Real Estate Broker · Wilmington, NC · Member since 2017 · 51 posts · 28 votes
Hello BP family!
My name is Jesse, and I am a Keller Williams agent in Wilmington, NC. I have listened to the BP podcast for a couple of years now but am just becoming active on this site. Thankful to have this wealth of knowledge through you guys! I am going to start doing some Brrrr's in some other markets around NC/SC. I have a solid connection to a fantastic team in Fayetteville, and a friend/mentor who knows the market very well. I am also interested in some other markets.
My question is- What are your favorite SC markets to Brrrr in, and why?
Also, please comment your experiences in the following markets-
Columbia, SC
Florence, SC
Sumter, SC
I look forward to hearing from you! Thanks in advance.
No problem finding BRRR properties in Columbia and I should say it works with small multi-family properties at least as well as with SFH. But the reason I am continually pushing buyers into less expensive homes is that the numbers are dramatically better in the 40-80K purchase price range than 125 and up. There is such intense competition for suburbs from large funds that seem to be happy with a 4 % CAP rate that I keep urging buyers into transitional areas, solid neighborhoods and workforce housing. Places we used to call 'blue-collar' and now call the working poor. There are others but it is most consistently good and Columbia is nothing if not consistent.
SC is honestly hard to BRRR in in the SFH market. Reason being our exorbitant taxes on non-owner occupied properties. (essentially rentals). The taxes on a SFH can jump from ~$900/year if you own and live in the property to $3600/year as a rental.
Your best bet if you want to rent in SC is to focus on 2-4plexes. This will help you be competitive with rents and still be able to make any sort of profit.
Others can chime in and post their thoughts, but from all the numbers I've run, it ends up not being worth it. Not if you want to also save money for repairs and such like you should be. Lots of people are renting with razor thin profit. Some no profit at all.
@Jesse Canady I've done a couple in Charleston and we have a few clients doing them here. This isn't the easiest market to do them because it's very competitive, so getting enough of a discount up front can be tough. It can be done, but it's a pretty narrow number of areas/neighborhoods that are even candidates. I think you'd have more success in Columbia because there's more inventory.
Look into Greenville. With the large manufacturing base there is a bigger need for housing. I can say the apartment market is booming and priced right. I do student housing in Columbia where there has been very good appreciation over the past year or so.
@Jesse Canady Haven't had a problem finding great BRRR candidates at all in Columbia. Full disclosure I stick mostly to 2-4 unit student rental MFH but see SFH candidates routinely in the downtown markets (29205, 29201, some 29204). I think the trick is finding properties that need a lot of work that others are afraid to take on.
No problem finding BRRR properties in Columbia and I should say it works with small multi-family properties at least as well as with SFH. But the reason I am continually pushing buyers into less expensive homes is that the numbers are dramatically better in the 40-80K purchase price range than 125 and up. There is such intense competition for suburbs from large funds that seem to be happy with a 4 % CAP rate that I keep urging buyers into transitional areas, solid neighborhoods and workforce housing. Places we used to call 'blue-collar' and now call the working poor. There are others but it is most consistently good and Columbia is nothing if not consistent.
Columbia is a great Brrrr market in my experience. Thats what I've built our whole portfolio on. To Chris' point, it is very easy to find brrrr candidates under the 100k mark. There is plenty of inventory available.