Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2011 · 104 posts · 13 votes
Good Morning BP:
Sometimes real estate transactions happen quickly and easily, sometimes they drag on for months. I'm looking for agents in the Northwest Indiana area, knowledgeable specifically in Gary, Lake Station areas as well as LaPorte and Michigan City. These agents need to have a solid grasp on the market, Section 8, lender, contractor connections, and have confident knowledge as to what I can rent the properties for, what improvements to make, etc. As I am just getting started, someone with patience as well will go a long way. I'm in this for the long haul.
I contacted the listing agent for a freshly remodeled, 1700 square foot house in Miller Beach, about 4 blocks away from Lake Michigan, and the listing agent told me I could only get $650/month. That amount resonates with other areas in Gary. That is what I'm talking about. No knowledge about the market. According to Rentometer, average rent for the area is about $1000-1300/month. However, since it is a Quit Claim, I'm no longer pursuing it.
Erick, you are asking for too much. you pretty much are seeking a person that does it all, all u have to do is sign the paperwork.
it really seems like you want a partner/assistant that can find a deal, get an idea what it would be to rehab, run the numbers since they have to know what rent u are getting , present it to you and u just sign on the line. oh, and I am sure it has to be cheap.
you won't find anyone like that unless u hire them to work for u
Erick, you are asking for too much. you pretty much are seeking a person that does it all, all u have to do is sign the paperwork.
it really seems like you want a partner/assistant that can find a deal, get an idea what it would be to rehab, run the numbers since they have to know what rent u are getting , present it to you and u just sign on the line. oh, and I am sure it has to be cheap.
you won't find anyone like that unless u hire them to work for u
Thank you for your feedback. Like I said, somewhat new to the arena. I do think the agent should be knowledgeable about the area. I don't know much about Gary, but I'm learning quickly. Also looking into LaPorte and Michigan City. Have little information about that area especially. Is there Rental Registration, do all contractors have to be licensed in the city/village, etc?
Erick Caffarello George P. I agree with my friend George. He has a way of being to the point haha. My question for you is if there is a guy that does all this. Do you think he would prefer to work with a newbie investor or a list of experienced investors that I'm sure already know of him. Lastly if he does all this he probably does not want to work for you but is competing against you. I would suggest investing more time into this yourself as you said you are in it for the long haul before aiming for the holy grail of agents we all want. I found that agent finally ....its my wife. More than likely you will
become that agent or have a team of people that want to do all this. If someone does know somebody like this I honestly am not sure they would want to share. Its like my contractors, I refer them to a buddy once and all of a sudden I am stuck trying to find new contractors because my guys are not available because they are busy with work for someone else.
Gary isn't the place to get your feet wet. Sure the entry price is attractive but it's block by block and it's a different type of drama. Get involved locally with NICIA and you'll learn a lot as well as make connections to put a team of professionals in place to help you. Rentometer isn't accurate in Gary. Somewhere between $550-750 is a good estimate on Gary rents depending on size and location. Miller Beach is different though but I think your rentometer estimate is high. If someone is going to drop $1100, it likely isn't with a Gary address unless they grew up there and want to stay local. They can be in a nicer/safer area for that much in Mereillville, Lake Atation, or Hobart.
Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.com
Go to IREM.org search for ARM certified property managers. Call 5 ask them what they see expenses running per category per unit. What do they see them selling for per unit, what is the market occupancy rate. What are the market rents? Ask them if they know anything coming up for sale. Great way to pick up some good info and possibly a deal.
You can also search NARPM.org for the RMP (Residential Management Professional) and MPM (Master Property Manager) certified.
@Erick Caffarello I'm with @Adrien C. on this with rentometer I don't think it or any other rent estimator is totally accurate in any town. There are always going to be some that are able to pull a lot more rent and some that are way below. I think a lot of this just falls into doing your due diligence as some things you have some control over, others you don't.
If your new, I really think you should probably start out in an area you know well. Hammond and Gary both are areas where you get a lot of variation depending on where you are in the city. I have a house on the south side of gary that rents at about $900/mo, but there are plenty of areas where a similar house could rent at near half that.
I think the best thing you could is to spend some time getting to know the area you want to invest in well.
-spend time driving or walking the neighborhoods
-look at listings int he area and recent sales (some of this you can get from sites like zillow), but any agent could also get this too.
-repair estimates are tougher, if you get to know some people who rehab or some contractors, they might be able to help. the other way is just jump in and make some mistakes, you'd be surprised at how fast you learn when it's your money on the line. though it's a lot less painful to learn form someone else's mistakes.
-figuring out the how much you can rent for... realtors can get comps on rent... you can look up other listings on craigslist, and there are plenty of other sites too. but one of the best ways to figure out what you can get is to go to the place up for rent, walk or drive the neighborhood, and possibly go look at the apartment.
-some of what your looking for you may be able to find in a mix between a property manager and a real estate agent, but you'd probably need to be in communication with both of them frequently.
I also think that the property manager is the way to go with this, though it'll cost you about 10% of the rent, and you need to work that into your budget. I also think that the experience of managing the property on your own at first gives you a better appreciation for what a property manager can do for you... in my case at least, it dramatically freed up my time allowing me to focus on more important things than the daily tenant issues.