Author Topic: Case Study: Buy the other side of the duplex?  (Read 1470 times)

FIREme

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Case Study: Buy the other side of the duplex?
« on: February 26, 2015, 03:08:39 PM »
Currently I own, outright, one side of a 10 year old duplex, which i purchased for $107k about a year ago. My life situation could change in the next year or so and there's a good chance that I will want to move out of here. I bought this property with the intention of buying the other half and renting that out as well but after learning more about RE i'm not sure that it's a GREAT investment.

I'm assuming I could get the other side for approximately $105k from the owner, who is willing to sell. Here are the rest of the numbers, which apply to one side. Both sides are identical.
Current rent: $950/month to a long term tenant
Insurance: $60/month
Taxes: $158/month (can probably be knocked down 10-15% as the appraisal is way too high)
Maintenance: The property is only 10 years old and in my year of living here i've only incurred about $500 in maintenance.
No HOA
I should be able to finance a 30y at 3.5-4.5%

The cash on cash return obviously isn't amazing but are there any advantages to renting both sides such as insurance savings, etc that i'm not considering? Should I buy the other side and rent both out or sell my side and get out?

waltworks

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Re: Case Study: Buy the other side of the duplex?
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2015, 03:19:26 PM »
If you are unsure if you'll stay in the area, I'd hold off. If you want to keep living there, it's not a horrible deal and I'd consider it, myself.

Buying RE when your near future plans are uncertain is usually a bad idea.

-W

FIREme

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Re: Case Study: Buy the other side of the duplex?
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2015, 03:27:18 PM »
If you are unsure if you'll stay in the area, I'd hold off. If you want to keep living there, it's not a horrible deal and I'd consider it, myself.

Buying RE when your near future plans are uncertain is usually a bad idea.

-W
I would be moving about 45 minutes away so I'm not really worried about the locational aspect.

 

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