All Forum Posts by: Cornelius Garland

Great input @Russ Scheider and @Troy Gandee. I'll piggy back off of what Russ indicated. You definitely need to find your niche. Once you find it, you'll find yourself with having too many deals to work with. That's a great problem to have! Look forward to your response @Erin Shepard

@Erin Shepard Hey Erin, and welcome to BP! I'm an investor in Charleston and have been active for about 2 years. Charleston is pretty competitive, but deals can be found. We wholesale and get a lot of off-market properties under contract. Due to Charleston being the "number 1 city in the country" for a few years now, locals are asking for crazy prices for their homes. If you're looking downtown (29403 & 29401), almost any MLS deal will be at full retail value, even if the property is in poor condition. For instance, we sold one last may on Ashley Ave for 200k and it needed significant repair work. It took us a while to sell because our seller wanted 300k for it! For 300k you can get a super nice, brand-new property in Summerville (where I live) or even in Mount P.

I would first specify the price you want to pay for the property and then that'll determine where you can buy. If your budget is around $20-50k on the purchase (not including repairs), then North Charleston is likely your best choice. However, there are a lot of undesirable areas here. We do a lot deals in in North Charleston, though. If your price range is $60-100k, I would focus on Goose Creek. Over the last 6 months, there were roughly 54 cash sales here. This is a hot spot right now, and our most recent deal we closed last week was in this area. Most of the ones in Goose Creek were built around 1960-1980, and some recent developments have popped up. It's a nice area. If your budget is 100k-200k, then Summerville is probably your best bet. Anything over 200k will get you a wholesale deal downtown or Mount Pleasant. But like I previously indicated, competition is crazy downtown and deals rarely make it on the MLS. If they do, then the price is too high. People downtown get called all the time by realtors and investors so they know a lot of people are interested in their homes. It gives the homeowner a lot of leverage. Also, you may find deals in the islands (James or Johns). However, not a lot of retail buyers purchase over there. So while you may find a great deal, keep in mind it'll probably take longer to sell.

Essentially, locating the deal is the hardest part. I visit the foreclosure auctions frequently to build our buyers list and there are dozens of buyers competing over overpriced homes. Anything that pops up on the MLS is either too high or gets snagged up quickly. Moreover, a lot of the abandoned or vacant properties are concentrated in poor locations so these are typically held onto as rentals, not rehabbed by investors. The chances of finding a poor home in a nicer neighborhood are low because almost every neighborhood has an HOA around here. Even rough neighborhoods have HOAs, which is crazy. On the outside, you can't tell the properties are in rough shape so it makes driving for dollars difficult. You just need to consistently market to property owners and possibly get connected with a buyer's agent that represent buyers who purchase foreclosures. They're the most investor-friendly kind of realtor. Have you suggested buying a rental? Your buying criteria is less-stringent, and you don't necessarily need to worry about buying it at a cash price. Although, you will need to ensure the numbers work so you can get a good ROI. Feel free to ask me any questions. I have a good pulse on the market and absolutely love working here in Charleston. Everyday is a new adventure and presents new opportunities!

Welcome @Jonathan Williams! As others have stated, this site has a wealth of knowledge. I've been looking into investing in the Charlotte area, myself as it's a great location with a vibrant economy. Since you're new and appears like you're deciding between niches, I highly recommend you check out the Ultimate Beginner's Guide. It'll give you a solid foundation of the different paths you can take in real estate investing. Best of luck.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/ultimate-beginners-guide-to-real-estate-investing

-Cornelius  

@Bill Vaughn Mr. Vaughn, please pardon my ignorance in the earlier posts. I admit I had very limited knowledge back then; however, I am now familiar with real estate terminology and investment strategies. Additionally, I do not want you to think I am inadvertently misleading individuals by having a "Pro" membership. I pay for my pro membership so I can access more information and resources, such as rental property calculators and discounts for investor-related products. Anybody can receive this membership if they pay for it. Separately, I made a goal to post on the forums at least once per month when I started my investment career. I'm an introvert and this was a way to challenge myself to overcome some of my fears. I made a commitment to only speak on the topics I had experience with so I would not provide faulty information. This is my way to pay it forward. Whether you are a novice or experienced investor, I vehemently believe I can learn from anybody. The moment I disregard the input of someone who I perceive is of lesser intelligence is the moment I stop learning. The input given from investors of different experience levels and backgrounds is what makes Bigger Pockets so great!

Very Respectfully,

Cornelius Garland

@Bill Vaughn Mr. Vaughn. Thank you for providing the clarification! It's rare that a highly-respected mentor, like yourself, ever takes time to respond to criticism from students. I did not mean to offend you. I was merely attempting to provide an unbiased and critical analysis of your product, which very few members did before I came on this forum. My posts were not an attack on you, and I sincerely apologize if they were interpreted as such. I conducted a lot of research before deciding to purchase your product and I chose yours over many others. I still reference the book in attempt to comprehend the wealth of information you provided. Moreover, I'm not an expert and never claimed to be. On June 18th, I stated "We have yet to close a deal, but we already have several motivated sellers in our pipeline." I'm just trying to help other members out on this forum with my limited knowledge.

Very Respectfully,

Cornelius Garland

@Curt Smith I absolutely agree with your statements, especially the one regarding creative financing. This is the main reason why I sought out a mentor from my REIA. I was only making cash offers on properties and the sellers weren't too enthused about them. I spoke with my mentor, and he suggested the seller financing/lease option approach. He's doing several of these deals per month and is very familiar with all of the legalities concerning these transactions. No amount of reading, even on the great BP forums, could have accelerated my knowledge unless I consulted a mentor. I think newbies get hung up on find the Holy Grail of real estate literature that will give them a step-by-step guide to success. I strongly believe it takes reading multiple books, as you suggested, coupled with persistent action and a local mentor to be successful. Thank you for the input Curt! I'm grateful that experienced guys like you are on BP providing guidance to us new folks.

@Bill Gulley I should have started a new thread on this topic instead of revivingit a couple of months ago. Some of the posts on here are from 2009 (YIKES!). I actually spent several days looking on Amazon, eBay, the library, etc. looking for post-Dodd Frank books on creative financing and did not find any. Publishers that are still selling these older books should really take them down. Hopefully some new investor doesn't take that antiquated information and attempt to structure a deal.

@Derrick Webb Wholesaling generally works in any market. The main differences between markets are the average wholesale fee and how much you need to pay in marketing dollars to generate one deal. For instance, there are areas in California that investors are spending around 10k in direct mail to get a deal. However, those deals are generally less frequent but average 15k or more. Conversely, investors in smaller cities will likely only net 3-5k per deal but can send out less mail to get a deal.

To answer your question regarding my goals (which I'm more than willing to share!), my business partner and I were reasonable when setting them. Our main goal is to escape our  9-5 jobs so we're working extra hard to make this possible. I'll give you a little background on my situation so you can understand how we are targeting this goal. We started our REI journey in JAN 2015 by attending one of those guru weekend seminars. Long story short, they gave us the sales pitch and we declined. I was still very interested in real estate investing so I researched everything I could through Google about the topic. Thankfully, I found BP. I cannot overstate how grateful I was to find this site. From there, we were in research & analysis paralysis mode for 2 months until we decided to take some real action in mid-March by driving for dollars around our city. We did this about every weekend up until May. I also went to the various counties in my area to obtain the code violation lists, and we cold-called equity owners to see if they wanted to sell. After receiving abysmal results, we decided to invest in a 7-month marketing campaign so we can have the leads come to us rather the contrary. Pull marketing is so much easier than push marketing. Currently, we are 3 weeks into our first marketing campaign and have another 500 letters going out next week. We have yet to close a deal, but we already have several motivated sellers in our pipeline. Effectively structuring the deals is currently where we're getting hung up on, but I sought out a mentor at my REIA to assist with this process.

I say all of that to indicate we are making it up along the way, and there is nothing wrong with this. You don't need to be able to see step 20 in order to take the first step. My business partner's goal is to quit his job after our first deal. He can do this because he's single and has very little expenses. I have a plan to quit by the end of the year. I can do this because I am also single and have no huge commitments. In your case, I would attempt to save up at least your year's salary before you think about transitioning. That doesn't mean to not invest. I would pour every free dollar you have in your business. That is what I'm doing. Instead of shopping or traveling on the weekends, I use that money to invest in direct mail campaigns or products to automate my business. It's important to work overtime for YOU. It's going to be extremely uncomfortable and you're going to just want to go to bed after you had a long day of work instead of working on your business. You will also have people around you that are not supportive. You have to be able to see the vision and have faith that this system works. Make a plan and stick to it because this is temporary pain for long-term gain! Make sure your wife is on board and budget accordingly. I hope I was able to answer your questions, and please don't hesitate to ask me anything. I love sharing what I know with others and motivating them!

@Derrick Webb Hopefully the @ button will work now!

Hey @Derrick Webb, I apologize for the delayed response to your question. No, the methods work in any market because people on Bigger Pockets use those same strategies he teaches all across the country. My main concern was that he dissuaded me from pursuing the niche I am currently focused on, which is wholesaling. Some of his methods are far too intricate to grasp as a novice and will require the assistance of a local mentor to help with structuring the deals. Additionally, the book does not mention Dodd Frank when discussing seller financing, which is a major issue because that law was passed on January 2014. His methodologies are antiquated and he has not updated the text to conform to today's market. I, personally, would recommend attending your local REIA or finding someone on BP to run your deals by. At some point, you will need a mentor or coach, but it is not necessary while you are still learning. Grow your business organically and don't be overwhelmed with trying to obtain everything at once. I went through this phase and I ended up writing down an actionable plan so I wouldn't get distracted chasing shiny objects or getting stuck in analysis paralysis. Don't be overwhelmed by all of the strategies in his book. It went way over my head the first 10 times I read it.

@Jamane Y. You're welcome. That is the route my business partner and I are taking!

@Rhonda Chamlee I'm glad I could assist you. I was inundated with information when I first started. Often, the first response is to spend more money and hope the answer will come. Bill Vaughn mentions a lot of niches in his book, and it would take several years to master each. I found that learning about real estate investing simplified once I focused on one niche (wholesaling) and took actionable steps daily to build my business. The key is knowing which questions to ask, and seeking specific answers to those questions through the forums. Everything you need to learn to close your first deal can be found on Bigger Pockets for free.