All Forum Posts by: Chris Zwakenberg

Hi @Francis E. Bromwell JR.! Welcome to BP. Tons and tons of information on this site, also I highly recommend the podcasts.

I grew up in Claymont, own a rental in N. Wilmington, and now have my RE license in DE and PA.

Hi everyone,

I'm about to sign up for Buildium and wanted to see if anyone had a referral code! Thanks!

@Daniel Bear

Welcome to the site! There's certainly no shortage of information here. I went to good ol' UD and actually just helped a friend purchase a home in Newark. Good luck!

I love that Delaware is getting some traction! I really wish I could make the meeting Saturday but won't be able to. Either way, I'd like to stay in touch. I'm from Claymont and working as a realtor in PA, but just recently received my DE license as well. Have fun and drink a pint for me, I love Iron Hill

My rental is in Shipley Heights. It was my primary residence for 4 years then I decided to rent it out when I moved. Eventually I will sell it and invest the equity into a a rental that has "better numbers" now that I'm more educated. Honestly, if I had the money, I'd seriously look into investing in Claymont though.  Other than that, I think the kirkwood highway corridor between and including Newark and Elsmere would be good options too.

Haha - this made me laugh. I have seen some active guys on here, but not many. I am from DE, but now live in Delaware County PA and work as an agent. Trying to build up some funds and experience to get my investing career going. I'm licensed in both states, but wouldn't consider myself a mover and a shaker just yet!

Hey Steve!

Welcome to the site. I'm also a UD grad. There's lot's of great info here in the forums and I'd definitely recommend listening to the podcasts if you aren't already. It's good to see someone thinking about investing right out of college - the sooner, the better! Having a good W-2 job will definitely help you get started. I think the best plan is to buy a single or multifamily home in a decent neighborhood as your primary residence and rent out units or rooms to get started. And if you are handy (or know someone who is), that will definitely help you keep the repair/maintenance costs down.

I'm a realtor living in PA now but will have my DE real estate license soon. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Chris

Hey Patrick,

I normally use US Inspect - I've work with both Nate Feldwieser and Dan McLaughlin in DE county and they were both excellent. The number is (888) 874 6773, but I think you can schedule online as well.

I hope that helps!

Hi Joshua,

I'm a new-ish agent and investor. I wanted to be in real estate full time, so I became a full-time realtor with the plan of learning the industry so that I can become a great investor in the long-run. I used to do tons of research on my own before I got my license and MLS access.

Aside from the 3 points you mentioned above, here are a couple more I've found:

1) Advanced search function while doing comps. You can adjust your search to virtually any characteristic of the house, not just the limited search fields that are provided on any of the public sites. I know, some are good, but not as good as the MLS, because that's the database all the information is actually put into.

2) Convenience/speed of research. If you have to run comps on lots of properties, doing it without MLS would be cumbersome. With MLS, I can get a pretty accurate ARV for any property in about 10 minutes or less and without a headache.

As far as finding properties for sale, there isn't THAT much of an advantage. Most sites are only delayed a couple hours, if that, from MLS. And sometimes info doesn't get changed or removed from those sites.

Working with an investor-minded real estate agent could be a great thing to do, both for you and the agent. Good luck!

Hey Christopher - I'm an agent in Delaware County and would be willing to set up appointments to walk through some homes with you if you want to look at anything in particular. At 100k, you will probably be in Drexel Hill, Upper Darby, or southern Delco. It may be hard to find a type of duplex that you're looking for which will cashflow, but I think they pop up on the market from time to time. Just need to be able to analyze the property and make an offer quickly. Let me know if I can be of any help!