All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Dhru Das

I am not heavily focused on MFR, however, that said, I purchased a duplex and a four-plex in 2015 for a JV that I was involved in.

I observe the market every now and then for what is listed on the MLS in the investment category where any MFR would show up.

What I have consistently observed is that the inventory is severely limited to duplexes, triplexes and an occasional fourplex. Anything larger or a reasonably sized apartment complex is not that common.

That said, we do have lots of pretty large MFR communities in South Bend and Mishawaka so there is a tenant pool for that type of housing. Based on my observations, these large communities do not change hands often in my opinion.

MLS data shows that the ones that do change hands often are duplexes, triplexes, four-plexes and moderately sized apartment complexes.

@Benjamin Barredo

That is a broad question with no easy straightforward answer. 

It depends...every seller is different and you have to be able to read the seller and determine how to direct the conversation.

What you are asking has to do with sales, the psychology of selling and negotiation. A lot has been said and written about these topics by many speakers and writers that is applicable to sales in almost any arena whatever the product or service is.

Since your focus is wholesaling, if you have never heard of Sean Terry, look him up here: http://www.flip2freedom.com/ and listen to his podcasts. They are all free. He does sell a system but the podcasts which go into great detail on how to wholesale, talk to sellers, negotiate etc. are free.

Hopefully that will help.

@Chris Egan

How much was Mike charging for the "rent"? LOL

@Kurt K.

Interested to know how that will go with the PM.

@Benjamin Barredo

I don't know how you got the lead and managed to get in front of them. 

Assuming they look like they have many signs of a motivated seller that needs to sell, whether they know they need to sell or not, it is only a matter of time before they feel so much pain that they break and they are ready to sell.

If I determine that they fall into the category of "motivated seller that needs some time to break", I would thank them and let them know that you understand that they are not willing to sell at this time.

I would then let them know that I am very interested in buying if they should change their mind. To underscore my interest, I would make them a strong offer or different offer scenarios on the spot like @John Thedford suggested that you are confident you can follow through with and leave them with my contact information. That will get them thinking so that when they finally feel enough pain, you are most likely the guy that they will call.

 Then if you don't hear from them, I would follow up with them every 30-45 days or so to depending on how you assess the situation until they break and sell....to you. 

@Pat McGrath

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@Immanuel Price

You are welcome. If you survive through the entire 69 page Zimmerman/Volk report let me know. 

Maybe we can wholesale some old downtown buildings to Matthews.....heh, heh!

@Anna Greer

Welcome to BP and congratulations on jumping into the forums.

The City of South Bend commissioned a study in 2013 named "An Analysis of Residential Market Potential" for  Downtown South Bend. The study was conducted by Zimmerman/Volk Associates, Inc. based in Clinton, New Jersey http://www.zva.cc/ . I wondered why the City of South Bend would hire an out of town company for the study until I looked at their national client list which includes over 450 reports for builders, developers, cities, non-profits, planners, investors, lenders, small companies and development subsidiaries of several Fortune 100 companies.

You can read the report here https://www.southbendin.gov/sites/default/files/fi...

The report is mainly about the residential market potential of downtown South Bend but the gist of it as it relates to your question is that on page 5 it states that approximately 60% of the households in the entire City of South Bend are owner occupied and 40% are tenant occupied.

The US Census Bureau data confirms this with their latest data showing appx 59% owner occupants and 41% tenant occupied here:  https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/...

So to break down the numbers in one line, from the Census Bureau link, the City of South Bend has a population of 101,516, a total of 46,324 housing units (as of the year 2010) of which 18,530 are rentals with a median gross rent of $711.00.

As far as the economic profile, since all those tenants need a job so that they can pay the rent :) here is a cut and paste summary of the area by the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce which you can further explore here: http://www.sjchamber.org/

St. Joseph County, branded the South Bend Region, is located in North Central Indiana, with a population of 267,618 people. The city of South Bend, population 101,190, is the economic and cultural hub of a multi-county, bi-state greater region, population 858,055 (seven counties), with a labor force of 415,426. South Bend also ranks as the fourth largest city in the state and is home to the iconic University of Notre Dame. Neighboring Mishawaka has one of the largest concentrations of retail stores in the state, and the entire region boasts affordable housing, over a dozen institutions of higher learning, easy transportation access and convenient commute times that average 20.2 minutes. Target industries include IT/data, logistics/warehousing and advanced manufacturing.

South Bend being a college town with several Universities/Colleges (Notre Dame obviously being the largest one) creates student housing opportunities for approximately 20,000 plus students among all the institutions.

All this spells opportunity and many out of town, out of state and even international investors have and continue to try and claim their stake.

As indicated by @Immanuel Price and @Aaron Linden the University of Notre Dame in partnership with the City of South Bend has contributed a lot to the revitalization of the City that is bringing new jobs and the need for new housing. As evidence of this,  three years later since the downtown study by Zimmerman/Volk Associates, Inc., construction of residential condominiums, townhomes and apartments.....both new and re-purposing old buildings in and around downtown South Bend has exploded. Here is just one developer at the helm http://matthewsllc.com/ .

The City of Mishawaka which in my opinion is joined to the City of South Bend at the hip has the second largest retail corridor in the entire State of Indiana and a highly desirable school district. However according to the US Census Bureau in the City of Mishawaka, the owner to tenant ratio is approximately 50/50 here http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/1...

To also break down the numbers in one line, from the Census Bureau link, the City of Mishawaka has a population of 48,261, a total of 24,088 housing units (as of the year 2010) of which roughly 12,044 are rentals with a median gross rent of $714.00.

So in summary, in my opinion, this is a strong rental area with stable economic fundamentals to sustain the tenant pool.

@Account Closed

Who would have thought a little old fashioned move like that would work in our info world? 

I have an idea that could make you pocket you some quick dough in our tech driven info age:

• Develop an app for finding absentee owners using someone on Fiverr or some techie in India for cheap
• Call it something snazzy like "Absentee Owner Gold"
• Market it like crazy online and make it available on Google Play and the Apple Store and anywhere else applicable for a cheap price like $1.99 with no refunds 
• Have customer support via email or phone only in some foreign country where english is a fourth language
• Tech/info driven real estate investors buy it in droves
• They open the app and a message pops up "knock on some of the neighbors doors"
• Frustrated customers call/email customer support and get further frustrated by the inability to communicate with foreign customer service whose english is a fourth language but they string the customer along anyway thus buying you time to make more sales
• Keep it up for as long as it takes to make 6 or 7 figures 
• Close up shop and disappear

@Chris Mason

Don't be so hard on the humble old napkin....if napkins could talk, they would probably tell stories of multi million dollar deals that were put together on them.

Besides, there is no app that you can calculate deals on that can also multi-task to wipe the barbecue sauce off of your mouth :)