All Forum Posts by: Jason Carter

@Jackson Pontsler it depends. What market or markets are you considering? 

Just have your GC visit the house. Put the GC in contact with your agent to get access. That is typical. You need to get exact numbers and that is really the only way until you get a lot more experience. 

I would not have a bunch of GC's show up all at once. They tend not to like that or at least that was my experience. 

It's good to have another person to follow up on the GC's work too. Whether that's your realtor or your property manager you want boots on the ground to oversee/confirm the contractor's work. You need to be sure you're getting what you're paying for. 

@David Nelson wow, man. Rare is it to see someone set up for success so well. You've got two excellent people on here willing to help you out, both have helped me and I strongly urge you to follow up with them. And you've got a VA loan to boot. And you live in an excellent market for investing.

I'm jealous. Wish I had started like that. 

If I had to do it again I would start by house hacking. It's a no brainer to me. 

I'd find something that needs work, sounds like you may have some skills in that department as well. Value add is where it's at. Fix up your unit while you live in it while letting the other units pay your mortgage. Once that unit's done, rent it out for higher rent and move into another unit and repeat. 

Just my free advice for you. Best of luck whatever you do. 

Interested. [email protected] 

I don't invest in Indy so can't speak to that, but know people who do and they like it.

As far as Birmingham, I just started investing there in January, so take my thoughts w/a grain of salt. There are some more established Bham investors who may want to chime in here. 

ROI - cashflow vs appreciation potential? Upper teens on cashflow. I invest for cashflow so I don't calculate appreciation but I try to find neighborhoods with potential for it. That's a guessing game though. One neighborhood I'm in 50% of people have told me it has potential the other 50% say it doesn't. That said, I think some neighborhoods there will appreciate over time, but I don't think they'll skyrocket. Some others probably won't appreciate.

Potential for growth?  I think Birmingham has excellent potential for growth as a city. 

Quality of PM & GC? Very good. It's like anywhere - you gotta shop around. And realize your first one is probably not going to be the right one. You have to network. Ask the right questions and vet people. Establish relationships with local investors and get their opinions. 

Turnover & rentability? Birmingham has a very strong rental market. Turnover is part of the game but find good management that can get a quality tenant and take care of them, then tenants are less likely to move. Rentability? Make your house nice, make sure it's not the oddball house in an oddball location and it's going to rent. Provided you have good management. I've seen some nice houses sit unrented for a while. That's what happens if management doesn't pick up the phone or return calls. 

Maintenance expenses? I've seen nothing different than other markets. No one likes maintenance expenses. Just be careful not to nickel and dime everyone. I build teams based on the idea that everyone on the team has to make money. That said, if expenses are ridiculous move on. That's why I always recommend finding more than one management company - always good to have a backup. 

Single VS Duplex? I've only done singles so far. 

Turnkey providers & rates? Full disclosure - I sell some houses turnkey through MartelTurnkey and @Antoine Martel so I definitely give him a thumbs up. I've also heard good things about Spartan and one of their owners is on here a bunch. 

@Henry Matthews

I've bought 3 in the past 3 months. And just put another under contract yesterday. Always looking for more. Please send what you have- [email protected]. 

Thanks! 

It varies. Some hold forever, some sell them off. 

I think you'll find your goals may change once you jump into real estate. For example, after 2 or 3 houses you become more confident and decide to purchase a multi which you never expected when you started. So you decide to sell one of your properties and 1031 into the multi. And it grows from there. 

I got into it to buy and hold single houses for retirement. Now I have residential and commercial property, I've wholesaled and flipped. Never expected that when I began. 

Or maybe you just hold on and pay them down. Nothing necessarily wrong with that. Everyone takes their own path. 

The important thing is to create your goals right now and get started. Take action. Are you thinking a single family home or multi family?

@Steve B.

I'd buy in LA. Wish I would've bought more than 1 here. :)  Be careful of ever-changing short term rental laws. Make sure you can rent that back unit longer term as a plan B . Also one thing to note - Airbnb's are a lot of work and tenant has control as they write your reviews. And you need reviews. I'm not knocking it, we do it and it's profitable, just make sure you're aware of the realities. 

Best of luck! 

You bet 

@Richard Olshove. Hit me up anytime. 

@Richard Olshove I second Tae's @Rob Drum recommendation and I also recommend

@Mark Byers as a property manger and great resource. Both of them guys are investors and have an abundance of local knowledge. I've bought 3 in Bham so far this year and looking to add more. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions.