All Forum Posts by: Malcolm Lawson

Hey Terrence,

Congratulations on PCSing to Fort Meade. Have you stated looking at what area you are interested in moving to?  As a Realtor, I have been working with a soldier who I have showing properties to in the Colmubia area.

There are a handful of multi units near Baltimore but honestly they just are not that many of them in Maryland.  Another option you might want to explore is creating your own 2 unit by renting out your basement or section of your house.

Lucky for you your BAH will be pretty high at Fort Meade and your VA entitlement will probably be close to $520,000 for your VA loan.

Hey Daniel,

I am in a very similar situation.  I have had my Maryland real estate license for about a year and am currently active duty Air Force.  I am getting out of the AF and my last day is this Friday.  So now I am faced with a tough decision, do I try to get a high paying job in DC with health care and a 401K or do I continue to peruse real estate.  My wife obviously wants me to go the safe rout of working a 40 hour work week plus the 10 hours a week to commute in and out of DC.  I of course love the freedom and flexibility of being an agent and love how much I am learning about real estate investing by working with and helping other investors.

I will say this, getting leads of clients to work with in real estate is not easy. I have tried allot of different methods and unfortunately have had zero luck with many of them.  For me the best way to get new clients has been to get on forums like this and start building relationships with people and try to help them out. 

Luckily for me I have picked up a few new clients lately.  I am hoping that if I have a killer summer as an agent that my wife will see the potential and allow me to keep persuing it.

As a Realtor I have seen clients do this to estimate the repair cost many times.  It is probably the most accurate way to estimate repair cost on a property.  Most contractors will give you a free estimate for the work needed.  The only thing to be concerned about is if you do this too often.  For example most contractors probable are not willing to spend the time to do this for 4 or 5 properties without any guarantee that you will even buy any of them.

If you are having a hard time finding a contractor to do a walkthrough for you then offering them a small fee may help.  I would think anywhere from $25-$100 would be enough depending on how in depth the work is.  Also, if you have the property under contract and hire the contractor during your inspection phase, then this may also indicate to the contractor that you are serious and not just waisting there time.

I would just start shooting out emails to contractors and ask if they give free estimates.

I will say I don't think it has ever been easier to invest out of state then it is right now.  I am a Maryland Realtor and working with a military member who will be moving here in a few months.  He  currently lives on the west coast and I have been showing him properties by me visiting the homes and doing a video call with him on my phone.  He can ask me to focus the camera on certain areas or look at a specific room again, ect. all in real time.  He even has the option to record these video sessions if he likes.  Being able to live stream a walkthrough of a property simply was not an options buyers had just 5 years ago.

You could even make the argument that this is a more effective way of looking at houses then seeing them in person because if you record your live stream you have the option to re-watch the video or even share it with friends, family or other BP members.  Many times when I show 5 or 6 properties to my clients in person In one day it is very common for them to get them mixed up and forget which house had which feature, ect.  Because of this I LOVE that a client can have a video archive of each of the homes we toured for him to review later.

As long as you have a good realtor who will do this for you, you have a thorough home inspection done and have a good property management company lined up I think investing out of state is a viable option and will become more and more common in the years to come.

Hey Michael,

For a little while there I was a licensed home inspector and one of the most common issues I found with homes was down spouts from the gutters that did not divert the water away from the home.  Many would dump the water right next to the house where it would accumulate into large puddles during bad weather and eventually leak into basements OR even worse saturate the soil beneath your homes footer causing it to sink slightly and causing cracks in your foundation which may let in more water.  You should also just check the grade of the soil around your home and make sure there are no low spots against your house that will allow water accumulate.  Ideally all the land around your home would be sloped away from your home and ALL of your down spouts would be extended either above or under ground to divert the water as far away from your home as you can. 

Also check that your gutters are not simply clogged and causing water to over flow rather then be diverted from your home.

Hey Jordan,

1) As a Maryland Realtor I honestly think bigger pockets might be your best place to find an agent who is familiar with working with investors.  The standard agent typically works with people looking for there primary residence not an investment and because of this most agents are just not familiar with buying an investment property.  

After you find an agent I would start quizzing them to make sure he is in fact familiar with buying investment properties. Ask him things such as "whats your process for calculating ARV" "are you familiar with the 2% rule".

2) An agent shouldn't charge you upfront for finding you properties to invest him. They typically will try to find you properties under the assumption that you will use them to represent you in the transaction and when you do purchase a property there commission will actually be paid for by the seller. If the property is on the MLS then the seller is essentially offering a commission to the listing agent as well as any other agent who brings them a qualified buyer.

3) You wont have unlimited access to the MLS but your agent will and they can search it on your behalf. Your agent can also set you up on an automatic email campaign that will email you any listings that meet a specific criteria. For example all REOs in Long beach. You can set this up so you get an email daily or weekly with all the new listings.

Hope this helps and good luck!

I am a Maryland Realtor and investor looking for other investors I can help buy and sell real estate in Maryland. I am a 11 year Air Force veteran and especially enjoy helping other military members and veterans use there VA benefits to invest in real estate.

Ways I can help you:

• Calculating After Repair Value (ARV)
• Calculating rent estimates
• Finding homes on the MLS with potentials to be good Flips or Buy and Holds
• Selling recently flipped properties
• Finding and screening tenants
• Showing properties

You can reach me at [email protected] or 410-443-8140

Hey Donald,

BP is a great place for networking.  I know of two real estate investing groups.  CAZA is located in Annapolis MD https://www.meetup.com/CAZA-Real-Estate-Investor-N...  and the SOMDREIG down in La Plata MD https://www.meetup.com/Southern-Maryland-Real-Esta...

What kind of investments are you planning on getting into?  Buy and flip, buy and hold, multi-units, ect.

$1,900 Annapolis MD. 1,500 sqft 3/2

Hey John,

Good luck finding a home to fix and rent.  Having some handyman skills can be useful, just keep in mind your holding cost.  If it takes you 3 months to do all the work yourself, it's not necessarily free because of your mortgage payment, taxes, utilities ect. as well as the loss income you could of been earning if all the renovations were done in let's say 1 month.  Just something to think about.  I am glad to see you are looking on BP to find an agent to work with as most agents don't have a clue when it comes to investment properties.  I would offer to help but I work mostly in southern and central Maryland.  Good luck and let us know how your progressing. 

-Malcolm