Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2016 · 34 posts · 20 votes
I'm curious to see if people are actively investing in Portsmouth, VA or if it's on your watch list. Of the 7 cities this seems to be one of the few that still has a relatively low barrier of entry and there are still multi-family properties available. I believe the biggest arguments against Portsmouth are the high local taxes and of course the crime. With that being said are you looking at Portsmouth?
I'm not buying to hold in PTown anymore because of all the reasons said, and because of the bureaucracy. It's the only city we have to get two levels of inspections in for a single tenant, for example. The accounting records are a joke. We keep a credit on our account so we can just call down and order an inspection without having to either go there or wait til they get our payment. They keep losing our money and only one person in the office knows what is going on. Fortunately she really knows and remembers, but the last time I had to go to straighten it out, she said "I told (whatever the account records person is) that you were supposed to have a $200 credit on your account. I'll tell her again! How is it possible they have our funds, but they do not appear on the account? Is the money being recorded wrong or is it missing? This is just one example. Here's another - the city literally hired a team of 7 people who do nothing but drive around looking for long grass to mow and then bill the homeowner (usually an investor) $270ish for a single grass cut. If you have gotten one violation notice in the last year, even if you addressed it on time, they have the right to just mow it and bill you. I tried to fight the proposed bill, but it got passed. It is also expensive to keep going through the tolls just to get there, and the tolls are going up. It's a long list of whys.
These things all said, when we were in the beginning stages of building my portfolio we bought anything that met our criteria. Now we are in pruning stage - trimming off the ones that are further away or cause us the most headaches, and adding those that meet our long term goals better.
A very wise person told us early on that if we wanted 50 properties, we should plan to buy 100, and sell half to pay off the remaining assets. Two steps forward, one step back always moves you in the right direction.
I own a triplex in Portsmouth. At the end of the day, it's all about the numbers. Yes crime is higher, taxes are higher, and the city government is known to be corrupt. Most "affordable" places are about 100 years old in rougher parts of town. Everyone has different levels of risk they are willing to take, you just have to decide what yours is.
I used to live in Portsmouth and I feel pretty safe there to be honest it’s all about the neighborhoods you’re in and I know where to stay away from. I don’t own anything there currently but I am really trying to find some places there to buy and hold.
@David Nacco I agree with your statement and like most places there are locations to be aware of. Portsmouth is attractive because of the MFH options available there. Where in Portsmouth did you live? I noticed that you live in Suffolk now. Are you looking to invest there also?
I just got into being an agent so that’s my major focus for now but yes I’m interested in investing in all the major cities on this side of the water. I’m not looking in NN or Hampton too much just because I’m not familiar with those cities but I have lived in Norfolk, VB, Portsmouth, and now Suffolk and they are all great cities with great opportunities. You just need to be familiar with the areas (mostly for Portsmouth and Norfolk). I’m not sure how familiar you are with Portsmouth but there’s a 7-11 on the corner of elm ave and George Washington highway near the shipyard and I was a short walk from there, so I’m definitely familiar with both the bad and the good of Portsmouth lol. A lot of neighborhoods in Portsmouth are really improving and will make great neighborhoods to hold for the long term
Suffolk also has quite a few deals available both wholesale and MLS. There's a few investors on here who primarily invest in Suffolk like @Ernest Grindle
Suffolk is really growing quickly. I actually noticed this when I got my first water bill after moving here and was like why the heck is this so high? So I looked into it and found that the city is expanding faster than the current infrastructure can support so they had to raise water rates to fund expanding their water and sewer systems. This made me look into it further and see how many new developments are going up in the city. The future looks promising for sure
Yes, I'm a big fan of Suffolk. The city is squared away and you get good price to rent ratios. From every aspect I think it's the best city in Hampton Roads. But I'll buy in all cities, and I've been having good experiences in Newport News and Franklin also. I guess the thing these three cities have in common is they are further out than many investors want to go, so you get some advantage there (i.e. less competition) and also some disadvantage (i.e. I can't get @Patti Robertson to manage any of these :) ). For my situation, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Coincidentally the only city I shy away from is Portsmouth, primarily because I listen to everything Patti says (although her favorite city is Norfolk). Right now 80% of my portfolio is in Suffolk.
That’s awesome man I’m interested in Franklin and Windsor and Carrollton myself. I might have to get in touch soon and talk about the Franklin market. That’s what’s keeping me from looking there more is I can’t find a lot of info on that area specifically
@David Nacco I bought my first investment property from Candace Saunders at Saunders Real Estate Pros, and she's based out of Franklin. She'd be a great person to talk with agent to agent.
Portsmouth has been improving greatly and is finally seeing some appreciation in the past year or two. We lend on more deals in Portsmouth than any other city in HR so that should tell you something. We think it's a great area to invest.
@Ernest Grindle interesting to hear you say that Suffolk is your target market. As we all know Suffolk is humongous. Are you focusing on any specific area(s)? I honestly haven’t looked at Suffolk as it is outside of “metro” Hampton Roads.
I'm all over Suffolk. Depending on location and property I do different things. North Suffolk I'm more likely to flip; downtown I'll most likely rent; south can go either way but due to driving distance and no property management I'll probably flip.
I'm not buying to hold in PTown anymore because of all the reasons said, and because of the bureaucracy. It's the only city we have to get two levels of inspections in for a single tenant, for example. The accounting records are a joke. We keep a credit on our account so we can just call down and order an inspection without having to either go there or wait til they get our payment. They keep losing our money and only one person in the office knows what is going on. Fortunately she really knows and remembers, but the last time I had to go to straighten it out, she said "I told (whatever the account records person is) that you were supposed to have a $200 credit on your account. I'll tell her again! How is it possible they have our funds, but they do not appear on the account? Is the money being recorded wrong or is it missing? This is just one example. Here's another - the city literally hired a team of 7 people who do nothing but drive around looking for long grass to mow and then bill the homeowner (usually an investor) $270ish for a single grass cut. If you have gotten one violation notice in the last year, even if you addressed it on time, they have the right to just mow it and bill you. I tried to fight the proposed bill, but it got passed. It is also expensive to keep going through the tolls just to get there, and the tolls are going up. It's a long list of whys.
These things all said, when we were in the beginning stages of building my portfolio we bought anything that met our criteria. Now we are in pruning stage - trimming off the ones that are further away or cause us the most headaches, and adding those that meet our long term goals better.
A very wise person told us early on that if we wanted 50 properties, we should plan to buy 100, and sell half to pay off the remaining assets. Two steps forward, one step back always moves you in the right direction.
@Kenny Rains this is a great thread! I grew up in vb but currently live in Cali. My rentals are all in Virginia Beach/Chesapeake. The insight into ptown investing is great. As well as Suffolk...
I’d like to start looking at deals in Suffolk to consider (for buy and hold rentals). The last time I was out there I definitely noticed the growth in downtown Suffolk...
@David Braut the Harbour View/Belleville area of Suffolk is really growing and seeing a lot of development and in my opinion is a great area to flip as well as rent if you’re close to the Walmart up there because of the military base that’s across the street from it. Downtown Suffolk is also being cleaned up a lot and a lot and is an area I’m really looking in a lot for rentals. Flips work there as well, but the rental numbers look great so I personally would rather just hold them in that area.
I'm not currently investing here, but looking at the high crime rate, high taxes, and negative net migration. I would look steer away from this market. Have you considered any NC markets?
@Willie Smith I lived in the Fayetteville area when I was in the Army and I have previously looked there. However, I’m not actively looking in NC mainly because I would like something relatively close to where I live, especially if any type of rehab is needed. In regards to your comments on Portsmouth, I would argue that most pre-gentrification areas have the same attributes you listed. As such if you can get in early, and gentrification happens, you’ll be rewarded for the risk you took. What areas of NC are you actively investing in?
@David Braut the only place I ever notice any flooding is between the marina and the Wendy’s downtown I’ve never seen it be an issue anywhere else. But I’m not sure about the vacancy rates. I don’t have any rentals in Suffolk yet, but I live here and am actively looking
No I’m looking for both on and off market. Primarily 2-4 units. I’m not picky about the bed/bath ratios for duplex-quads. I’d like to be able to cash flow at least $150 per door for multi families, but a minimum of $450 per property. For single families I want minimum beds and bath to be 3/2 or able to be reconfigured to turn them into a 3/2 or better. For singles I want to cash flow at least $300 per property. I’m willing to purchase in any condition as long as the purchase price + rehab makes sense once renovation is complete. The reason I haven’t purchased anything yet is because I’m a new real estate agent and I’m focused on building my business as an agent for the time being as well as saving up money for a down payment while I’m building enough of a track record to show the banks that my income is steady enough to be approved for a loan since I won’t have any w-2 income. Because of that I am probably going to be focused more on flips for the next 2 years to show the banks 2 years of steady income since the financing I would use for flips would have more lenient lending requirements
I currently own two SFR in Portsmouth. Bought them both on short sale in 2017 and 2018 and have no issues keeping them rented. The main issues I see in Portsmouth is to thoroughly do your tenant background checks as I see a lot of people kicking doors when trying to rent. Also be careful on the zoning as some areas require a COE and are constantly under city scrutiny.