All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Melissa Gittens I'm actually out in CA and looking to do out of state investing so will  not be house hacking but still great advice when I plan to do any type of 'on the boots' type research - will definitely come out in the evenings/ night to get a pulse on the feel for the neighborhood.

@Carlos Diaz we were referring to the quality of the neighborhoods which are ranked A, B, C, or D typically depending on wealth class, jobs, average salary family, crime rates, education, etc.  You can check out class ranks for neighborhoods on AreaVibes.  

Hi Alan, I'm in Redondo also.  

I'm also looking for pos cash flow so am looking to grow my portfolio outside of CA. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Get on the podcasts and forums. They are a ton of help.

Happy investing!  

BP's from NC:

I'm interested in the Charlotte NC market and wanted to get some feedback on the local neighborhoods. Looking for low entry point ($50-80k) properties where I can add value and have stable renters ($900-1100 per mo) in a B/C neighborhood to buy and hold SF and MF units.

Neighborhoods of interest include: 

Uptown (may be out of my price entry point)

Wesley Heights 

Wilmore 

Oaklawn 

Toddville Road 

Would like feedback from others who are from the area - what are you seeing in the markets? Stability of rental market, vacancy rates, good PM's that you would recommend, potential for appreciation, etc. Any other neighborhoods that may be interesting that I should be looking into?

Have done the rentometer, city data, zillow, craigslist type research but wanted to get real life investor, RE broker, wholesaler feedback.

Thanks!

Congrats! Very inspiring! 

Hi Don welcome to BP!

I'm interested in getting on to your Charlotte Wholesale listings. I'll PM you with my email and contact info, thanks.

Lena 

@Sharad M.

Re: Hammond: are you investing in the South side?

Re: Merrillville, I'm looking on Craigslist and Zillow listings where there are properties renting for 850-900/ mo for a 3bed/1 bath. What kind of marketing are you using to list the properties? What were your entry points? I'm seeing inventory in the $120k range. Are there better areas in Merrillville that you recommend / must stay away from?

Do you have a good property management company that you recommend in the area? I'm planning to make a trip out to the area to check things out in person. Sent you a message - would love to connect - thanks! 

@Sharad M. thanks for the feedback about Merrillville and Hammond. I was intrigued with Merrillville and Hammond because of the low entry points and decent rent / returns. 

When I did some City Data research on Hammond, the crime rates looked very high compared to the rest of IN.  But I'm hearing that certain pockets may be more favorable than others.  This is where I would need to find a good realtor to show me around when I fly out for 'boots on the ground' research. It sounds like you are seeing good returns.

With Merrillville, I looked up a few properties on google maps and pockets of areas looked like all open fields. Based on feedback from another investor that lives in the area, she mentioned that it can get rural quick and her concern was that homes may be hard to rent for that reason. Would love to hear more about what you're seeing in these areas, vacancy rates and to connect.  Thanks.

@Paul Stout thanks again for the sound advice. 

A bit more about where my head was at: the strategy for a full out SF purchase was for higher monthly returns.  The alternative would have been to split the capital and invest in two SF's with loans but comes with more risk, management, capex etc.  I had originally considered MF units - but in the midwest areas that I was investigating - I did not see that type of rental market/inventory. 

Another way to look at the MF vs. SF argument was if I could find a strong rental market where tenants stay for years (I have one property like this in CA) with low turn over - it would be easier to manage one roof, set of tenants etc.  The risks are definitely diversified across MF's so I'll think about this more. Great way to look at the depreciation/ tax savings. This is not something I had considered so think more on this as well.

My goal: identify a few key areas / pockets of interest in the midwest and fly out to do 'boots on the ground' research after the areas checked out on city data, craigslist, zillow,  BP feedback, etc.  Thanks for the other sites as well. Will add those sites to my research as well. My challenge right now is finding a couple of areas of interest close to one another to buy a plane ticket for. 

I've been crunching the numbers for property around my area.  This is actually where I had started.  The properties in the class C/D neighborhoods are at $450+ with rent of about $1300/mo for a 3bed/2bath.  It's also very challenging to find a PM that will manage class C/D neighborhoods in the LA area.  But more importantly, it would take me 10 years + to earn my money back based on the margins. I'm anxious to make my money to work for me now. :) 

Thanks all others who reached out, I will take a look at the areas you all suggested and reach out

Thanks for the feedback @Paul Stout felt like I was chasing a unicorn a bit. 

I'd find a few interesting areas then do the city data type research and get deflated. I may just need to consider a loan and go with a higher price point since I'm looking for class B. My priority would be to have quality renters with less turn over and stable positive cash flow - even if that means a higher price point/loan.