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HOA fees aren't always bad. I own a rental in a neighborhood with a community pool and playground. The HOA also does lawn and sprinkler maintenance. The fee is $125 per month.
FortWayne
2012 Dec 6, 1:30am
If your father is in a rental business and is local, ask him. As someone just entering the field you might make basic mistakes that cost you money.
Cost of ownership (mortgage / insurance / taxes). Cost of maintenance... is the house really old? Just repainting and changing the carpet is not expensive, but if you have to get into electrical, plumbing, roof, etc... it gets pretty expensive even if you get to write some of that off.
Can you financially handle not having a renter for an extended period? Important thing to consider if tough times arrive.
I have a friend who invests in a duplex in a not so good area of St Louis (near Wash. Univ.) I would put it, eventful. I believe one of the tenants got arrested in the duplex. Also, in that area, it's kind of an old town. So, you may have to spend more on maintenence if you get a old house. St Louis is not expensive but not cheap either. All in all, I believe it is not easy to get a higher than 10% return rate for cash investment. For starter, I suggest to find a relatively safe area and do strick background/credit checks so that you don't run into a bad tenant who will leave a bad taste in your mouth.
I'm in the St. Louis area and my father in law is in the apartment biz and has a bunch of experience that I will pull from him
Then why aren't you asking HIM the BS questions then?
It seems kind of pointless to waste the time and energy to ask for advice here, doesn't it?
Hey All,
I'm thinking about jumping into the rental property market and wanted to get some general tips/advice from some of the people in the know on this site. I know the numbers are the most important thing, but was wondering what was has been the most and least successful opportunities for you all and some things to lookout for/if you could do it all over again type stuff. I'm in the St. Louis area and my father in law is in the apartment biz and has a bunch of experience that I will pull from him. But its been a while since he was just starting out and its a completely different time then when he started. My inital thinking was to start with a Duplex and see what I can make of that over a few years before deciding if I should continue this or just stick with my 9/5.
Fire away...