All Forum Posts by: Jason Cory

 That's the city of Bessemer not unincorporated that includes McCalla, Adger, parts of Hueytown, etc. that have a Bessemer zip code aren't included in the links to data. 

Bessemer was ranked last year as the #2 crime city in the country per capita. That deserves an F all day. 

Are you working the area? 😂

I only work the C, D, & F (Eastlake only) areas as you know so I'm throwing myself under the bus but I won't even work the other's in the F class. It's an analysis based on how an appraiser will value each market with the market condition report included in every appraisal. 

Remember, agents & appraisers always disagree on market analysis & values but appraisers are the ones that have the final signature when loans are needed.

Investors not familiar with the market have an idea of how their investment will be analyzed by an appraiser with the class segments with this thread now. 

 Exactly why I only rent to Section 8 tenants. The case worker functions as the go-between, i.e., PM. The housing authority does the criminal & background checks before they are approved for the program with annual checks so you/I don't have to do it. If a Section 8 tenant was doing this one call to the case worker fixes the problem. I've never met a single tenant that challenged their case worker from fear of getting kicked off the program & losing their assistance. Also, the housing authority is liable for their tenants in the event of damages, threats, malicious intent, etc.  

Too many risks as a landlord not to have leverage securing your assets. Regular PM's have zero control over tenants & accountability to the property owners. 

Eventually owners go this route or keep getting sued because they refuse to learn you can't be nice to tenants. 

If the tenant has a disability they can call it a companion animal. That's different than a service animal. Mental illness would apply to companion animal. Based on the threats I would assume they are mentally disabled & looking to sue if the sun comes up tomorrow. Whether you deny today or something in the future happens the tenant will likely sue. Some people are just that way. 

I would stop addressing the tenant issue & fire the manager but put in writing requesting the tenants contact information & state you will forward the contact information to the new PM. Your new PM will be your attorney until it's rented. Allow your attorney to hire an agent to list for rent & show potential tenants because they can't list or show without the agent license. Once it's rented hire an actual PM. 

What if I have a disability and depend on a service or companion animal?

This is a special situation, where landlords must allow animals even if they have a "no pets" policy.A service or companion animal should not be considered a pet. A service or companion animal should be treated, from the landlord's perspective, like a piece of medical equipment. Because of federal fair housing laws that require landlords to allow reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities, the following apply:

• Landlords may not prohibit a service animal or companion animal from living in the unit.
• Landlords may not charge the tenant extra "pet" rent or "pet" security deposit.
• Landlords may not apply other "pet policy" rules like breed or weight restrictions. For more information from HUD on this, click here.

http://www.tenantresourcecenter.org/pets_and_servi...

If you buy in "hot" markets with a limited supply you are setting yourself up for failure.

Go back over history & you'll find the majority of the time the first 2 years of every presidency a bounce in the market. Both sides of the aisle. 

Look for markets that remain stable in good times & bad. Some markets don't suffer the rate of depreciation or appreciation that others do. Their bell curve isn't steep in either direction. 

Major MSA's typically get destroyed in economic downturns only to rebound at an accelerated pace when times are good. The roller coaster analogy. Data supports this because the infrastructure can't sustain the large population in a downturn. The population begins moving to secondary & tertiary markets because they function based on the infrastructure catch up game. They are always 10 years behind catching up to the growth in population from people moving away from major cities. 

Find the little engine that could city that keeps chugging away regardless of economic conditions. 

B/C areas get hit the hardest with the cycle, appreciation & depreciation. These areas hold the most people that lose jobs in a downturn & move to find employment. They appreciate more rapidly when the economy rebounds also. It's the average Joe areas. 

I used to appraise. I've seen firsthand what I have stated because I had to put the value on it & explain the reasons for the house, as well as the market as a whole. 

Check historical migration maps that correlate to economic conditions to further support my statements. You'll see who lost population & who gained population. 

Best of luck to you investing. 

 Be careful doing this in Birmingham. I know of 4 properties that were "foreclosed" with people about to bid only to find out the "foreclosure" was the 2nd position lien not the 1st in the last 6 months. I'm sure you do a title search prior but it seems it is becoming commonplace to try to auction 2nd position liens and/or properties that are still occupied leaving it to the buyer to evict. These sites don't verify the information & list based on what the seller states. 

 Call Mark.

@Bob Smith Here is the link. Hope it helps.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/549...

 What areas of Birmingham were you searching? 

I have a post about the market by class with supporting data about Birmingham. 

If you're looking for the 1% rule it's likely why rents appear low. Those areas aren't supposed to be rented. They are owner occupied areas so demand is towards owners not tenants. Birmingham offers 20% + gross ROI easily in predominantly rental areas.

 I'm in Birmingham. It is possible they are active in here but I've never heard of them. 

If anyone makes a guarantee in Real Estate its fraud since it's illegal to guarantee anything with an investment, rent or otherwise. 

Purchase a home from an investor that has finished the renovation then order an inspection & appraisal. 

You never want an existing tenant passed to you because you don't know the history or actual quality of the tenant. Place your own tenant or have the PM place them based on your criteria. The tenant is arguably more important than the property since it's the way you cover expenses monthly & in turn make money.

Avoid Bessemer, Brighton, Lipscomb, Titusville, & Midfield. 

Also avoid certain areas of 35207. Some areas of the northern section of 35207 are alright.

Any other areas within the city limits are ripe for the pickin.