Anyone deal with mobile homes in this area?

@Dawn Vought, hello I know you've been anxiously awaiting my email for twelve years!

I'm just sending a quick hello to those few of us in the Birmingham market, please feel free to contact me with any thoughts you might have on this market.

I'm going to be purchasing a few homes this summer.

Any collegial discussion will be warmly welcomed!

Thanks,

Jeff Nordin

@Cornell James, hi I'm just joining this market and I see your post from a million years ago.

If you're still in this market and are open to a friendly chat, please feel free to contact me.

Thanks,

Jeff Nordin

@Prashant Kamath

Hi Prashant,

I'm also starting a few purchases in Birmingham metro area, any comments or suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Likewise, I'm happy to help another investor as much as I may. Feel free to share any thoughts you might have!

Take care,

Jeff Nordin

@James Wise

Thank you for that link, I will add it to my list of resources to check out for Birmingham!

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any thoughts on that market: I'll be picking up a home or two there in the coming weeks, hopefully!

Thanks,

Jeff Nordin

@Melissa Nash

Thank you for your post, I myself will be entering this market in the coming month. Please feel free to contact me with any random thoughts you might have on this market, if nothing else I'm always interested in a pleasant chit chat with another motivated investor.

Thanks, and take care

Jeff Nordin

@Chris Prichard

Just read your post, I appreciate your willingness to help out. I will be picking up a few homes in the coming month or so hopefully.

Please feel free to drop a casual line of you have any pearls to share or just to contact another Birmingham investor, interesting human

Thanks, and take care!

Jeff Nordin

@David Chriswick

Just read your older post on Birmingham, thanks for chiming in!

Not sure if you ultimately purchased there or not, but I'd love to hear any words you might have on the experience.

I'll be buying a home or three they're hopefully in the coming month.

Take care and stay safe!

An ex-Oak Park kid,

Jeff Nordin

Hi  Jeff,

My biggest advice would be to stick in the nice areas.  Mine were not, and were disastrous for an out of state investor.  Someone on this thread mentioned they had a great PM that they loved.  I would suggest finding out who that is.  I only found one good PM in all my years investing in B'ham, and unfortunately she wound up dying unexpectedly in her 30s.  I've since gotten out of the B'ham market.  I only have one house there currently that I'm just holding a mortgage on, so no rentals.  If you're local to B'ham, then you can probably be more flexible.  Good luck!

@Dawn Vought,

so sorry to hear that! Did you feel your issues were related primarily to contractor rehab, section 8 tenants proper, or poor management?

i sincerely appreciate your time!

@Jeffrey Nordin - all three!  At first, all I took were Section 8 tenants.  I did have a few good Section 8 tenants, but when the bad ones trashed your house HABD just let them move to another house and didn't hold them accountable, so the Birmingham HABD were just as bad to deal with.  Then when you rehabbed all the damages (if you could find a contractor that didn't outright steal from you, which I had thousands stolen from me over the years with different contractors), the local element would come in and steal and/or destroy everything before the rehab was even finished, so the house would be vacant for even longer.  Honestly, B'ham was a nightmare for me (and about 20 other local NY investors who I know who all purchased through the same person here in NY).  I actually came out better than most of them did, but we all encountered the same issues.

@Jeffrey Nordin - regarding management, most of the PMs loved to spend my money, encouraged repairs that I wasn't even doing on my own house, because they marked up the invoices a lot, and that's how they made the majority of their money, even though you also pay a monthly % of rent fee.  They usually started off good, but then degraded over a relatively short period of time.  I would have been completely bankrupted if I continued with them.  Your Property Manager is key (and the neighborhood).  Would only stick with B and A neighborhoods there, and use a PM that someone else recommends highly.

@Dawn Vought, that really sucks! I'm so sorry that you got the painful end of the stick!

I did note that you seemed to purchase a portfolio of cheaper homes from an out of state dealer in NY, and that renovations or rehab were needed initially, if I'm reading you correctly?

Is it possible that a local realtor could have given better local advice? Most contractors are just not that awesome, in my unfortunate assessment, nor are the bulk of PMs.

anyhoo, I'm glad you made it out successfully, and I really do value your words of advice!

It is much appreciated!

@Jeffrey Nordin

Try Expert Realty. Ask for Eddie or Tish. They do good PM work.

In reference to section 8 housing I wouldn’t touch it. The guarantee of some rent not worth the hassle and back end costs. Good luck. Jp

@JohnPatton, thanks for the suggestion! I will very much use your suggestion!

@johnpatton do you have properties you are looking to sell in the 4-6 month timeframe? I'm looking in Birmingham proper and inner ring suburbs this fall.

@jeffreynordin to write off the entire city of Birmingham is painting with a pretty broad brush. I've done quite well in the city limits. That said, it is well known locally if you don't want to get tied up in unnecessary bureaucracy, avoid Center Point zip code 35215. Good deals there, but lots of permitting headaches. I know of quite a few who refuse to purchase in that area. Esp if you are an out of towner. There are other areas I'd steer clear of; sometimes it it block by block, other times entire neighborhoods. If you go the section 8 route, I'd avoid city of Birmingham Section 8 and work with Jefferson County Section 8 instead. Far easier to deal with. I have a section 8 tenant in Birmingham city limits who got her voucher through Jefferson County. 

@Jeffrey Nordin see above, my first @ didn't link to you. My Section 8 tenant is a long term tenant, I've had no problems with bureaucracy with Jefferson County Section 8. They do annual inspections. If you keep up your property, it shouldn't be a problem. And screen your tenants. In this moment in time, I love the guaranteed on time rent!

@Chris Prichard, thank you for the insights. The always/never mindset does seem a bit rigid to me, but I also can't discount another's experience. I appreciate the specific suggestions, I hadn't heard that particular nugget before. I am working with a local agent but she's not investor oriented, I had hoped to teach her those points. Maybe that's asking too much?

Feel free to PM me if you are up for that! I will run my list through the filter to try and limit exposure to that area code you mentioned, as well as limit the higher crime, type of stuff.

Thanks again!

@Prashant Kamath

Did you ever get your Birmingham PM question answered? Not many of us here in that space, it seems...

@David Saget

Did you ever get that Birmingham PM question addressed? All I hear is crickets in this market, which seems so tragic?

@Jeffrey Nordin

I have a few properties. Used AHI and GK earlier but then switched all to GK. I prefer having one PM and having both at the same time gave me perspective. This was just data over 1 year so not really long enough but in my experience GK was better. AHI is solid too and other may have had a better experience. GK was cheaper too.

You could use Roofstock Cloud which is a free web based analyzing tool. At the end of the day, look for decent neighborhoods, keep at least 5% to 7% for repairs( based on age), another 5% to 7% for Capex, assume at least a month of no rent to lease up etc and you should be good. Hoover, Helena, Pelham, Greyson Valley, Alabaster, Moody, Leeds etc are all good areas and you could find jewels if you are lucky. These areas tend to be more expensive but keep looking out. It will also help to get estimates of small renovations from your PM as well so you can bake that in your analysis.

@Prashant Kamath

thanks for specific reply!

I will absolutely follow those guidelines for investing. Using the MLS, I have not seen many or any, homes in those SPECIFIC areas that show the kind of cash flow I'm seeking.

As you well know, higher cost/lower cash flow and vice versa. Are you able to PM me? This app is buggy!

@Jon Dorsey I'm a local investor/agent in the Birmingham area and also operate in Georgia as well. I deal in mobile homes with land and entire parks, multi family, SFR portfolio etc. If I can assist you in anyway finding deals feel free to contact me.