500 House Ave

Scotland Neck, NC 27874

$120,000D

3 bd · 1.0 ba · 864 sqft · Built 1961 · SingleFamily · Active · 41 DOM

Cashflow @ list (25.0% down · 7.5%)

• Estimated rent: $899/mo
• Mortgage (P&I): −$629
• Tax + insurance: −$85
• HOA: −$0
• Vac / Maint / Mgmt: −$189
• Net cashflow: $-5/mo
• Annual: $-54/yr
• Cap rate: 6.25%
• Cash-on-cash: -0.16%
• DSCR: 0.99
• 1% rule: 0.75%
• Cash to close: $33,600

Investor read

• This is a 3-bed/1.0-bath single-family listed at $120k.
• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-5 ($-54/yr) — negative.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $119k (0.7% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $90k (25.1% below list).
• It's been on market 41 days — a 3% lower offer ($116k) is reasonable based on typical stale-listing flexibility.
• Recommended offer: $90k (25.1% below list) — sets the bar for 1% rule.
• In year one you build about $5k of equity ($830 loan paydown + $4k appreciation (3.5% local appreciation)).
• Location reads 58/100 on livability (#566 in NC) — a working-class tenant base; expect higher turnover. Strengths: cost of living A+, health & safety A, crime A-; Watch: housing D, amenities F, commute F.
• Halifax County Schools (rural): math 6% / reading 24% proficiency, ranked #177 of 178 in NC (top 99%) — low school quality limits family demand, transient renter base, plan for 1-2y turnover; 82% free/reduced lunch — lower-income household profile, screen leases tightly.
• Zoned schools: Scotland Neck Elementary Leadership Acad (math 2% / reading 17%, grade F, #1,385 of 1,410 statewide, top 99%, 149 students, 98% FRL); Enfield Middle S.T.E.A.M. Academy (math 2% / reading 15%, grade F, #475 of 475 statewide, top 100%, 210 students, 99% FRL); Southeast Halifax Collegiate Prep Academ (math 5% / reading 34%, grade F, #492 of 535 statewide, top 93%, 196 students, 98% FRL) — zoned schools average 98% FRL vs 82% district-wide (16 pts higher); higher-poverty schools than district average — tighter screening recommended.
• Market conditions: 22 active listings in the ZIP; 55 units permitted in Halifax County in 2024 (0 in 5+ unit buildings).
• Halifax County population projected at -27% by 2050 — secular population decline; favor cash flow + early exit over multi-decade hold.
• Current owner paid $70k; list at $120k implies a 71% gain — meaningful room to come down on a strong offer.
• At projected returns (3.5% appreciation + 3.0% rent growth), your $34k cash investment doubles in ~6 years — after that, you're playing with house money.
• By year 7, paydown + projected appreciation supports a ~$32k cash-out refi (75% LTV) — recoverable capital for the next deal without selling this one.
• Climate carrying-cost: major wind risk, 78% chance of damaging wind over 30y; extreme-heat days projected 7→16/yr by 2055 (HVAC capex compounding) — expect insurance premiums to compound above CPI over the hold.

Questions for listing agent

• What do current leases actually rent for vs. the listed asking? Can we see a recent rent roll and the last 12 months of T-12 income?
• It's been on market 41 days. Have you received any prior offers? Is the seller open to a 25% concession, seller financing, or rate buy-down credit?
• Built in 1961 — when were the roof, HVAC, electrical panel, plumbing, and water heater last replaced?
• Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
• Schools are F-rated, which usually means shorter tenancies and higher turnover. Who's the typical renter profile here, and what's been the actual vacancy rate?
• The area grade is low — what's the realistic commute time and amenity access for the typical tenant pool here? Any planned neighborhood developments (good or bad) we should know about?
• What's the average days-on-market for RENTAL listings here right now (not sales)? A rising rental-DOM trend means longer vacancies and softer asking-rent achievability than the comps imply.
• What's the recent tenant-quality profile in this submarket — average credit score on applications, eviction rate, late-payment / NSF rate, and stable-employment percentage? A property-management company in the area should have these aggregated.