All Forum Posts by: Andrew Davis

@Gary Guidi - congratulations, this is tremendous! Love the value add and that you got the deal through an agent relationship.

Do you plan to hold long term?

What's next for you?

@Brian Cheng - never easy, but constructive feedback is so helpful. @John P., @Nick Hedberg and @Account Closed all give great advice.

One tip for finding a true investor agent - know exactly what you want them to do and lay out your expectations up front. Do you want them to provide analysis, rehab estimates, preview properties... ? Making sure expectations are aligned is a great way to start a business relationship.

Also - you're in a huge market, I imagine you should have no problem finding "an investor friendly agent in the Houston area." here on BP;)

Very cool @Nathan Dehn - thanks for sharing all the details. Now think about this, if you can repeat that process once a year or so for the next 10 years, you'll have at least 20 units, with very little cash into each one. Well done!

Hey @Stephanie Sicard - welcome to BP and congratulations on making that decision to become an investor. Your current role as a property manager can help you avoid a lot of the headaches that new investors deal with.

I'd certainly recommend a house hack for your first deal, live in one unit and rent out the other 1,2 or 3. Take advantage of the BP calculators to determine if the properties you're considering are actually good deals.

Network like crazy, tell everyone you know what you're looking to do and definitely check out @Rita Medeiros' women's investing group. I would go when I'm down south but.... you know;)

@Nikolay Izmerli - love the brutal honesty/self reflection, I need some more of that in my life. David Goggins calls it an AAR (After Action Report) 

https://medium.com/@ezpromisel/the-cant-hurt-me-challenge-10-missions-from-david-goggins-to-callous-the-mind-a8d519042d54

Where you get real honest about everything that went wrong. I need to do a better job of this in my life/business, can't wait to see your next one!

Hey @Jon Roes, the 50% rule for expenses, excluding P & I is generally a good rule of thumb. However - higher crime/lower income areas are going to push your maintenance, PM, vacancy and possibly capex numbers higher. It's harder to find qualified tenants, you tend to have more evictions and because folks aren't as invested in the care of the property, higher maintenance and capex.

If you want to find out why it's sitting on a market, I'd talk to a local PM and ask what they think about that area.

@Josue Rivera that’s awesome man, kudos to you for rocking the basement unit, that will absolutely pay off for you in the long run!

Google “sub metering solutions/devices” or some variation of that. There are some low cost, high tech options out there that will allow you bill your tenants directly for water/electricity.

Yep, what @Brent Paul and @Theresa Harris said. You want to be sure they understand the basics of evaluating investments: expense ratios, cash flow, estimating rehab costs and such. However, it pays to be prepared on your end. I used to work with anyone who wanted to go see a property, and I’ve learned to vet potential clients as well to ensure they’re serious about investing and they have a plan and the means to close a deal.

Hey @Kate Batals - looks like you’ve found a great potential RE broker in @Cherie Orellana, who makes some great points about HOA's with townhomes and evaluating based on cash flow and current value and not potential future value. It's the difference between investing and speculation.

BP has some great calculators you can use to determine cash flow on potential properties, best of luck!

@Timothy Martin - what @Danielle Wolter said!

There are lots of places to find deals - first, you need to define what a deal is so you can share that with agents, wholesalers and whoever else you talk to.

I’d highly recommend listening to the podcasts, attending some of the webinars and even reading the BP books. There is a wealth of info on here, you just have to dive in!