All Forum Posts by: Adrienne Green

Being an appraiser and being a real estate agent are TOTALLY different.  Being an appraiser, to my understanding, does not rely on any sales skills.  You don't need to be a "people person".  You work with the appraisal brokers, take appraisals, and do them.  On the flip side, being an agent is very much a job that relies on finding clients, developing relationships, and helping those people.  It's a service industry.  It's as different as being a chef versus being waitstaff in a restaurant.  Your own personal desire to invest in SFHs should have no bearing on which career would be the best fit; either career would be relevant to your own investing.  In fact, being an appraiser would likely involve less conflicts of interest, and give you more time to focus on your own investing.  Not to mention we desperately need appraisers- become an appraiser and move to Chattanooga!  We could use you here!

I agreed with @Jack Robinson, the Chattanooga market has C to B- properties that are transitioning and should jump up a rating in the next few years.  Their proximity to downtown, which is maintaining an upward track in terms of development and growth, is the driver.  In the C class areas we are often able to meet or exceed the 1% rule, we don't see that in A or B class.  Overall the market appreciated 15% in both 2020 and 2021.  While there are a respectable number of MF in the area, demand for those is so high that we often see better returns on SFHs.  Not always, but often.  Hope that helps!

@Nick Velez thank you! @Danny Norton I'll connect with you.

@Paulette L. both of those are great markets for REI! I'll DM you a great Realtor in Jacksonville, in case you go that route, as well as some PMs here in Chattanooga. While you're speaking to PMs, I would ask them a lot about their services- average vacancy rate, how they handle showings, length of leases, lease renewal fees, do they add their own service charge to calls in addition to their monthly fee, etc. Property management is an industry where there are fabulous ones and awful ones- getting advice from an awful one would be worse than useless. So vet them prior to asking them about the market.

That's great!  Thanks for sharing.

@Ana Mocanu Welcome to the world of REI! As an experienced OOS investor and agent here are my thoughts:

When I lived in an area that was not great for investing (like Seattle) I wish I had looked into OOS investing sooner.  It has a lot of benefits, including keeping you hands off and more passive.

Like @Mike D'Arrigo notes, the most important thing here is to get crystal clear on your goals, and choose a market based on that.  Why are you investing in RE, and what strategy does that dictate?  Generally I find clients fall into two camps: 1- need cashflow ASAP for some reason (to quite day job, etc); 2- long term wealth building, family legacy.  The 1s are looking for cashflow markets/neighborhoods, the 2s either go for areas with a mix or cashflow and appreciation, or places that have low cashflow but great apprecation.

Another major factor is your risk tolerance.  Risk and return (esp. in terms of cashflow) are linked.

Last thing I'll throw at you is to consider how investor friendly the state is.  To my knowledge NC is fine, just not all states are.

Best of luck in your OOS investment search!  If your analysis leads you to Chattanooga TN I'd be happy to speak with you about the market here.

@Juan Hernandez TVFCU works with out of state investors, I'd say give them a call.

Hi Juan!  Do you use a local bank?  Have you had any luck with their commercial loan offerings?  In my experience TVFCU and FirstBank should be able to help.  If you need to go more of the hard/private money route, I'd say look at FlipCo and Lima One Financial.  

Thanks @Kaustubh Johri!  And I appreciate your insight on Rome to add to my knowledge base!

Hi @Adriana Welborn! Welcome to the world of REI! You're fortunate to live in an area that's so good for investing, people from all over the world invest here! Remember to enjoy the journey as well as the destination!