All Forum Posts by: Adam Tafel

Welcome to BP! My Dad's family is from Cleveland, if you need any agent/lender referrals let me know. 

@Jeffrey Tate - you've got some leverage. I wouldn't walk away from a great deal, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't a temporary dip in showings/values around the neighborhood. I don't think there was much damage to homes in the area, aside from some apartment buildings. Keep in mind, you can't say "we want a reduction in price due to civil unrest", the price reduction needs to be inspection related. I've heard of an agent making this mistake in the past, ended up losing the buyer's earnest money. 

@Brian Hayes just curious, what market and which specific neighborhood are you speaking of? 

@Jonathan Mueller - What part of CR and for how long? We spent 2 months in Uvita last winter, thinking about buying a place on the Pacific coast. Did you own property? What did you do for work?

@Jordan Crockett - I think that @Bruce Runn already answered the question, but (generally) the less risk/labor involved, the less your return. An immaculate MF property in a class A Twin Cities neighborhood will get a bidding war. Some of these buyers don't care about the long-term performance of the place, they just want to own an "investment". The price is driven up to the point where cashflow is barely existent. 

@Jordan Crockett - welcome to BP! Finding great MF deals on the MLS can be tricky in the Twin Cities. There are many deals to be found, but typically a turn-key 2-4 unit property in a nice area isn't going to perform very well. There are a few tactics aside from the listed properties your agent will send you. Tell everyone you know that you're looking to invest. Join Facebook investing groups, attend meetups. If you're driving around and see a property you like, write the address down, pull the tax records and reach out to the owner. Don't be afraid to check out properties that have been listed for a while, we recently found an awesome deal for a client that had been listed for over 2 months.

If low maintenance is a priority you'll want to look a bit outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul.  The western suburbs of Minneapolis are full of 50s-70s side by sides, most have excellent bones. Newer doesn't necessarily mean better, I have investments built in the late 1800s that have been fully updated. Deal breakers for me : foundation, sewer, electrical issues. Work with an agent who can perform a basic home inspection, this will save you plenty of time and money. 

Be patient and learn to analyze deals. It's a hot MF market, but people are finding deals all the time. 

Talk to @Jordan Moorhead! He's based in Austin, but will have an extensive network of great options. I've worked with this guy for years, he's taught me most of what I know about REI.

Find one on BP! Your lender is the most valuable member of your team when you're starting out, working with someone who doesn't understand your long-term plan or isn't familiar with investors can derail everything. Post in your local forum, find someone who invests themselves. Make sure they are independent, stay away from the big banks. 

Nice man! What part of WI?

How much equity do you have in the rental? You've given your tenants the option to buy?