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I am a single female, 50, feel much younger, lol, thinking of moving to Raleigh area spring 2012. I would like to purchase a 2+ family home. Live in one, rent the other. Are there any good areas to purchase homes like this? I would consider a 3 or 4 family also. My plan is to buy several multiple family homes over the next 5-10 years, live in one rent the other then move on to the next. I have done this in upstate NY and it works well. Eventually would move to a condo or single family home. I love the income and owning more than one home. I love to fix houses up and make them very nice for my tenants. I am NOT a slumlord. I am not sure yet what area I will be working as I haven't thought about what companies I will apply to. Possible triangle and Cary area. I'm just starting to research and would like info before I travel to NC to check out houses. Any RE agent referrals would be appreciated also.
Thanks!
I did a search on Realtor for multi-family homes. There were none in Raleigh under $300,000. There was one in Historic Oakwood at $329K. It had a contingent offer, and the realtor was saying it could be converted back to single family. I suspect the Raleigh market is a bit too upscale for the kind of money-making you are looking for.
However there were a number of side-by-side duplexes in Durham and Apex under $300K. The two-and-three flat homes you see in the Northeast don't seem to exist here. However, there are probably opportunities to renovate and make money on rental homes. You might also check out mobile homes- many people do rent them.
Last edited by goldenage1; 09-24-2011 at 03:04 PM..
Reason: Clarification
Thank you for your reply. I actually would pay up to $350K if area is nice and rental income is decent. As I said I'm not looking to be a "slumlord" I like nice homes. Nice homes bring nice, stable tenants. If you have a nice rental that is updated & well-kept, people are willing to pay more $$$ for them. I found I get a better caliber of tenant than places that are not as nice as I keep mine. Is Durham or Apex a good area? Something tells me it might not be.
Is Durham or Apex a good area? Something tells me it might not be.
The Durham and Clayton (my mistake, not Apex) properties were under $200,000, and appeared to be lower income areas. However, there are many posts in this forum on whether Durham is "safe" or "nice". There are many areas in Durham that are safe. There is a big disadvantage to looking for income property in an area you don't know well.
I suspect North Carolinians who rent would prefer to be in a single-family home rather than duplexes.
On the whole, duplexes are not that plentiful in the Triangle area. There might be more around college neigborhoods? Are you looking to have the other half pay the mortgage for both?
If so, the best rents would be in areas like Oakwood and other historic areas like Mordecai. The few duplexes I have seen in JoCo and Harnett usually bring $600-$800 monthly rent.
Rent in parts of Wake / Durham county will probably be higher, if you can find a duplex?
As zthatzman says, in Raleigh most of the type houses you're talking about (which are fairly rare here) are near the university and rent to young people, maybe not college students, but 20somethings. Oakwood has some, and again the folks I've seen living in them tend to be young "artist-type" folks.
Just today I was over in the Watts-Hillandale neighborhood of Durham (a nice area) and saw a few duplex-type houses. Durham has some bad areas but this part is nice. If you travel down here to do a house search, definitely check that area. It's near the Duke East Campus. There may even be a website for that neighborhood.
I am a single female, 50, feel much younger, lol, thinking of moving to Raleigh area spring 2012. I would like to purchase a 2+ family home. Live in one, rent the other. Are there any good areas to purchase homes like this? I would consider a 3 or 4 family also. ... Any RE agent referrals would be appreciated also.
Thanks!
Why the "lol" about feeling "much younger" than 50?
To answer your direct question, yes, I would say there are a lot of good areas to purchase duplexes and other multi-family homes around the Triangle. And I see very, very few areas within the region that would not be good places to buy them, especially if you're going to fix-up and maintain them to the standards that you suggested you would. The roughest parts of the area are traditionally the neighborhoods just east and south of downtown Durham, and to a lesser extent just east and southeast of downtown Raleigh. But even those neighborhoods aren't really all that bad compared to the "bad neighborhoods" in bigger cities, and I and many other people see tremendous real estate potential even in most of those areas. So you should do your due diligence, of course, but there are very few areas around the Triangle that I would steer you away from altogether.
This is a growing area, with a real estate market that's reasonably healthy considering the catastrophic national trends. There's been moderate demand for rental housing here, but it's increasing, and I think it will continue to increase for the foreseeable future, with a particular increase in the demand for mid- to upscale rentals. Anecdotally I encounter many, many people who are looking to rent somewhere decent around here, but not in one of the many bland, sterile, brand new suburban apartment complexes that abound in the sprawl all across the area. It can sometimes be hard for those people to find nice rental alternatives, and I would think there could be strong demand for more duplexes or smaller apartment buildings that are safe and lovingly maintained, especially if you market them properly.
As the previous posters said, there aren't really neighborhoods around here (that I know of) with a particularly high concentration of duplexes. But I see more duplexes as I drive around the area than these other people apparently do, and I think there are actually a decent number of duplexes around the region in total. You'll tend to see duplexes in various states of repair scattered sporadically across most of the older neighborhoods in most of the towns in the area. Obviously, there aren't duplexes in the newer high-end developments, but duplexes can be found here and there in most other areas that were developed more than 40 or 50 years ago.
I agree that a good, knowledgeable real estate agent for you to consult and partner with in this endeavor would be an invaluable asset for you. Unfortunately, I don't really have anyone to refer you to. I actually do know a couple of local real estate agents, but frankly, I don't think they would be of much help to you, since I don't think they would "get" what you're trying to do. But hopefully someone else on here does have a good agent they can hook you up with.
Anyhow, it sounds like a fun and interesting venture you're working on it. Best of luck, have fun, and welcome to the Triangle (when you get here)!
Compared to upstate NY, there are far fewer duplexes here. (Before I moved here, I co-owned a number of them in upstate New York.)
A large amount of available housing here (of all types) is much newer than housing in New York.
I think a higher percentage of older homes (built between 1880 and 1950 or so) in NY were built as multi-families or converted compared to here.
So they are here, but you won't find as many -- and you won't find as many in need of rehabbing.
When you move, I highly recommend that you join TAA (Triangle Apartment Association) at least for a year or so, so you can easily obtain NC-specific leases, inexpensive background checks, and have access to other resources.
And there are lots of 50+ people here who feel (and act) much younger.
Thank you both for such good information. I really appreciate it. I can't wait to move to the area. I had originally picked Wilmington because of its proximity to the beach but jobs are just not as plentiful there unless you are in the medical field which I'm not. I wish I was moving now because RE is such a great investment right now, but I have things I need to finish here in NY before I can move.
Now that you two have given me areas to look at I will keep scanning the RE ads to see what is out there. I am looking to do just what you said and that is rent to people that aren't looking for a complex. I want to have a nice "home" for my renters. Young 20's and 30's professionals would be great. Also people like myself that are moving here that want to rent before buying. I'm not interested in section 8 or low income housing. I've had experience with that in NY, I felt sorry for some of these people, and I paid for it with apartments that were disgusting when they left.
I'm glad there are lots of "young" 50 year olds in NC. Saying I'm 50 "kills" me!
Thank you again everyone for your advice. I welcome all the advice I can get.
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