All Forum Posts by: Grace Ng

I have been following this thread with great interest. I wanted to invest in Michigan since 2012 because of the low barriers to entry but have been unable to make connections with anyone until lately. I went to visit Michigan last weekend and thought it was a really neat place.  I went past Grosse Point, Lake St Claire, saw the million dollar homes along the shores.. there is a lot of promise there. Interestingly enough the city announced that it was coming out of bankruptcy that weekend I was there. 

The deals seem very lucrative and I have a question for those of you who invest there, namely Joe (sorry I can't seem to tag anyone) and Christopher.  With so many people investing and renovating these properties, is there not an oversupply of rentals in the market? One thing I did note on Trulia and Zillow (I know they aren't always accurate) was there seemed to be many properties for rent. How long typically do these properties stay empty before they are occupied? I am talking about the safer areas, not in Detroit, namely East Point, Mt Clemens, etc. Thank you.

Hi Tim,

I have not heard of this before but I can see how it would benefit everyone (except maybe not for the other tenants who bid lower!) I like the sound of that, from the point of view of a landlord. Being relatively new to real estate here in the US, I am finding there are so many dos and don'ts. I am surprised that the property management did that because when it comes to buying a house, I thought that in a situation where there are multiple offers, the real estate agent cannot reveal to the other buyers what each other's offer is. Well, at least I know it is unethical to do so in MD. I suppose the regulations are different when it comes to rentals?

Not sure if this is the right forum to be asking this but I have a friend who is looking for a property manager for her home in Vienna. Any suggestions and names would be great. Thank you!

Welcome to MD! I just bought your book last night and I'm looking forward to reading it and hearing what you think about Baltimore.

Hi Nicole, so nice to have someone close by, I used to live in Potomac before moving to Derwood.

Andrew K.

In answer to your question, my first townhouse was ratified last year and it took forever to be approved and settled in March 2013. My second townhouse offer was made in a different zipcode in April 2013 before the market started picking up in the Spring. Right now I feel that the market is a little too hot but I am still keeping a watch for opportunities. I am thinking a lot about the international communities here in the DC area and there are pockets of places in Potomac even that have amazing potential. The area where the Beverley Farms Elem have some homes in the $550K range (older style ranch homes) but their neighbours who have torn down their older homes have built these mansions that are going for $800K-$1million. Even in areas like 20817 in North Bethesda have such a variance in house pricing. If I had the funds, I would love to do a flip here.

I am in no means an experienced investor but I am extremely cautious and tend to buy with a long term view. I really would love to do more like flipping or some of the fancier stuff that some of the members here do but first, I would like to study the implications of taxation, especially CGT. Maybe I should start a new topic about being hit with CGT if I sold a place under a year.

Brandon Turner@brandon
Thank you for that, I will set that up right away!

Curtis N. Thanks for the tip, I hope I have done it right because after I entered the @ I see a popup screen and when I clicked on your names, the @ sign disappeared.

Hi Curtis,

My realtor has me subscribed on an alert on the MLS for a specific zipcode in MoCo, so the moment any property in that vicinity comes on the market, I receive an automatic email. I also usually go see the property within a few hours of it going "live" on MLS and make an offer within the same day if I like the property. However, I do find the competition fierce and I don't always get the property. I have a very good agent who works hard for me, she understands that time is important so she always fits me in.

The other thing I have found is that when I advertised my townhouse for rent, there were several people who came through and revealed that they were about to lose their homes because they were defaulting on their mortgage. At that time, I was thinking that they would be a risky tenant but now, I realise that some people on this board might use that as an opportunity to work a deal to perhaps buy their house. Ah, I need to learn so much more!

Thanks everyone!