First Property - seems too easy

[Brett Barrett]

I think I'm on a common path for someone looking to get into investment property. It started for me with Rich Dad Poor Dad, and went on to several other books specifically about rentals. I've also done a good amount of reading here on BP about various topics. I've committed to analyzing a few properties each week just for the sake of practice and learning how to account for different circumstances etc. From my research, it sounds like I should expect to sift through maybe 100 properties to find some that are worthwhile, do a detailed analysis on a few, and that will ultimately yield a very small percentage that are "good deals."

Very quickly I've actually found a few in the range of 1.0%-1.3% on the 2% rule test. One in particular that is in decent shape shows 20% CoC and 1.25%. Its a 2 bed 1 bath, currently tenant occupied and has a good rental history, and really needs very little aside from perhaps just freshening up the interior. I made contact with an agent, explained to him my intentions, and turns out he also does some rentals. I didn't make it far enough to know, but I expect he's on this forum as well. He was immediately asking me what I was looking for in terms of strategy, targets on CoC or cashflow, and very quickly we were on the same page this was what I was looking for. In short; it's in my price range, pretty much turnkey, and in a location that keeps it rented pretty easily.

Everything about that just seems a little too good to be true, including immediately finding a realtor with good experience. I realize it's not possible to tell me what I might be missing without every single detail, but I'm curious if this sounds like a common blunder for a beginner. I'd be happy to provide any other information that would make this easier to answer.

[Caleb Brown]

Verify market rent and run the numbers correctly. As far as networking I'd just do some research, make sure the agent is solid. From there offer and do inspections. That will tell you condition and how the bigger components are. I've had some clients find a deal within a week others takes months. A lot of variables go into finding a deal since everyone is different. Be conservative, do due diligence and don't make knee jerk reactions.