All Forum Posts by: Kris Mead

Is anyone else running into trouble getting conventional financing? Just went to close on a deal that was put on hold for about a month due to the virus and I am being told no one is lending. This is in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Personally, that’s what drew me to this market.  IMO this is the type of market you want to be in for times like these.  If the real estate market pulls back a bit elsewhere, I may look to diversify into another market.  For now, this is working well.   

@Aaron OCallahan Honestly, I couldn’t pull the trigger here and I live in the area.  With the unfavorable landlord tenant laws, crazy valuations (IMO), high taxes, utilities and other carrying costs I just can’t see it working right now.  Maybe if valuations come down, I could see it working.  I do all my investing in the Midwest currently.

@John Bucci I absolutely agree.  When we were shopping for a house to live in 8-10 years ago, all we could afford was Beacon.  When my wife and I were growing up, Beacon was garbage so we steered clear.  I think of all the duplexes in the 110-160k range that we passed up quite frequently.  You are 100% correct in buying when it’s still risky, which is why Newburgh is so attractive.  Trust me, I would love to dive in to Newburgh.  Not because I think it’s the next Beacon,  but because I love the city.  Detritus aside, it’s absolutely beautiful locationally and architecturally.  Ultimately I am a cashflow guy and I see too much risk as a whole.  Beacon at its worst was never as bad as what Newburgh is now, even after some gentrification.

@Frank Gucciardo. I am not sure, but the values got outrageous very quickly. Very high end rehabs were being done with “city money” and it was nice to see, but it didn’t make much sense. NYC is close enough to be able to stop by Newburgh and see that that it ISN’T the next Beacon. Kingston has a better shot than most, but no Metro North is a big hindrance. IMO Poughkeepsie should have a fair shot, but it is also outrageously priced at the moment. There is a lot of money floating around and I think that is driving these outrageous valuations adding in the unfavorable landlord tenant laws and I don’t see many opportunities in the area for the time being.

@Cameron McNulty in my opinion Arkansas’ history of low to no growth is what drew me in.  If you look at he historical data for population and price trends, there was really no impact during the recession.  I fully understand that I am not going to get much appreciation, but we are probably near a market top and at least I won’t have to worry too much if there is a crash that drags values down.  You are correct in saying it’s a beautiful state and many people don’t understand that.  I am constantly explaining to people that it’s not all “flat farmland” or “brown”.  In fact, we have discussed relocating from NY on many occasions.  The weather is kind of a bummer though.  It seems like it’s always some sort of extreme 😂.

@Hadar Orkibi thanks Hadar! I’ll reach out

@Cory Cox thanks bud! I’ll put them on my list.

@Michael Ward my house in NLR is under Adams so I reached out to them first. Apparently it’s a different division for NLR and LR with completely different systems. 😩

@Susan H. I will check them out! Thank you