Can you make money in Wake being a landlord?

[giffman]

Originally Posted by sll3454

That's encouraging.

"Priced appropriately" is the key. I'd say the price point for a 3br single family home in this area is $1200 or less for Wake county and $1000 or less for Johnston. In this range you shouldn't have a problem keeping it occupied. Keep this in mind when looking for investment property. If you buy a high end town home in Cary and try to rent it out for $2000 a month, don't expect people to be knocking down your door.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by giffman

"Priced appropriately" is the key. I'd say the price point for a 3br single family home in this area is $1200 or less for Wake county and $1000 or less for Johnston. In this range you shouldn't have a problem keeping it occupied. Keep this in mind when looking for investment property. If you buy a high end town home in Cary and try to rent it out for $2000 a month, don't expect people to be knocking down your door.

Also keep in mind that $1200 in rent = $600 in expenses so you need to have a mortgage (principal and interest) under $600 in order to make money long term.

The people that buy homes w/ PITI's of $1190 and rents of $1200 aren't making any money and really are gambling on the quality of their tenants and lonnnnnng term appreciation. Also they are assuming nothing breaks or fails (roof, hot water heater, appliance, etc.).

Also consider rates on investment homes are much higher and banks nowadays are requiring 25% down for the most part.

[boardjnky4]

Originally Posted by giffman

"Priced appropriately" is the key. I'd say the price point for a 3br single family home in this area is $1200 or less for Wake county and $1000 or less for Johnston. In this range you shouldn't have a problem keeping it occupied. Keep this in mind when looking for investment property. If you buy a high end town home in Cary and try to rent it out for $2000 a month, don't expect people to be knocking down your door.

This is spot on.

Buying a newer built home is a good idea for investments. My dad has a bunch of investment property all over NC. He spends hardly anything on upkeep. Basically just professional cleaning when tenants move out, a few mechanical issues here and there. If you buy an older home though, that needs updating and that has sketchy appliances/utilities, old roofs, beat up floors, then you're just asking for a huge loss.

With that said, newer home cost more though. I would expect a property like this to cost you at least $200k, at which point, you will not be netting a huge profit per month. A few hundred a month might mean you make at most $5k every year. Long term equity/appreciation might be worth it, but immediate cash flow will not be strong.