All Forum Posts by: William Robison

@William Sumnicht

Welcome to the BP. Its a great community. Do a forum search for Kansas City Meetup. We are having one on Feb 25th of this month. Hope to see you there.

All the best with your investments.

@Sean Dezoysa

Did you ever commit to one of these services? Many, many years ago, I subscribed to fasthomeoffers.com. I dont remember getting a horrible response, altough, I wasnt set up for success at the time. Im considering going back and trying again. Surprised to see only this one thread on the BP for them.

Anyone else with experiences to share?

@Account Closed

Why do you specifically want to work with the listing agent in FL, or any state for that matter. Lots of people think that they can work a better deal with the listing agent. However, in most states, there are agency laws that require the listing agent to work for the benefit of the seller, called fiduciary responsibility. In some cases, the agent is able to switch this to dual agency or transactional broker. At that stage, the listing agent is nuetral.

If you have your own agent, then they have the fiduciary responsibility to represent your best interests and not the best interest of the seller. They may also negotiate you a better price for the property than what the listing agent is allowed to tell you that is possible.

Its usually unlikely that the agent will cut their commission to make a deal for you. Some will, some wont. But, as a selling broker myself, my goal is to get you a better deal than a 1-2% discount on the asking price...if warranted and uncompeting.

Best wishes with your investments and good luck. If you have other questions about representation, let the BP know and we will help you out.

Hello @Steve Candor

I work largely with investors from other states. The thing that I always promote for investors is to look for full transparency. When I say this, I mean to have full documentation of everything. For example, I have investors that buy houses as foreclosures that need work. I take 50-80 pictures of the property that we are considering. I make an estimate of repairs. I do not employ the rehab crews, but instead I manage the process. I require that they give me a scope of work, etc. I manage the process with more photos throughout. The biggest piece, is that they are not my empkoyees. They are less able to cut corners than some "turn-key" companies. I hold the contractors accountable for providing my client a quality finished product. All with photo evidence and full transparency. It helps maintain healthy, happy relationships with investors from investors often more than 1000 miles away.

As for family and friends in town--this almost never works out well. Unless they are in the business, they may not be capable of providing you with the kind of care that is needed by having a professional team working on your behalf. You cant fire your family, but you can fire a team. This is spoken over and over again here on the BP.

Best wishes to you with your investments...let us know what other questions that you have.

Hello @Carlos Pringle

Kansas City has a Real Estate Prep School that also has an online option. Here is their website:

Real Estate Prep School

They have been around a really long time.

Also, they are the host of our first Bigger Pockets Kansas City Meetup next month. Here is a link to the informal meetup:

Meetup

All the best!

Welcome to the BP @Jake Blickenstaff

There's a lot to learn and sometimes the best learning is by doing. Others have given you some great recommendations that I often share also.

I work with investors, primarily in East Jackson County. You are in a good market area.

We are having a first meetup for Bigger Pockets Kansas City next month. Here is a link to learn more. It will be very informal, just an opportunity to network and learn.

All the best with your goals!

Bigger Pockets Kansas City Meetup

Congrats to the BP.

Many thanks to @Joshua Dorkin

and @Brandon Turner

for all that they do to make this site as good as it is!

@Ben Ha

I would agree with most of what you have heard so far. As a broker in one of the popular areas, Kansas City, I see several investors that start with goals of certain dollar amounts or percentage rules that get frustrated. To hit $300 cash flow, you may need to be in a D Prop neighborhood that will create problems and often cause your long term picture to be far less than $300. I have investors that still insist on these properties, against my advice. Just last month, one had to send me a check for a massive tree removal and a furnace. That was more than a years cash flow on one property. She now regrets that buy and has started to buy better grade C props.

For out of state investors, I believe that the long term outlook of a B Property is far more appealing. In a recent article that I wrote for the BP, I talk about this long term analysis. If you put true numbers into a long term formula, the better grade properties with "lower" cash flow will still yield a HIGHER return.

All the best with your investments. Keep up the conversations on the BP. You can still meet some healthy investment goals with the right projections and team.

@Paul Nagy

I think you are correct in your estimations of the areas. Independence can be a good cash flow area, largely dependent upoon which part of Independence. There is a very wide range within that market area, so be sure to get some expert advice on the area before making an investment.

Regarding midtown (KU, Westport, etc.), these can be good prospects also. Its controlled by almost a block by block analysis to find good investments that will cash flow and will have long term appeal for appreciation into the future.

For the further suburbs, there are some very good opportunities with very good appreciation and moderate cash flow.

Due diligence is key.

All the best.

@Jameson Wildwood

The Kansas City market is a great place for investments, etiher multi-family or even the buy and hold SFH market. As typical, we have somewhat of a converse relationship with cash flow vs appreciation. In certain neighborhoods, cash flow can be huge, but expenses can be challenging and appreciation will be low. In the suburbs, properties still cash flow, but appreciation can be very good. Weve already seen quite a bit of rebound in values for many of our multi-family market areas. Deals can be found with a good hard look and patience.

In one of my BP articles that Ive written I discuss the five year outlook for an investment property. If one really applies this rule, the suburban properties with a higher B Property grade will typically beat out the rest.

All the best with your investments.