All Forum Posts by: Brenden Mitchum

@Claudia Rhoden actually I think using Zillow in this way is a great first step. It shows you where movement in the market is occurring. However, this could be a good or bad thing. I suggest diving into these areas a little deeper using city data and data USA to get a better feel for the market. Keep an eye out for a few big things like population growth, job growth, median household income, property values, and rent rates. From there you can check out crime rates and schools as both will have an impact on renter pool.

Again, feel free to shoot me a pm anytime if you want to get more in depth on market research!

@Claudia Rhoden Clever idea, but I do not see how this can tell you much about the market. Please explain. Does this mean you would invest in Duluth, Decatur or Center Hill? 

Hey @Devin Miller!

If rents are below market, this could be a fantastic opportunity if you're talking 5+ units. However, if its residential then this simply means that you have the opportunity to increase cash flow by increasing rent. Obviously you'll want to find out what the lease terms are and when they are up so that you can raise rents. 

Feel free to shoot me a pm if you have other questions!

Hey @Chloey M.!

What @Erik Hatch said: Drive for dollars. Obviously keep an eye on the MLS and have a good broker to keep you updated, but with so much competition and so few MFs in the area, I highly recommend finding those pockets of MFs and running targeted direct mail/cold call campaigns on those properties. Now you may think "why would someone sell this to me?" But you really have no idea what their current situation could be. Personally, I like to find the neglected properties and mail to them since these are the most likely to have motivated sellers.

So find those properties, start mailing, and don't give up. They may not be ready when they get your first letter but they may be on the 3rd or 4th. Again, you never know.

Hey @Claudia Rhoden!

That's awesome that you are ready to take action! However, there is definitely such thing as jumping in too quickly. Most seasoned investors recommend not starting your journey out of state. This is because you do not have the experience yet in building systems and your team. Also, you likely do not have enough knowledge of the market. That being said, you can still start from out of state if you are confident in your knowledge of the market and have been able to build your team here in Atlanta.

So can I ask, what part of Atlanta do you plan on investing in? How much research have you done into the submarkets here and have you built your team yet?

Personally, I came out here and immediately moved in with my family to live rent free. This allowed me fully submerge myself in the market and network as much as possible, while also looking for great deals.

Hey @Erik Lopez! First off, welcome to the BP community!

I am also located in the Atlanta area and looking to house hack! While I am keeping my scope fairly broad since the Atlanta area is very hyperlocal, I really like Norcross/Lilburn and South Atlanta (down to Union City). 

Please feel free to reach out to me anytime with questions or if you just wanna chat.

Hi @Kees Boer!

I would highly recommend @Brandon Turner's The Book on Rental Property Investing. I also recommend Gary Keller's The Millionaire Real Estate Investor. Neither was very technical but both had a ton of information. The Book on Rental Property is more specific with actionable advice, which the Millionaire REI was a bit more inspirational and shows more of a path to wealth through REI.

There are a billion other books too! Just do some searches on google (The Afford Anything Blog has a good list) and also search here on BP. Many others have asked this same question!

Please feel free to pm me anytime with further questions!

Hey @Luke Millet! 

I have not personally found roommates for a house hack yet, but I do know of several easy ways to go about it. First would be craigslist. Tons of people post their rentals on here and this would be the first place I would check if I was looking to rent a room in an area. Another is to ask your broker to put a listing on the MLS for you. I have never done this, but I do know people often use realtors to find rentals.

And lastly, my advice would be to pretend you are looking for a place to rent in your area and search on google. See what sites come up first and then go post listings on those sites.

Feel free to pm me with questions anytime!

Hey @Zakee Richardson! Of course you can!

So let's say you know someone who owns their home free and clear and is willing to do seller finance with you. So you got the seller finance part. Now let's say the home is also distressed and needs some work put in before you can rent it out. There's the BRRRR part. So let's say comps in the area are around $200k and the seller gives you the property for $100k with 0% down (ideal but rare). You need to put $50k into it. So 3-5 months later rehab is done and you start renting the property out. Then let's say around month 6 you're able to get traditional financing for 70%LTV from your local bank. The house actually appraises for $225k. So the loan from the bank is $157,500. You're stoked because this is enough to pay off the seller and rehab. Plus you get a little extra that covers some of the holding costs.

This is just a general example. It could change depending on whether the seller wants you to pay him monthly or if he's okay holding off for a lump sum with interest after you refinance. Obviously, make sure the seller is aware what your plan is and does not expect you to be paying him monthly for 10+ years. 

Please feel free to pm me with questions anytime!

Hey @Timothy Cummins!

Sounds like a very sticky situation to me. I'm tempted to say go for it if you know it's a fantastic deal because it will show your wife the power of REI. Now I would only do this if I had ran the numbers very conservatively and was confident in the returns. At the same time, I believe that family should always come first. So if you think that this deal turning sour may damage y'all's relationship, I would say it probably isn't worth the risk.

Have you tried bringing the deal to her on paper, like you would bring it to a lender, and show her what to expect? 

Partnering on a BRRRR is a great idea if you do not have the capital to do it on your own. You can also go the hard money route. I plan on doing one of those for my first BRRRR.

If you have any other questions please feel free to shoot me a message anytime.