Re: Re: Educated opinions....
blacksheep10 said:
Has to be a regional thing. You CAN'T rent a house in Paola. I mean everything is booked. My parents sold their little house in town I redid for them for more than asking in 2 days. Ridiculous. My buddy is up from Texas and was looking for a rental. Nothing to be had.
Long, but substantive post warning...
Same here. There will always be people who do not want the commitment of a mortgage. Always. Whether it be responsible young kids ready to venture out on their own, single moms, newly divorcees, or anybody with a shaky job situation. I have a small 2 bed 2 bath house, but it was only 3 yrs old when I bought it 7 yrs ago this June. The house next to mine is nearly identical in size, around 1000 sq ft, of equal age, but with no other structures, and has been a rental house since I've lived here. It has not stayed vacant for longer than 2 months, with about 7 different parties through it...in 7 years. $525 a month. Mine has a 10x12 storage building on it and the 20x24 metal shop I built a few yrs ago, so I know I could at least get $550 easily for it by renting. There's a county specific page on Facebook for people looking to rent or buy properties, and there are folks on there every day looking for places to rent stating that they have good references and steady income. They almost always specify at least 3 bed. My 2 bed house will be less desirable, but maybe that will be a good thing, as the parties that are fine with a 2 bed house may be of a demographic that's more prone to being good renters. Maybe it is regional, but I can see the rental market is really good here.
If you screen your renters well and have a good contract written up by your lawyer, renting doesn't have to be a nightmare. Write things up like no inside pets, no inside smoking, and that you are privi'd to stop in once a month to look things over. This will ensure you find things wrong with the house like leaks and such early on, before it becomes a more costly problem, and have it addressed. Renters wont call you for **** until it's done created a problem for them, which means a bigger problem for you.
Also there is the "rent to own" thing, where you just play the banker, liable for nothing, and get the property back once they've missed a few payments. But then you are more likely to have a disgruntled party being discharged that may **** your **** up before they leave, lowering asset value, generating repair costs.
The key to making a safe investment if you plan to flip houses is to thoroughly know the market in the community you are buying in. Just like how a Toyota Prius may sell good in a larger city, whereas a full size 4wd pickup will be the hot used vehicle outside of the bigger city. Will a bigger nicer 2 story house in a sub division be easier to flip, or will the average single level 3 bed 2 bath 1600 sq ft small family home on the edge of town be more appealing to potential buyers...or what about small houses, afterall small house means more affordable price, but may be less of a profit margin. I'm one to firmly believe you can avoid a lot of risks, by doing immense amounts of homework on surrounding markets of whatever it is you are investing in.