540 Lewis Rd

Walton, NY 13856

$325,000D-

1 bd · 1.0 ba · 672 sqft · Built 1986 · SingleFamily · Pending · 44 DOM

Cashflow @ list (25.0% down · 7.5%)

• Estimated rent: $2,035/mo
• Mortgage (P&I): −$1,704
• Tax + insurance: −$339
• HOA: −$0
• Vac / Maint / Mgmt: −$427
• Net cashflow: $-436/mo
• Annual: $-5,228/yr
• Cap rate: 4.68%
• Cash-on-cash: -5.74%
• DSCR: 0.74
• 1% rule: 0.63%
• Cash to close: $91,000

Investor read

• This is a 1-bed/1.0-bath single-family listed at $325k.
• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-436 ($-5k/yr) — negative.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $248k (23.7% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $204k (37.4% below list).
• It's been on market 44 days — a 3% lower offer ($315k) is reasonable based on typical stale-listing flexibility.
• Recommended offer: $204k (37.4% below list) — sets the bar for 1% rule.
• In year one you build about $21k of equity ($2k loan paydown + $19k appreciation (5.8% local appreciation)).
• Location reads 70/100 on livability (#443 in NY) — a middle-class / working-renter tenant base. Strengths: cost of living A+, health & safety A+; Watch: amenities F, commute F, employment F.
• Walton Central School District (town): math 36% / reading 47% proficiency, ranked #510 of 590 in NY (top 86%) — families likely to look elsewhere, expect single-tenant / working-renter base with shorter leases.
• Zoned schools: Townsend Elementary School (math 32% / reading 42%, grade F, #1,519 of 2,108 statewide, top 74%, 367 students, 47% FRL); Walton Middle School (math 17% / reading 42%, grade F, #550 of 729 statewide, top 77%, 189 students, 54% FRL); Walton High School (math 84% / reading 90%, grade A, #308 of 1,100 statewide, top 28%, 283 students, 50% FRL) — zoned schools at 51% FRL track the district average.
• Market conditions: 56 active listings in the ZIP; 66 units permitted in Delaware County in 2024 (0 in 5+ unit buildings).
• Delaware County population projected at -27% by 2050 — secular population decline; favor cash flow + early exit over multi-decade hold.
• 2 sale attempts; this cycle's ask has dropped $50k (13%) from the opening price — seller is motivated, your offer sets the floor, not the list.
• By year 2, paydown + projected appreciation supports a ~$34k cash-out refi (75% LTV) — recoverable capital for the next deal without selling this one.
• Cap rate 4.7% vs local median 7.8% in Walton — below-typical yield; the buyer is paying a premium for something (appreciation thesis, condition, location) that the cap rate doesn't capture.

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 44 days. Have you received any prior offers? Is the seller open to a 37% concession, seller financing, or rate buy-down credit?
• Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
• Schools are D-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.
• How much new for-sale + rental construction is in the pipeline within 1–3 miles? Heavy new supply typically softens prices + rents 12–24 months out; constrained supply supports both.