Mike Farmer

Archive of Mike Farmer's Articles

Mike has written 20 article(s) for the BiggerPockets Blog.

Oh, Those Scary Unknowns in Real Estate Investing

by Mike Farmer | June 24, 2008

I guess the scariest thing about investing is not knowing for sure. Many have written about the best ways to minimize risk and create a system whereby an investor has the best chance of succeeding and maximizing ROI, yet, there is always still risk. Even the best planned investment can go sour. We can almost predict [...]

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Landlord Tenant

To Over-Do or To Under-Do? – That Is The Real Estate Investment Question

by Mike Farmer | June 17, 2008

I guess it’s a philosophical difference. I know several investors who have a bare-bones approach to getting rentals ready and maintaining them. I see their point because they are looking at it as a revenue generating object. Maintain just enough to protect the object and the investment. On the other hand, I tend to go [...]

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Financing Real Estate

You Don’t Have To Be A Professional Real Estate Investor

by Mike Farmer | June 10, 2008

There are many ways to invest in real estate and not every investor has to be a professional, full-time investor. One way someone young can invest and build wealth in real estate is by purchasing a duplex as their starter home and building from there. In Savannah GA there are many opportunities to start this [...]

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Learn Real Estate

Elementary Investment Suggestions

by Mike Farmer | June 3, 2008

Basic Real Estate Project Planning and Management This will be elementary to seasoned investors, but I’m assuming many investors using BiggerPockets are beginning and collecting information, so I thought it might be useful to go over basic project planning and management. I have learned these things from experience, but mainly through knowing smart investors. When [...]

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Commercial Real Estate

Financing the Investment Project: Leaving Nothing To Chance

by Mike Farmer | May 27, 2008

The importance of financing is so great it pays to leave nothing to chance and assumption. Knowing the local lenders and what they like to invest in is critical to finding the right lender for your investment project. Also, presenting a compelling case to the lender is important. These two aspects lay the foundation for [...]

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Commercial Real Estate

Utilizing a network of real estate agents to invest in a down market

by Mike Farmer | May 20, 2008

I have approximately ten serious buyers who have a home to sell in another state before they can buy. I talked to the relocation person at Gulfstream here in Savannah and she said many of her new hires have homes to sell before they can buy. If you take my situation and consider all the [...]

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Commentary

Real Estate Investing In A Rental Village

by Mike Farmer | May 13, 2008

Not too long ago I went to a neighboring town to check out an investment possibility for an investor I work with – rental subdivisions. The owner had built these homes in a college town 15 years ago and they were all basically the same style, cottages — some 2/2, some 3/2, 1400 sq ft [...]

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Real Estate Investing

Real Estate Investment based on how the market IS, not its up-ness or down-ness (aka Timing)

by Mike Farmer | April 30, 2008

I read several posts lately about the dire nature of the real estate market with questions about whether now is a good time to invest based on the “badness” of the market. These are sensible warnings and no one can be faulted for calling a spade a spade. However, the assumption that someone is in [...]

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Commercial Real Estate

A Flex-ible Real Estate Investment . . . The Trend Towards Increased Warehousing

by Mike Farmer | April 22, 2008

There are several trends I’ve seen emerging. One has to do with cyber-shopping — online buying seems to be a trend that will only increase. Nothing is ever certain in our fast-changing world, but the convenience of cyber-shopping seems to have taken hold as consumers gradually get over the distrust of online buying and break [...]

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Commentary

Real Estate Investors With a Good Attitude: Smile and Get’er Done!

by Mike Farmer | April 16, 2008

We’ve all heard about the importance of setting goals, but how many actually do it — I mean, how many actually organize their goals in achievable steps that all lead toward successful accomplishment? I do it better than I did, gaining more discipline as time goes on — through practice. I have a fairly large [...]

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Commentary

Foreign Real Estate Investment: Will It Spread To Your Town?

by Mike Farmer | April 8, 2008

Although I haven’t read any reports in the last couple of months, at the beginning of the year there was buzz about foreign investment in US real estate. Some reported on foreign investors taking advantage of the weak dollar to put down enough to create a good cash flow with the expectations, also, of appreciation [...]

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Learn Real Estate

Real Estate Investment Vision: Economic Conversion

by Mike Farmer | April 1, 2008

We all know about changes. Change happens all the time. The city you’ve lived in for years looks nothing like it did 5, 10, 20 years ago. Ride around the city, now looking at it as an investor, and everywhere you’ll see once successfully operating buildings now sinking into disrepair, or the businesses operating out [...]

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Real Estate Investing

Investment Team – A Real Investment Team

by Mike Farmer | March 25, 2008

This week I’d like to be both practical and a little futuristic. On Bloodhound Blog, my blog, Bonzai, and several other blogs lately, there has been talk about changes in the real estate field, and one of those changes, the team approach, is a topic I’d like to relate to investing — not just “team” [...]

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Real Estate Deals

Real Estate Investment Economics

by Mike Farmer | March 22, 2008

Real Estate Investment Economics When considering the economic viability of an investment, present income and future income should be evaluated carefully along with changes and predictions of demographics. A fully rented strip mall may look attractive to start with but an evaluation is in order to determine economic viability. Is the area growing at a [...]

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Commentary

The Importance of Real Estate Inspections: Be A Detective when Buying Property

by Mike Farmer | March 11, 2008

The other day I went to a listing appointment and gradually asked enough pointed questions and did enough research that I passed on listing the property. Upon first glance the lot seemed simple, but I noticed some odd layout to the side of it that made it unclear where the property lines ran. After doing [...]

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