted on Jim Kunstler–he is great, I read him too, just ordered his latest book.

[Ricechex]

[quote=4plexowner
some people classify rental units into three categories: A, B and C – an A property is considered a trophy property – something you can brag to your friends about – a B property is considered bread and butter – decent property, decent location but nothing exceptional – a C property is the lowest rung on the ladder – some people would call it slum-lording at the C level

I bought B properties but think there might be more money to be made in C properties – I would never deal with C level tenants personally – if I were going to buy C level units I would have them managed by someone else[/quote]

I do not have the management/investment experience as many on this board, BUT, we have owned a rental house in a C area for 8 years. We keep it up, and respond to tenant problems ASAP. I have found that tenants with dogs on approval are the best bet. Dog owners are more desperate. For over 3 years, I have had a fantastic single woman and her dog and 2 cats. She is clean, pays rent on time, would like to move to better neighborhood, but hears her friends having to move (foreclosures), raised rent (we do not raise rent on current tenants) and has stayed. The tenants I had without dogs, were the worst ghetto group I dealt with—very hard on the place. I find that in this particular C area house, families are much more destructive and unreliable.

Oh, and whoever posted on Jim Kunstler–he is great, I read him too, just ordered his latest book.

[Ricechex]

[quote=4plexowner
some people classify rental units into three categories: A, B and C – an A property is considered a trophy property – something you can brag to your friends about – a B property is considered bread and butter – decent property, decent location but nothing exceptional – a C property is the lowest rung on the ladder – some people would call it slum-lording at the C level

I bought B properties but think there might be more money to be made in C properties – I would never deal with C level tenants personally – if I were going to buy C level units I would have them managed by someone else[/quote]

I do not have the management/investment experience as many on this board, BUT, we have owned a rental house in a C area for 8 years. We keep it up, and respond to tenant problems ASAP. I have found that tenants with dogs on approval are the best bet. Dog owners are more desperate. For over 3 years, I have had a fantastic single woman and her dog and 2 cats. She is clean, pays rent on time, would like to move to better neighborhood, but hears her friends having to move (foreclosures), raised rent (we do not raise rent on current tenants) and has stayed. The tenants I had without dogs, were the worst ghetto group I dealt with—very hard on the place. I find that in this particular C area house, families are much more destructive and unreliable.

Oh, and whoever posted on Jim Kunstler–he is great, I read him too, just ordered his latest book.

[Author]

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