All Forum Posts by: Curtis N.

Eddie P. - thanks for Erick's info. I contacted him yesterday. I'll let you know if we end up doing business. Then if I visit Miami, I'll owe you a beer :)

David Holland - like Tanya S. mentioned, there is a BP meetup that will have it's 2nd meetup next month on the 22nd. See this thread for info:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/55/topics/75564

I will hopefully be able to attend that meetup but I will have a newborn and a new mom on my hands ... So we'll see :)

Hi everyone,

I'm considering Miami, FL as a possible place to invest in SFH rentals. If anyone has any input on that, feel free.

Mainly - can anyone recommend a good buyer's agent in Miami that has a ton of foreclosure/short sale experience?

Thanks in advance!

Lucas S. - when I say other areas, I'm pretty much talking not in the DC Metro area. I'm primarily looking at areas that are still hurting from foreclosures. I'll probably end up settling somewhere in FL. At that point I would be finding a good management company in the area before purchasing.

I know what you mean about prices and competition in the area. I'm in Centreville and comps in my area have been promising as well. The foreclosures are going for close to what I would consider retail and the short sales are generally not even hitting the MLS. I believe investors are approaching owners directly.

As much as I would like to invest locally, especially in the beginning, I just can't do it. I really am obsessed with RE but my main goal is to make money. And with the market here, like you said, just doesn't make sense.

Hi Lucas S. - I live in NoVA as well and know exactly where you're coming from. I am also getting started with my buy-hold strategy and I've found that the numbers just don't work around here. I've talked to some people in the area who have stressed buying around here because the market will rebound and you'll be able to appreciate, but I'd rather not just bank on that. I want the deal to make sense as soon as I'm buying the place. And it just doesn't around here. The average CoC return I was looking at was like 3-5%.

I am currently looking at other areas to invest in - and once I find a particular area where the numbers work and I feel good about the local market, I will jump in.

Congrats on getting into REI and also on having your house paid off. That's awesome. I'm from the other camp - I'll have a mortgage on my residence for the next 23 years or so. But I plan on acquiring 5-6 properties in the next 12-24 months.

Feel free to send me a message if you ever want to talk about local (or not) REI.

Nick Paul - you will want to use landscaping fabric like James Aldridge said he used. It allows water to still flow freely through the stones. If you use thick plastic you will end up with pools of water everywhere. Also, James' suggestion of using 3+ inches of stone is what I would recommend as well. The cost of the stones themselves aren't much. You will pay a lot of delivery, however, so you might as well get extra now instead of having to replace later and then pay more delivery fees.

This. When I last refinanced I saved about $250 a month and just kept my payment the same. And even better, the refi was no cost to me!

Cash offer above your listing? Heck yes!

You're right in that if it doesn't appraise, you could ask for the buyer to make up the difference, but why? Just take the cash offer and run!

J - send me a PM. I've talked to a local small builder / rehabber who works around the DC metro. I can give you his info.

-Curt

Lee - you may want to take a look at the 1% rule, 2% rule, and 50% rule. These are basic guidelines to keep in mind when looking at properties. They are good for estimating whether a property will be a good investment or not.

Edit - and read up on cap rates. That's essentially what you're asking about here.

There are also spreadsheets available for running the numbers on a property to see if it would make a good investment. Check out the download area of the site for those:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/spreadsheets/category?dir=desc&order=downloads