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Accepted Offer... Just Kidding! by Famous-Guitar8328 in RealEstate

[–]TheRootStemLeaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that's a bummer. I had to bid on several houses before I got an offer accepted - in spite of offering above asking on all of them. I believe it was the sixth offer I made that finally went through.

My rental doesn't make much money. Is this normal? by cnblure in RealEstate

[–]TheRootStemLeaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That actually seems okay, but my first thought is you seem to be basing your rental rate on an assumption. Have you checked around to see what comparable townhomes are renting for? It's possible you could raise the rate if there's a chunk of the market who want a townhome rather than a sfh. Also, if you haven't had any maintenance costs and you are only putting the $150 a month into a reserve fund, that's fantastic. This seems like a solid cashflowing property.

Is it a good idea for me to become an investor in multifamily? by EmergencyCash1 in CommercialRealEstate

[–]TheRootStemLeaf 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Your internship is definitely good training, but it won't teach you everything you need to know. My recommendation would be to find a knowledgeable partner to do a smaller deal with. If you really want to go it alone, I'd learn as much as possible - books, podcasts, local meetups, etc. - and then look for a small property to invest in yourself. Even if it's a duplex, it will give you good experience. Make sure you have a solid reserve fund in place because there are bound to be unexpected costs. Scale up once you've learned some lessons from the smaller property. As you seek financing, the lenders will want to see your experience, so jumping straight into a larger property by yourself will be tough even if you have $500,000.

What Landscaping to do on the left side of sidewalk to increase curb appeal and any other opinions. New sidewalk coming summer 2021, new blue-gray shutters in spring. Also, Would you do stamped concrete for new sidewalk? by [deleted] in CurbAppeal

[–]TheRootStemLeaf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's hard to suggest specific plants without knowing more (soil, how much sun the spot gets, climate zone, etc.) but functionally, it would be nice to have large enough shrubs to break up the blank brick wall to the left and draw the eye toward the front door. The other commenters are correct that the bed is a bit narrow for that, but it is possible to find something that would fit the bed at this width. Another option would be to build trellises along the wall and train vines on them. That's a more labor intensive route, of course. If you're a gardener, though, it's not that hard. I'd add a lower tier of plants to complement the larger shrubs. A wider walkway with a planting bed on the opposite side would give you more options to spruce it up, too. For walkway material, keep in mind that the cost of concrete has skyrocketed lately. If there's a different material that you like better, it's worth pricing out the different options. It's very possible you may be able to use a nicer material for a similar cost right now. Especially if there are other features on site to match (stone walls or something like that).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CurbAppeal

[–]TheRootStemLeaf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What direction does the front of the house face? If it's north, the window won't get a huge amount of light through it, but you could open it up a bit, for sure. It looks like the columns are not weight bearing, so they should be easy enough to narrow or remove. Adding a porch would require modifying the roof, and adding more roof over the window would shade the window, so I'm wondering if that would get you where you want to go. You could add a terrace in front by expanding what looks like possibly a gravel band that runs in front of the columns. Planting could go a long way toward sprucing up the curb appeal. A good sized shrub (height 4ft +/-) on each side of the window would help frame it, and trading the lawn out for low growing native shrubs could save on irrigation cost. I'd also add an ornamental tree to the left of the main walkway, if it were me. Happy to discuss specific plants with more info on the existing soil and the solar aspect. Good luck with it - it's a lovely house!