Real Estate investing can be simple math. If you do you homework, you should know how much the units will rent for, how much vacant time to allow for, what the expenses will be on the condo/unit. From this, you can determine what cash flow you can expect to generate. Add in your tax advantage and see if this is what you want to do with your cash. Remember that you will be a landlord, responsible for the usual fixing, cleaning, liability, etc. Most such investments will generate more cash flow as time goes on. If this all makes sense, do your homework and sleep on it, then go for it if you don?t have too many goose bumps on your back. Good luck???
Posted by pappyjoshwe on February 27, 2002 at 23:51:45:
I am a CPA. I don’t have a background in real estate, so bear with me please. My general idea is that I want to purchase or have the option to purchase a condo or maybe several units in a college community up the road from me. I figure the payments I would receive from renters should be consistent, since it is probably the parents paying. I just do not know how to do this profitably. I feel like if I just up there, a realtor will sell me a condo, but how long would it take to be profitable at that price. I am probably not even asking the most important questions here, but if you have any advice or recommendations, go for it.
Thanks in advance,
Pappyjoshwe
Texas
Have you thought about renting only to graduate students or visiting professors/researchers? Would there be a market or is the town/college too small? This might be a viable alternative considering the way college students take care of housing.
Re: condo in a college town - Posted by Jim Rayner
Posted by Jim Rayner on February 28, 2002 at 10:45:57:
College students and condos is like mixing bleach and ammonia…Don’t do it… been there done that as they say.
Student housing is best operated solely as student housing and even then its often troublesome. As far getting the rent consistently don’t count on it. For eample I have 8 students living as room mates in a single family house with parental guarantees just yesterday I got January’s and two thirds of February’s rent and tonite March’s is due…want to guess when I’ll get it.
These are the last students that I’ll be renting to anytime soon. By the way I tried court action guess what …their mine until May 31 2002 according to the judge.