All Forum Posts by: Alex Craig

Elon Musk along with many others businesses are moving to Texas. Great state with some great cities. Absolutely love Dallas, Rockwell, Galveston, Houston, Austin and San Marcos, but way to hit for me. I live and invest in Memphis. Also invest in LR. Both cheap places to live. 

As Gordon Gecko said, “I only bet on sure things kid.” Trying to predict the next Bluestar airlines is much harder then picking a cash flow market. In other words without the Hollywood analogy, picking the appreciation market is much harder then picking your cash flow market. Less risky too.  I know that didn’t even get closer to answering your question. Sorry.  

You are about to get a lot of different answers and good suggestions. The market that works best is where the numbers make sense for you, where there is a large tenant base so that your house does not sit vacant and finding the team you are not only most comfortable with, but also have the most confidence. The avg age of the homes in my portfolio is 1965. My maintenance is minimal, but I do a bang out job of renovation on the front end so that i don't have ongoing issues, capex expenses are kicked way down the road and the home looks great to minimize vacancy. Price points in markets where cash flow makes sense are better on older homes vs new construction. 

It all depends on the level of involvement and direct exposure one wants.  I own a PM company and when of the tenants from my own portfolio walks in and ask for something, I simply reply "let me ask the owner", never disclosing I am the owner. Self mgmt works for many and works well, until it doesn't. That being said, the fall from bad self mgmt and bad local mgmt is all the same. I would say there are more lousy managers then good ones; if you can't find a good PM, then trying self mgmt makes sense.

I do not, but I read the local business newspaper that post all real estate transactions, public notices and is a source of daily news and information on business and commerce. I imagine all cities have something like this.

Out of 850 under management in Memphis, through the 20th, we are 4.3% ahead of April and 1% ahead of the March rent collection before all of this started. Average rent is $932. Showings and tenant placements are up.

Get them to sign a document stating they have vacated the property. Laws are different in each market. You want to avoid starting your rent ready and then the tenant deciding to move back into the property, which they would have that right. I have seen people get rid of tenants belongings in this same exact situation, only for the tenant to return to gather their belongs. In that case, the landlord would be held liable. Just get that notice to vacate and that should it assuming your local laws allow that.

Either way, consult local land lording laws. If you are in CA, probably not as cut and dry.

@Marky Suazo agree with Curt.  C class does not mean stay away. A lot of the great spots to own in Memphis is C class. We manage Curt's home in that area and like he said, does fine. You have to be careful not to go to far up in the NE direction of 38128. Check out the attached no go zone. You need Chuck Norris to escort you in the no go zone.

@Damian Gutierrez  I currently own 2 in 38111, one of which is a 7 year and 8 year tenant. I own several in C class and have great experiences. Doesn't make a difference if you are in A,B or C, it is all about tenant screening. My worst eviction out of 850 properties under management was one of my rentals I own in Bartlett. You simply want to avoid D class.  That seems to be the issue here on Bigger Pockets as several TK providers market their "D" class homes as "C" class.  Really, I love 38111, one of my favorite zip codes if buying in the right part of 38111. Good parts of 38111 that my management company is successful include Sherwood Forrest, U of M, Getwell South of 240,  U of M South Campus over to Getwell, West of Highland/East of Semmes and North of Barron.