You can download Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator
[Microsoft Excel document]
This cash flow calculator is intended to be an aid for both assessing investment properties before purchase and for convincing your lender to provide funds. But as always, do your homework. Just because it works on paper doesn't mean it'll work in real life. Instructions for using the calculator are included as a second spreadsheet in the Excel file.

Q&A

Q: I would like to buy more properties throughout St. Louis, but do not readily have the cash that will enable me to move forward (i.e., closing costs, down payments, etc.). What advice would you give, could you recommend finance companies?

RC: With the economy down, lenders are tightening their purse strings. Most of them will require 20% down for an investment property; some require 25%. We think it's important to have a good chunk of change saved up before you try to go into the rental or development business. Otherwise, you may be tempted to cut corners when it comes to repairs and maintenance. Nasty surprises and unexpected costs are bound to pop up, especially with older buildings. The city is full of commercial and residential property owners who let their buildings deteriorate because they don't have the money to fix them.

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Q: I want to purchase a 6-family flat, each flat is a 3 room shotgun-style apartment. I would like to develop it into 3 townhouses and live in one. The building needs everything: a new roof, windows, some tuckpointing, all new plumbing and electrical. It will also need a heating and cooling system, and probably a new water service. I'd like an idea of what it would cost to do the main structural elements of the project and maybe develop one townhouse.

RC: Figure about $70/sq. ft. to contract it out:
5500 x 70 = 385,000 / 3 = $128,000/unit

Or $30/sq. ft. if you can do a lot of the work yourself:
5500 x 30 = 165,000 / 3 = $55,000/unit

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Q: Do I have to get a certificate of occupancy every time someone moves in and out of my rental property?

RC: The occupancy permit is good for one year. If the tenant moves out before the year runs out then you will not need a new inspection. [Tom Amptman]

More information on Building Permits.

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Q: Does anyone have suggestions about getting up to speed as quickly as possible on becoming a landlord? Are there one-night classes one can take? Suggested books to read? Good websites to visit?

RC: I can understand your desire to be able to acquire knowledge quickly; I have waaaaaaay too much too learn and not enough years to get it done in! But I also think this inquiry bespeaks what I will call 'naivete'. I think many people go into rehabbing thinking that after they have fixed the building, managing property is a no-brainer that can be learned in an evening. Of course property managers would likely say that is like asking if there are any 3-hour seminars you can take to become a carpenter or a secretary or any other profession -- the thought is really an outrageous impossibility. I've been a landlord for not quite 10 years, and I'm still learning the ropes! [I had only one house for six of those years so I'm not a real pro, I only play one here.]

That said, the city does sponsor an all-day set of seminars each summer that give introductions to important topics like legal issues, equal opportunity, evictions, etc. But that only scratches the surface of these subjects.

I hope this response will disabuse everyone of the mistaken idea that being a landlord is a walk-on job. The truth is, that to rehab a house and keep it an asset to the neighborhood, it takes a LOT of work. The best teacher of all: Experience – the thing you can't get in a class. With some of both under your belt, I'm sure you'll grow into being a great property manager. [Missy Van Winkle]

Link to Missouri Landlord & Tenant Law

Link to local landlord association

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Q: I just recently purchased a four-family building and was interested in possibly using my building as Section 8 housing. I need information or a contact so that I may find out how that works.

RC: Contact St. Louis Housing Authority, 531-4770 located at 4100 Lindell Boulevard. Realize that Section 8 does not pay a landlord for any damage to the property.

City of St. Louis Housing Authority informational page

St. Louis Housing Authority Landlord Information site

Member Recomendations for Screening Tenants Online

MrLandlord
This site offers credit reports for $10; also verifies social security and run background checks

Rental Housing Online

* * *

Member Recomendations for Landlord-Related
Info and Services

Landlording

Kroll Factual Data Service works with Rent Right Property Management software

How to do an eviction

* * *

Got a burning quesion
you need answererd?
Ask the list. With literally
hundreds of rehabbers
reading your every word,
you're bound to get answers – honest, experienced ones–and at a very affordable price!

* * *

Got an apartment
to rent?
You can list
apartments for rent
in the city for $25.
The ad can be as long as is
necessary and will run
until the apartment is rented.

www.STLForRent.com

* * *

Resource Center
for Landlords
free forms & other good info

* * *

INFORENT Landlord Guide
prepared by the city's
Neighborhood Stabilization
Team 622-4628

* * *

RECOMMENDED
READING

Landlording:
A Handymanual for
Scrupulous Landlords and Landladies Who
Do It Themselves
Ninth Edition

Called "the best property management book in the field" by the Chicago Tribune, this edition features a new section on landlords using the Internet, has great advice on how to keep good tenants, how to deal with problem renters, how to maintain proper records, how to do your taxes, and more. Fifty forms include a rental application and agreement, employment application, and notice to terminate tenancy.

by Leigh Robinson
© 1994, ExPress
Publishing, El Cerrito, CA