All Forum Posts by: Jim Genis

@Joe Henry, I bought my first 2 properties 8 years ago in Madison, AL (part of Huntsville) while I was living in San Diego. Both of those properties cash flowed and were rented out very consistently. I found 2 keys to making this work:

1. Have a killer property manager. The one I used managed about 300 houses and had a virtual lock on the rental market for SFRs. This meant they were THE source for house (not apartment) renters and they had a full pipeline of leads. Plus, they managed everything very professionally. As a result, our vacancy rate was extremely low.

2. Buy in great school districts. We found the key to getting good, consistent tenants was to buy in a top school district. It does mean that you're paying more for the property (and maybe a bit lower cash flow than you'd ideally like) but the payback is (a) higher quality tenants who take care of the property better; and (b) longer term tenants and lower vacancy. Since repairs, turnovers, and vacancy can kill your numbers, this gave us consistent performance.

The result for us was steady-eddy income and NO headaches at all. We kept forgetting we owned them!

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Jim

@Aj Witt, welcome! We have also been active in KC for a number of years. Please shoot me an email and let's share criteria for wholesales... we buy and sell and we should be on each others' lists.

Jim Genis

@Nicholas Burton,

Welcome to the KC market! A couple of thoughts off the top of my head:

• Keep making offers. A typical yield might be 1-2 deals for every 30 offers, so consistency in writing offers is key to landing the good ones.
• HUDs and REOs are very competitive since they are typically found via public channels (MLS, hudhomestore, etc.). You might consider looking at homes that have been on the market more than 180 days. These can be ones that are "forgotten" and the seller may be more motivated... 6 months to sell a troubled property is a long time!
• Create a one-pager that summarizes who your company is, what makes you different, and why the seller should do business with you. If you're submitting an offer in a place that allows you to add an attachment, add this one-pager. Other than HUD, there's a real person at the other end who's considering your offers. The one-pager could be just what it takes to get your offer accepted. (We use this technique, by the way.)

P.S. Let's get connected on each other's buyers' lists. We can share deals.

Jim Genis

CityView Real Estate Services

CityViewKC.com

Welcome Matt! 

Using either method (buy and hold or rehab) has its pros and cons; the forums and blogs on this site will give you a lot of information to help.

To me, at the end of the day it's about numbers and quality. Numbers: Buying right and figuring in ALL the costs as accurately as you can, providing a cushion for Murphy's Law. Quality: Buying good properties in the right neighborhoods for your goals. (And a good property manager is really important for holds.)

It's good that you focus on the areas near you since you know them so well. You may also want to connect with other more experienced investors in KC to bounce ideas off of.

Best of luck in your new venture... you're on your way to real wealth!

Jim Genis

CityView Real Estate Services

CityViewKC.com

@Alex Larson Welcome! I'm an agent in KC as well; my brokerage focuses exclusively on investors and investment properties. Let me know if you'd like to get together for a cup o' Joe to talk shop. We may be able to help each other.

I echo the recommendations above. BiggerPockets is an incredible wealth of information and you'll find a lot of support from its members. Enjoy!

Jim Genis

Abram, welcome to KC! This is my second stint here and I'm here to stay. 

The Kansas City market rocks for real estate investing. The recommendation above about MAREI is a good place to start. 

I'd love to grab a cup of coffee with you when you get settled. I can point you to several connections that may be valuable for you. Let me know if interested.

Can you tell me more about the apartment building? # units, city, Class A/B/C, vacancy rate, condition? What type of financing are you looking for and how much? 

I ask these questions because I spent 3 years as a commercial mortgage broker and need this info to point you in the right direction.

I'm setting up my website which uses Wordpress as its blog tool. I want to simultaneously publish my blogs on both my site and BP's blog. Anyone know how this is done?

 You can find Mail Chimp at 

http://mailchimp.com/

I've used it and it works very well. It tracks opt-outs, opens, click-throughs, etc. Also has a  simple user interface that makes it easy.

I have used Pipeline Deals for database and deal tracking. It integrates nicely with Mail Chimp.