All Forum Posts by: Jim C.

@Annie Li- Coffee would be great! And, yes, if these are REO's, the price may show higher since the bank that forecloses on them buys them back at the Sheriff's sale. Then the bank lists them for sale, and almost always takes less than what the foreclosure amount was for. Your realtor should be able to get you a list of SOLDS for a given area directly from the MLS. I personally wouldn't pay anymore than $60k for Merrillville and only in certain areas. I don't ever expect any appreciation on my properties there, in fact, I expect the prices to trend down over time. This is due to the crime, schools, etc. I bought my properties here based only on Cash Flow, and need at least a 15-20% ROI in order for me to really consider it.

I wouldn't even consider your property you mentioned above due to the location of it alone. That area is only getting worse in terms of crime, high tenant turnover, etc. That's why I said I would only consider properties South of 73rd Avenue. It's a high priced PIG in my opinion that's only going to cost you more in the end.

@Ken Van Haitsma Jr - You can use www.gniarmls.com to do your own searches for properties and run your analyses from there. Then, contact your realtor once you find something that makes financial sense. Also, you should consider the Wholesalers in the area. They have some properties that might make sense for your first deal. 

** Don't be  too quick to pay retail for something that can be had for wholesale.

@Ken Van Haitsma Jr- Yes. I personally wouldn't spend more than 60k in Merrillville. In fact, here is some houses that I was looking at and what they sold for recently:

7841 Whitcomb St - Sold for $44,000 (10/21/15)

7531 Marshall PL- Sold for $35,000 (12/2/15)

7495 Whitcomb St- Sold for $49,000 (10/8/15)

Yes, these houses needed some work, etc. but most of the houses in Merrillville do anyways due to age, neglect, etc. Never go by Assessed value when determining price. It's not reliable. Spending 85k for $1000 month is not a good return in my book for Merrillville. You won't have much (if any) appreciation, and your CAP EX will be more since these homes are older.

I'd be more than happy to grab coffee with you and go over in more detail about why I think your numbers don't work for me.  As an example, in the above Solds above, most of these only needed about 5k to 10k to make them rentable. So, In the 1st sold, all in would be around $50k for $1000- $1100 a month. Not to bad. Does this make more sense to you finanacial wise? Do be too quick to pay retail for something that can be had for wholesale. 

@Ken Van Haitsma Jr- @Annie Li- Before you buy anything in Merrillville, I would ask your realtor to show you SOLDS in your area within the last year. This will tell you what houses have been selling for for the last several months. I bought 1 south of 73rd and West of Taft (Independence Hill Area) for $17,900. Most are selling around 30k to 70k for Fixer Uppers, while the ones already Rehabbed are bringing only around 80k.

@Annie Li- Please don't buy something just to buy something thinking the area will get better. I can assure you it won't. Most tenants in that area don't stay long due to crime, etc. 

You should do your do diligence and don't buy blindly. You will wind up with a PIG that will be a total money loser. There are properties in decent areas of Merrillville for less than $60k, you just need to be patient as they come up from time to time. BUT, I would suggest any new investor to only buy South of 73rd, and for $70k or less.

My highest rental rate in Merrillville is a 4 BR for $1100 in the Independence Hill Area. It rented out a few months ago, and took me 2 months to find a good, qualified tenant.

If you need any additional help or information, I would be glad to help out.

@Annie Li-

I personally wouldn't buy anything in Merrillville north of 73rd Avenue and expect any sort of appreciation (in fact prices have gone done north of 73rd due to an abundance of foreclosures and crime). I agree with all above about the unlikeliness of $1200 monthly rent in that area for that condition house. My Merrillville properties get anywhere from $800-$1200 depending upon size and location, but none are north of 73rd Avenue, Just my $.02. 

@Sanchit Wadhwa - Another possibility is to sign a Limited Power of Attorney (for this Real Estate Transaction only) for someone who can be present at the closing to sign papers on your behalf. I've done this before when I was out of the country and had a closing scheduled.

I knew I was a real estate investor when.... I didn't know what day of the week it was! It's nice to be able to take off and do whatever, whenever. Not having to celebrate Fridays because every day can be a Friday!

Make sure they are Licensed, Bonded, and most of all INSURED! Make sure you see a copy of their insurance!! @Logan Allec

I bought a 2 BR condo January of this year from a distressed seller for 20k (He had an appraisal done and it came in at $60k). I currently have it rented for $800 per month, but the HOA fees are $125 per month. Taxes are $1000 per year. The reason I bought it so cheap was that the owner couldn't sell it because most standard banks wouldn't lend on it due to the high number of rentals in the building compared to owner occupied (He had spent $25k rehabbing with all new flooring, paint, fixtures, etc). So he couldn't get a OO (Owner Occupied) to buy it. So, if you buy, you may want to verify the OO / rental ratios for your complex, or plan on holding for a very long time, or wholesale as an exit strategy when you want to sell.

I also had some issues with the HOA. They can be a big PITA. My first tenants only lasted about 2 months due to the 'noise' issues with my tenants. This building has older owners (also on the HOA board) who hate tenants with a passion because they think with all the 'transients' it's going down hill in terms of quality.

If you are the owner, or have ownership rights, no licensing is necessary to be able to self manage your properties. If you are doing it for others, you need to be /use a broker, or work under the supervision of a broker. Here is some information is you plan on using an assisant as well:

www.indianarealtors.com/uploads/docs/136.pdf