Investment property in Asheville? (rental, insurance, mortgage) - Western North Carolina - North Carolina (NC) -The Mountain Region including Asheville - City-Data Forum

evenyc · 09-11-2012, 08:11 PM

Hello,
hubby and I visited Asheville and truly loved it! We are seriously thinking of buying a house as an investment property and rent it out. We are looking into properties in the 175-200K. We are hoping someday to retire there and/or have a vacation home to go to. We live in the Northeast, we owned 2 homes (one is rented), in mid-30s. We both have stable good incomes and have no children. Is Asheville a good investment town? How do you see Asheville in 5-10 yrs from now? Thoughts?
Thanks

MrRational · 09-11-2012, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evenyc

...seriously thinking of buying a house as an investment property and rent it out.
We are looking into properties in the 175-200K.

x80%... that means a $150,000 mortgage plus taxes and NOO insurance.
Plus of course the updating, repairs and changes putting a home into service as a rental warrants.
Then there are the continuing out of pocket expenses for management, repairs and vacancies...

Do you think you could get a tenant to pay all of those costs?
(That means would it "cash flow")

Quote:

Is Asheville a good investment town?

Any town can be a good investment... if the purchase is done right.

QuilterChick · 09-12-2012, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evenyc

Hello,
hubby and I visited Asheville and truly loved it! We are seriously thinking of buying a house as an investment property and rent it out. We are looking into properties in the 175-200K. We are hoping someday to retire there and/or have a vacation home to go to. We live in the Northeast, we owned 2 homes (one is rented), in mid-30s. We both have stable good incomes and have no children. Is Asheville a good investment town? How do you see Asheville in 5-10 yrs from now? Thoughts?
Thanks

Not a prudent investment to be an absentee landlord in an area you are not familiar with. Banks aren't lending on investment property these days to absentee landlords either. You will find a huge difference in rents in NY vs. rents in the AVL area. Unemployment is high there. You should check with a local experienced Realtor who sells investment property in the area.

evenyc · 09-12-2012, 04:41 PM

We are not crazy to be absentee landlords either. One idea that we have is to rent the house to our in-laws, would it help if the property was purchased on their names with us as co-signers providing the bulk of the funds? Can anyone recommend a local realtor or property management company that we can talk to? Thanks for all your suggestions.

MrRational · 09-12-2012, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evenyc

We are not crazy to be absentee landlords either.
One idea that we have is to rent the house to our in-laws...

About the only thing worse than being an absentee owner is doing business with family.

evenyc · 09-12-2012, 09:01 PM

I hear that but we have the best intentions for the in-laws and plans for our retirement

We don't want to come back to Asheville in 5 to 10 yrs and say 'damn it, we could've invested here now is too damn expensive'

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrRational

About the only thing worse than being an absentee owner is doing business with family.

creeksitter · 09-16-2012, 05:54 AM

Asheville is not a good city for investment property. It is a great city for retirement.

What you are doing is buying a retirement home and your inlaws will help defray some of the carrying costs.

The deal is only as good as your inlaws' character. If they need to have someone buy a house for them that might be a cause for concern.