Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 7 posts · 6 votes
Hey BP,
I am a healthcare professional in Indianapolis. I am looking to buy my first house and house hack in this year. I would like a duplex, triplex or quadplex. I currently live in Broadripple but am open to other areas in Indy that make sense investment wise. I like Washington Township, Irvington (near), Fountain Square, Bates-Hendricks etc. I am open to suggestions. I am a rookie trying to educate myself as quickly and efficiently as possible via the podcast and BiggerPockets books right now. I would love to connect with some locals. Any suggestions on local people, companies or areas to invest would be amazing. I’m all in and can’t wait to get started.
It looks like Jaron had mentioned this, and I would like to second that being patient is key.
Further getting out and about is something good to focus on. Talk with people in the areas you are seeking out and walk, bike, and drive the area at different times and days of the week.
Make sure you know your why and goals, that at least helped me to structure and narrow down targets. Each day of this journey, I learn more and more about how much mindset can shape perspective. Welcome aboard!
@Noah Everett Farmer Welcome to BP! This is a great community. Best advice I can give is to not get into a rush. The neighborhoods you mentioned are really HOT right now. The investor activity is high and competition is fierce. Multi-family? Even more. I'm not saying this to discourage you but really to motivate you for the challenge! I'd continue what you're doing. Connect with wholesalers, agents, and locals to find realistic deals.
I'm an Irvington investor. Lots of old SFH over here. Not much cash-flow these days but good value-add opportunity.
@Jaron Walling I appreciate your advice! I’m up for the challenge just have to keep networking, learning and strengthening my financial position. Do you know of any wholesalers or agents you would recommend connecting with? Anyone that would let me learn from them in exchange for non-skilled labor?
Nice on the Irvington investing! There are some beautiful homes in that area. I have a lot patients in the surrounding neighborhoods around Community East so I spend a good amount of time over there.
@Noah Everett Farmer If you're not already get out and drive the streets or better yet get a bicycle and ride around in the neighborhoods that interest you. It's the best tactic I know for finding property. There are off market and listed deals that have issues. That's where you find a better price right now.
It looks like Jaron had mentioned this, and I would like to second that being patient is key.
Further getting out and about is something good to focus on. Talk with people in the areas you are seeking out and walk, bike, and drive the area at different times and days of the week.
Make sure you know your why and goals, that at least helped me to structure and narrow down targets. Each day of this journey, I learn more and more about how much mindset can shape perspective. Welcome aboard!
Good advice! Patients is a virtue right? I definitely need to continue to educate myself and network.
I work in Home Health so I spend a lot of time driving the city, mostly inside 465. Now I am paying much closer attention to the neighborhood/street I am in and which areas are up and coming. Also, I spend a lot of time walking the dog in 46220 when I am not working and again being much more aware of the houses in the area.
Definitely working towards financial independence to get my time back to spend with family and traveling. All the BP podcasts have really helped with mindset and keeping me focused while driving around the city! Thank you!
You've already had some great advice from others about getting out and taking note of areas that seem like they might be good fits, I would second this as well as the suggestion to getting connected with as many folks in the world of real estate as possible. There are a few things that I would like to add in- specifically as it pertains to Fountain Square. FS was BOOMING not that long ago- one of the main reasons being that the numbers here made a lot of sense (I'm talking about purchase price point here mainly) now as most home owners do, they've seen a lot of neighborhood changes, and in most cases talked to neighbors that have gotten "X amount" for their home and the natural thought of "What could I sell for now too??" comes to mind. Now flash forward about two years to where we are now, and the purchase price of a fix and flip in FS is going to be a considerable amount more in most cases than it was just two years ago- the numbers here might not make as much sense then in this case (it's certainly going to eat away quickly at your ROI). There are some 'younger siblings' of FS that I would consider more enticing right now for various reasons. Like Jaaron mentioned, Irvington for buy and hold properties (this area has been unique as well as stable for some time with buy and holds), other areas for fix and flip would be Haughville (truly seeing some changes in the market recently and level of finish to homes), Brightwood, Bates-Hendricks and most recently near Riverside bound by 16th St to the North, 10th St on the South- Indiana Ave & River/Fall Creek East & West. This last little area is "16 Tech Innovation District" a $500M development causing area changes quickly. Another Indy development is going to include the Children's Museum and just under $30M there for expansions, but not as ready to go (yet) or in progress as 16 Tech area- worth watching however! My best advice would be to look at the areas I mentioned and keep up on your pre purchase due diligence, connecting with folks all along the way. If you have any other questions you feel like my reply didn't cover- ask and I'll do my best to try an help = )
Welcome to BP! Looks like you have received some good advice already!
I would also suggest getting prequalified for a loan so that you are ready to pull the trigger when you find the right property.
Talk to several banks before you submit all the paperwork. They should be able to give you an idea of what you will qualify for, and what kinds of loans they have available, down payment required, etc. Then once you find a bank and loan that you like submit all the paper and get formally prequalified.
Taking this step will give you more credibility with real estate agents and seller as well.
@Anna Laud Thank you for your advice! I will definitely add those neighborhoods to my list. I have expanded my search over the last few weeks and appreciate the point in the right direction. Do you attend any local meetups or REIA meetings?
@Account Closed Thank you! Great advice as well. Any favorite local banks you like to work with? Do you attend any local meetups or REIA groups?
@Doran Summers Hey Doran, I would really appreciate any suggestions you had on banks to get qualified. It doesn't look like you're local but next time your in Indy it would be great to connect. Thank you!
I’m researching local banks myself. It’s generally a good idea to check with local banks and credit unions close to the property you are interested in. Some local banks basically have areas that they serve.
I haven’t found a local meetup that I like yet. I was actually thinking of starting my own . . .
@Dave E. Well if you start a meet-up definitely let me know! Or if you’re not up for all that yet we could just grab some coffee/beer and chat sometime
You're welcome for the information and I hope you find it helpful = ) I actually have a small REIA and due to COVID , it's transiting into a weekly email, then to meetings via Zoom etc, to keep everyone connected and in the loop. Be happy to add you to this, just DM me your email if you'd like. It's all walks of real estate life- from agents, lenders, to investors etc.
I am in the same stage of my REI journey and also actively seeking small multi-families in the Indianapolis area. The others have mentioned some great neighborhood suggestions and I would add that there are some blocks / neighborhoods on the Near Eastside that are heading in the right direction.
I am definitely interested in a meetup but wanted to mention one recommendation I didn't see posted: There is an organization called CIREIA you may want to look into. They offer a number of REI-focused meetups and some niche-specific 101-level sessions. I attended the Flip-A-Rama this past weekend and it was very informative. 90% of the people I've met through this organization have been friendly and helpful, and I believe you would benefit form checking out a meetup.
I will DM you my contact info if you want to tag along with me sometime.
PS- I am also interested in starting a rookie-level mastermind type group locally, to help one another stay accountable to our goals and active in their pursuits.
That sounds good! I attended the annual State REI meeting a few weeks ago. I had good experience and learned a lot. I definitely plan on attending the CIREA meetings here soon. Glad to hear you've had a good experience with CIREA so far! Looking forward to connecting with more local REI.
We can definitely meet up sometime soon and I think the mastermind could be really good idea.