All Forum Posts by: Chad Gray

Personally I'm a big fan of direct mail, specifically hand written letters. You can either obviously do this yourself or use a third party like Ballpoint Marketing to hand write the letter for you (they use a machine that holds a pen, not actually written by hand but looks like it was). I've gotten numerous responses from people who say they get lit up by texts/calls/letters all the time and I was the first one they responded to only because it was a hand written letter.

@Gillian Scott

I agree with Jason, analyze the ROE. Based on the numbers you provided above, you're sitting around 1% ROE for the year. 

There's a number of different ways you can go about looking at this but if I were you, I would take a look at how much in interest you would save my paying off the debts you're referring to, and then line that up with your cash flow from the townhouse. 

Also, when you calc'd your expenses, did you include things like repairs and vacancies and what not? If not, one vacant month could wipe out your cash flow for the year plus some.

Personally from the little bit you shared, I would lean towards selling. Yes the Raleigh market is growing, but so is Wilmington's. The numbers you shared aren't great from a cash flow standpoint (no offense) and I think if your plan is to unlock the equity you have by selling, pay off debts, and buy a multi to house hack, that would be a better long term approach then hanging on to the townhouse.

Hey Scott, what areas in Raleigh are you looking at? With what you listed it's going to be tough finding something for 100K in Raleigh that isn't in a D class neighborhood and in shambles. Message me your email, and some other criteria / areas outside of Raleigh you might be open to. If I come across anything that fits what you're looking for I can send it your way.

Thanks a lot everyone for the responses, very helpful.

Hello All,

What are some options to hiding your assignment fee at close, particularly from the seller? I'm aware of a double close, but I also read that the assignment fee can be handled off the HUD in a way so it's not visible to the seller which is something I have not heard of before.

To be clear, I'm not attempting to hide the fact that I am assigning the contract, I've been very clear that that is a possibility, just the dollar value that comes along with it.

Thanks for any input.

Sounds like a solid deal! If you need someone to hunt it let me know ;)

 Hi Janos,

Which tertiary markets of Charlotte do you currently favor over others?

@Scott Ashworth  Agree with everything you said, and thanks for catching that, I was referring to Morrisville next to Cary.

Hey Sarp,

Both Raleigh and Durham in my opinion will offer good appreciation over the next few years. The announcement of Apple bringing 3K jobs to RTP is good news for the area and will likely have a ripple effect with smaller tech companies following suit. RTP is the largest research park in the US so this serves as a good magnet for attracting new companies. 

Good cash flow will be hard but not impossible to come by for both areas. Right now most properties are selling within 24 hours with multiple offers above listing, many times to out of state buyers making all cash offers. You may want to consider some of the surrounding cities such as Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Mooresville, Wake Forest, Rolesville, and Knightdale. They're all short drives to Raleigh and Durham, many people who work in RDU live in these surrounding towns and commute to work. They're all growing pretty rapidly with new commercial and residential developments going up.

I have a good agent who I work with, he works with a number of investors and also invests himself, he's very knowledgeable of the area, I'll message you his contact info.

Hi Ben,

I agree with all of the above, it kind of depends what you're looking for. If the beach is really what you want then Wilmington would be the best place for you in North Carolina. Raleigh is great though because it's only a 2 hour drive to the beach, 3 hour drive to the mountains, and has multiple ski resorts within a 3 hour drive if that's your thing. It also has a large lake (Falls Lake) and plenty of trails and parks for hiking. At last count there are 25 breweries in Raleigh so you won't have any trouble finding one of those to visit. In terms of locations in Raleigh I would say any of the zipcodes between downtown and the upper part of North Raleigh once you get to Wake Forest / Rolesville. I would not recommend moving to the areas in south Raleigh. If you're interested in Raleigh let me know, I know a few great real estate agents I can get you in touch with.