All Forum Posts by: Randy Charboneau

Greetings! My name is Randy Charboneau. I'm a Broker here in West Michigan and an agent who focuses on investors and wealth building. I've had some out of state investors contact me recently asking about the West Michigan market and wanting an analysis of rent return and profit potential for this area. Specifically, they asked me to run some numbers and asked about the BRRRR method for West Michigan and if it was possible. I thought I'd share some of the data I produced as it may help you in your evaluation of this market.

West Michigan and particularly Grand Rapids is experiencing an inventory shortage of available homes to purchase and rent.   A few years ago Forbes identified Grand Rapids as the #1 place in the world to invest in Real Estate and that brought in a lot of foreign money into this area and many homes were snatched up and rented out.  This took them out of the inventory cycle.   So we were already running with a shortage of homes on the market when COVID hit and wreaked havoc.  With the Government intervention on foreclosures, this has made the situation quite dire.   The foreclosures are an important part of the Real Estate cycle and until they start coming back online we can't fix the inventory problem.  There are many that wish to sell and trade up right now but they don't dare do it because they'd be homeless if they sold right now so we just have to wait it out.

All of that means 2 very important things for investors - Appreciation is fantastic and rents/sales prices are climbing so your returns in this area are guaranteed to produce!  

Let's look at some examples of the market and the numbers that I ran so you can see what kind of returns you can expect:

I took a look at a  property at in Wyoming ( a suburb of Grand Rapids on the SW side).  This is a 3 bed 1 bath 1018 sq ft home in good condition
It has a 1 car detached garage. The substructure is a crawl space.  Most properties have full basements in this area so the lack of one  keeps the price a bit lower, but from an investor standpoint, this isn't a big deal.  Its actually preferred with tenants sometimes as they can be hoarders and this gives them less room to do that.

Asking  price is $150,000

There aren't a lot of properties for rent right now in the area, but I found 2 on the market:

4bed/2ba/1040 sq ft w/full basement for $2400/mo
3bed/1ba/944 sq ft w/full basement for $1795/mo

Both of those properties were refreshed/looked good. The subject property needs a few $$ to get to that point,  so let's set $5,000 aside for a property refresh (paint, carpet, repairs, etc.)

Let's say you buy the subject property for $150,000
5,000 for refresh
Total invested $155,000
Keep this property for 10 years.

Rents should trend in the $1800/mo range but we'll go $1600 just for conservative numbers

Monthly Rent $1600
Assume buyer pays all utilities + trash + lawn/snow
Expenses:
Property Taxes: $200/mo
Vac/Maint (10%) = $160/mo
Property Mgt (10%) = $160/mo
Insurance = $80/mo
Total expenses = $600

Total cash flow per month = $1600 - $600 = $1000/mo
Annual Cash Flow = $12,000 x 10 years = $120,000
Sell in 10 years

Appreciation is currently at 15%(!!!) but that wont last forever. A traditional rate for this area is more like 3-5% but honestly since our inventory has been so low for over a decade now the appreciation has been more like 5-10%.  Let's assume we average a conservative 6% appreciation over the next 10 years.

Sale price in 2032 = $268,627
Closing costs = $21,490
Net Proceeds = $247,137

Initial Investment = $155,000
Total 10 year return = $247,137+120,000 - $155,000 = $212,137 in 10 years or an annual return of about $21,214.

That's about a 9% return (compound interest) on your initial 155,000 investment in a safe liquid asset.

Rents and sale prices in the Muskegon, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo areas are running lower so if you have less money you could get the same gains over there with less capital outlay

As you know, the BRRRR method involves REHAB to gain some sweat equity. Rehabbing properties can be a challenge for an investor who is out of state due to supply issues, contractor availability and simply coordinating and supervising the work. With the rapid appreciation in this area right now (15% on average) you can gain equity in properties simply by purchasing and controlling an asset for any length of time. It's a fantastic time to invest! Because of this, an out of state investor can lean more heavily to properties that don't need extensive rehab and can simply refinance after a short period of time with less work.

Feel free to hit me up with questions about any of the areas over here and I'll be glad to help you with your evaluations

@Corey Grant - It depends on the rules of the MLS. Typically, the MLS requires you to own a home and sign a listing contract with a Realtor member before you can place it on the MLS. However, there are some exceptions and they vary. Most MLS are part of a Realtor Association. Your best bet is to call around to the different associations and see what the rules are and if you find one that has the exceptions you are looking for, choose a Realtor that belongs to that association and work something out so you can get some exposure. The other option might be to advertise directly on some of the larger Real Estate sites on the Internet such as Zillow or Trulia. These large Real Estate websites reach a ton of people. Check the rules for each site and see if they allow non-owner advertising of homes. Another possible option would be a local Renter Owners association. Lots of investors belong to these and they sometimes have meetings you could possibly attend and broaden your investor buyer pool. Those are places I would start. I wish you luck!!

Hello!  Full disclosure - I'm a Real Estate Broker with 30 years experience so I'm writing this from a Realtor's perspective.

A lot of wholesalers I have met have a mix of experience.  Some have done dozens of transactions and they work pretty much like a Real Estate firm.  Others are a bit wet behind the ears and have very little idea when it comes to Real Estate contract law and title issues.  I recall one wholesaler I met who was trying to break into the business.  I offered to help him with his first deal for a fee.  He found a property and googled a contract and filled it out himself.   Then he hit a forum and found an investor who was willing to pay him $10,000 over the contract price!  Everything was going great the thought.  He didn't need me or anyone!  He was on the road to big time!   Well, the investor wanted the contract assigned over to him so the wholesaler transferred his interest.  Then the wholesaler decided to contact me to show me how great he's doing.  I looked over the forms and I asked him how he was getting paid?   He said "The investor said he'd give me $10,000 after he closed!".  Hahahaha!   I'm still laughing about that one.  That was an important lesson he learned about verbal vs. in-writing when it comes to compensation!

Realtors are knowledgeable about contract law and title issues and it makes sense to have them involved if you aren't 100% sure you know what you're doing.  Whether you're buying or selling or assigning its important you don't make mistakes and miss important red flags.  They will charge for their time and services but in the long run they are saving you money and you are gaining knowledge and experience from them that will help you make much more money in the long run.   Don't be afraid to work with one if your experience is lacking with wholesaling.

Some wholesalers are leery about working with Realtors to find buyers because they don't want another middleman dipping into their spread.  To avoid this, just explain to any Realtor what your asking price is and have them handle compensation with the buyer.   I charge a flat fee from buyers to assist them with wholesale deals in West Michigan and have wholesalers from Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon and other areas nearby just sending me their deals so I can push them out to my network of buyers.   Realtors are a great source for buyers so if you have a property you need to unload, don't be afraid to build a network of Realtors.  You're probably reaching 10x more buyers than you realize with every Realtor that gets your list!

If you have questions on Wholesaling and Realtors feel free to reach out and I'll be happy to assist!  It's a great partnership that helps everyone!

I second @Drew Sygit suggestion about Grand Rapids.  Lots of great property management companies there.  @Beth Avedis If you choose that market let me know and I'll send you some contacts

Hey Keshia!  I'm an investor and Real Estate Broker that covers West Michigan, including Metro Grand Rapids area over to the Lakeshore including Holland, Grand Haven and Muskegon.   I'd be happy to help you in any of these areas and discuss any questions you might have.  Reach out anytime.

I'm a little late to the party on this thread, but if you're looking to expand into a different area, Muskegon is certainly an option.  I do quite a bit of work over there and have several deals going.  Just to give you an idea, we have a 3bed home rented at $925/mo under contract at $82,500.   These types of deals are fairly common and you can build a nice portfolio of homes there.  I have lender and property management contacts there too and can set you up if you're interested.  

That's East HILLS, not Eastown.  Still a decent area and could be a nice profit depending on the size of home and rehab amounts.

@Nicholas Lan - Offers are free of charge to make!  If they are set up right, you can even get your offer accepted and have plenty of outs so you're not even obligated.  If you have solid data to back up your offer price, then the offer price vs. the asking price is irrelevant.  The main advice I would give is just make sure you have solid reliable data to depend on when making your bid and justifying your offer price.   A "Zillow Estimate" would not be reliable data.  Realtors are good sources for helping you structure your bid correctly and providing excellent data you can depend on!  They are usually FREE to use when purchasing as they collect commission from the sale.   I highly recommend them.   [Solicitation Removed by Moderators]

@Blake Schierbeek welcome to BP!  I'm a realtor in the Grand Rapids area.  Have you discussed a "lease to own" with your parents?   Typically, properties with underlying mortgages have a "due on title transfer" clause.  If you were to purchase the home from your parents on a land contract, you would get title but they would retain the deed.  That would trigger the "due on title transfer" and force them to pay off the loan.  That is why you don't see Land Contracts on homes with underlying mortgages on them.   However, a "lease" is a different situation.  They would retain title and deed and you would be essentially "renting" the home from them.  You can set up "lease to own" contracts in a variety of different ways.  Some just use it to lock in a price so when they are in a position to buy it, they can purchase it without worry of appreciation down the road.  Some set the lease amount high (say $2,000 a month) and then $500 of that goes into an account and you can use the funds in that account as a down payment to purchase the home when you are ready, but if you never buy it you would lose some or all of those funds.   There's a variety of ways to do it.   As the main "renter" you control the home and are responsible for its upkeep.  You can rent to others and generate an income for yourself if its in excess to the lease-to-own amount.     Another option would be for your parents to get a home equity loan on their home and then payoff the underlying on the income unit home so you can do a land contract with them and they can use the land contract funds to pay off the home equity payment and pocket the difference.  They'd still have the deed on the home if you defaulted and could claim it back if necessary, so their position would be secured.

If you need anymore help, feel free to connect!

Hello!  My name is Randy Charboneau.  I'm a Real Estate Broker in West Michigan who specializes in Foreclosues, Flips, and Income Properties.  Basically any property that will make an investor money!   I thought I'd give you an update on the market here in West Michigan including Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Holland.  These are the market I service the most.

Income properties in this area can vary quite a bit from market to market across Michigan and even here in West Michigan.   The values in Muskegon Heights are dramatically lower than over in Grand Rapids for example.  Rental rates can vary quite a bit as well.

What I have done is put together a list of income units that are currently available for each area and some market data on sold properties over the past 3, 6 or 12 months depending on area.  These are just snapshot lists but it should give you an idea on price and return for each area and help you gauge how these markets compare to another market you might be looking at.  I'd be happy to provide additional data for any of these properties or any information if you need it.  Just send me a connection and let me know what you need.

You can access the data here:  West Michigan Income Unit Data Jan 2020

(NOTE: Just click any picture in that link for a magnified view - some of the text is small so you'll need to click the picture to be able to read the data effectively)

This post is hopefully helpful to other investors as they gauge the West MI market and the data is being provided for that purpose.  This is not a post to solicit business or market myself.  I present my qualifications only to verify I'm a trusted legit source for this information.  Thank you.   If this post is in the wrong forum feel free to move it.