All Forum Posts by: Ali Boone

I do have rental properties there. I bought them 1-2 years ago before the market went bonkers. There are still deals there, like I said, but they are getting harder. I definitely encourage you to stay off the MLS and such (unless you have a rockstar agent who can pick out deals within about 30 minutes of them getting listed). I wish I could sound more encouraging, but the big guys I know out there aren't even hitting the auctions anymore (which is where a huge majority of unlisted properties in any market come from) because the inventory isn't there either. They are having to get extremely creative in where they find the deals. My suggestion would be to try for the north side. I know lots of investors who want properties on the north side, but there are a lot fewer investment property deals up there because the price-to-rents. You'd have a big following if you can find some up there.

Hey Jason! Welcome to BP. The thing to understand more than what kind of market it is, for buy and holds, is the price-to-rent ratios. You want to only buy rentals to hold in markets where you can get positive cash flow after all expenses. The price-to-rent ratio refers to whether or not the rental amount you can get for a property will even cover all the expenses for it, and if it does, by how much? For example, CA has horrible price-to-rent ratios. You're lucky to even cover your mortgage payment with the rent, much less the other expenses like insurance, incredibly high property taxes, repairs, etc.

As far as I understand, and I could be wrong, the price-to-rent ratios in Denver for bad for cash flow. Which would make sense, if it is a seller's market, it means property prices are high, meaning the rents you would collect likely won't cover the expenses. Most investors I've met from CO are investing out-of-state. Which is easier than it sounds, but if you really want to stay in CO, just make sure the numbers work first!

Thanks Zaid Rabadi :)

Christina R. It's all about meeting the right people. I met some guys who specialize in out-of-state investing in various markets and they were really supportive of the process, very good at hand-holding, etc. I flew out the first time to check it all out but then after that I bought properties sight unseen. I can introduce you to them if you want, if you at least want to hear out the process and get more info.

Definitely! I should be there again this fall. Dunwoody can be expensive, yes. I've never wholesaled myself so can't really speak much on that front, but the Atlanta market now is very tough. Investors have been eating everything there at rapid pace for the last couple years. It's really starting to come to an end as inventory continues to thin out. There are still deals for sure, but they are significantly harder to find just in the last 6 months even. Even the big boy experts are having a hard time getting continued inventory. My advice would be to partner up with someone who is an expert at finding properties. If it's just you by yourself and you aren't as much on the "in", it could be nearly impossible.

Are you looking mostly for properties to wholesale to flippers? Or are your buyers wanting to hold them?

Hey Rachel! Where in Atlanta are you living? I'm from there and just left a couple years ago, but my investments are still there. So between those and my parents and friends there, I still go back quite a bit.

Hi Paul, did you make it out to check out properties? What did you find?

If you need any help, I've been knee-deep in Atlanta turnkey world for a couple years now and would be happy to help you out. You can also tell me offline who this company is if you want and I can tell you what I know about them. There have been some bad ones, but there are really good ones too. I can tell you who (in my opinion only) those are if you want.

Would love to hear what happened when went out there!

I don't think there is any one right answer to your question, Matthew. Any of those choices would be great investments. There are trade-offs to each choice, but o one right answer. Everything Mike says about SFHs vs MFHs is true, but SFHs are harder because you have to buy one at a time, but they do have better returns and exit strategies, then with MFH are you talking about less than 4 units or more than 4 because they differentiates between residential and commercial loans.

What I would do is dig into all the opportunities you can find, both single and multi. Look at everything, be able to see the comparisons, and then make sure you understand the trade-offs of each, and by the end of it you will know exactly which property you want.

Definitely. I actually think it's easier, at least for me, to invest out of state while I'm busy in another state and working because I don't spend any time thinking about the properties. Whereas if I lived near them, I feel like I would constantly be driving by them or checking on them or who knows what. I don't want to even see mine (I'm a perfectionist and so much as a scuff on them would stress me out). I don't invest in anything in my local area, as much fun as it would be to have something in LA. And I rent here too, I don't own my own place and I'm completely fine with that and prefer it.

It's all about just having the right teams to handle everything, but the important part is having a good property manager. The property manager handles the tenants and maintenance and basically anything related to the property for you. So you can be hands-off.

Where do you live Chris? That will make a big difference. If you live in LA like I do, it doesn't make sense at all to buy anything for yourself and you're better off following the advice to use the money just on investment properties. But if you are in Houston or Atlanta or some other market that you can get good deals in and appreciation is looking hot, it might be worth it to buy something, live in it, fix it up, etc.

Either way, with $50k cash, you can buy more than one property, easily, as long as you aren't thinking super expensive.

One caution, when deciding on a house, run the rents and understand the market so you can know later if renting it out will even be profitable or not. The first house I ever bought, I bought long before I was even in real estate (or I never would've bought it, horrible deal), I ended up renting out after a job transfer to CA and I just barely lucked out to break even with the cash flow. Had I ever expected to rent it, I never would've bought it. Hope that makes sense, not sure I explained it well...

Boston, huh? Hope you are open to buying out of your local area! :) Better numbers elsewhere. I live in LA, so I know the feeling and only buy far away from here.

Have fun with your break before work! That sounds awesome. Any big plans for it, other than learning real estate?