All Forum Posts by: Gary Dezoysa

Great thread guys. A couple questions about how to pyramid these investments:

1. Are banks typically willing to refinance $30,000 homes? What LTV can be reasonably expected?

2. Who's been successful attracting private money? Are the investors happy to loan the smaller amounts we're working with, or does it create objections?

Thanks Ryan! To answer your question about the accountability issues, here's what volume 2 of the Section 8 Bible says:

Hi, I'm looking to become a landlord for section 8 D properties in the $10,000-$20,000 range. Single-family residences only (2/1, 3/1, 3/2. With section 8, multi-units can cause accountability problems). 

Appreciation is nice but not the main focus. My real concern is crime, and I know when shopping in this price range,  neighborhood and even street-level selection is paramount.

I should also mention I do not plan on remote investment – I'll be relocating. I'm fortunate not to have family related concerns and can live anywhere.

To the Ohio investors, can you recommend, or warn against, the major Ohio markets? Here is my current ranking based on MLS deal volume:

1. Akron
2. Toledo
3. Dayton
4. Cleveland

*Cleveland actually has more listings than Toledo and Dayton, but those other two have a better "deal per capita" ratio.

I'm interested in any local advice you have for me, thank you for your insights!

Greetings, I come from Southern California where section 8 housing is in high demand. However, I plan on moving to a cheaper area of the country where $30,000 houses in working-class areas can be found.

I'm not sure if I should be concerned about narrowing my list of choices by "section 8 demand" or not.  

Is the section 8 program in high demand virtually everywhere in the country, or is it something I need to dig into before I consider an area?

Hi; I'd like to take a moment to compare mobile homes against low-cost SFRs under $30,000 .

Lisa Phillips has great podcasts on investing in $30,000 homes in working-class neighborhoods that don't have unbearable crime problems: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/01/23...

I've been reading her materials and it seems quite doable to find houses that meet the 2% rule, sometimes even 2.5% or 3%. 

Dawn Anastasi has a similar story in podcast 29.

Based on the above, it seems low-cost houses can be found outside of war zones. I wanted to ask you guys if there are still benefits to mobile homes over these lower-cost site built homes? 

One downside I see with the mobiles is having to deal with park management. Also,  I'm not sure if I would be able to buy a cheap mobile home and refinance my money out of it, as it is personal property.

Thanks for your thoughts!

I've heard that it's more ideal to invest in markets that have limited potential for new development, as that accelerates property appreciation. 

Do the city maps typically show what land is un-buildable around the city? If not, what other ways could I determine this?

Hello, for the investors who've decide to use a property management company for any number of reasons, can you share any tips you have for managing the management company?

I will share a tip from the online world that I'm sure has carryover:

A good friend has an online business that depends on pay per click marketing. He would hire a PPC manager to take care of his campaigns. Each month 20% of the campaigns would be allocated to a different manager, to see if the new one could outperform the current one. 

• If the current manager won (results wise), he keeps his job and above market compensation after bonuses.
• If the new manager won, he replaced the current one.

He found this to be a highly effective way of keeping his pay per click managers highly motivated  to continue optimizing the campaigns to the best of their abilities.

This is more easily done in the online world, but I wonder if such a competitive incentivization scheme would work between property managers as well. Just a thought.

Hi, let's say I buy a cheap $40,000 house which appraises for the same amount. If I pay in cash, do I have to wait for a certain amount of time before applying for a refinance?

Thanks for the city-data tip, I've known all about that forum but never thought to post there :)

If anyone here has done section 8 rentals, I'd like to hear your thoughts especially around tenant management between the two property types (mobiles & section 8). 

In some places section 8 can pay quite a generous sum in rents, of course the downside is that tenant quality tends to not be so good. 

Despite that, does the appreciation potential of the stick built home make section 8 potentially more lucrative? I'd love to hear the thoughts of anyone with experience!