All Forum Posts by: Marc Rice

@Ryan Hazelwood

I’d make sure you really dig into your local market to see if the numbers make sense there since you’ll be able to do a low money down owner occupied loan on a 2-4 unit for 3-5% down.

If you go out of state you’re looking 25% down on a multi family. Most of the Midwest you can find 1% rules in decent neighborhoods as was mentioned in the comment above. We’re in Columbus, OH and the market is definitely getting tighter and it’s very hard to find a 1% rule in an A - B class market, mostly looking B-/C+ neighborhoods and worse.

@Rodney Crawford

You could always open the discussion with her about this and see if she’d shave off some points...if the buyer is coming unrepresented I’m sure the realtor would have no problem shaving off some commission since she doesn’t have to split it with another agent.

I’d just express your concerns to her and negotiate if you feel right

@Lawrence Chen

The first step I’d do is write down your goals and expectations for an investment - what cash flow do you want, how much time do you want to spend, what condition of home, what about a market attracts you, etc.

Then once you have a better idea that, I'd recommend to start reaching out to agents who are also investors so you can learn how the local markets are operating and how the on-market MLS compares to off-market deals.

Overall, the Midwest is great. I caution on some Midwest towns because their populations have been decreasing year over year so the appreciation isn’t there which is a key wealth building component of real estate. If you’re investing anywhere make sure there’s strong job growth, population growth, and desirability to live.

For me, I invest, live, and am a realtor in Columbus, OH which is a great Midwest city that meets the above points of growing job/population and is desirable to live in. If you have any questions about evaluating the city here I’m happy to help put you in touch with lenders and property managers!

@Stefon Pegram

Starting out, your first deal will always be the most risky due to your lack of full understanding of everything.

The best way to hedge your bet is to invest locally where you have an edge, network, understanding of the market, etc

Once you feel confident that you can do a lot of the aspects of real estate without actually being there in person, then I’d advise to take the leap out of state.

Regardless, anywhere you are you should have a good agent, property manager, contractor, and lender!

@Abel Curiel

Great post! “Circle prospecting” is a subset of cold calling to generate seller leads in an area

@Joseph Mah

Columbus or bust*

@Michael P.

Where’s is this?

@Alberto Mazatan Trevino

Network and learn from others who are where you want to be. Have you reached out to any syndicators/operators with over 500 units to see how they got there ?

@Frank Daly

Cozy.co $39.99, Zillow.com $29 are some of the best - tenants will usually be billed for this and the tenants enter their info

@Nicholas Aja

The easiest way is to make sure you’re both on the deed and mortgage, by default in doing this the laws offer a lot of base level protection for the both of you such as disposition on death, etc.

The next level would be to draft an operating agreement up between you both through a lawyer.

Another layer of protection is to require your tenants to have renters insurance so they would use that before they go after you personally.

The biggest single layer of protection though is communication and to make sure you’re on the same page with timeline, goals, expectations, work schedules, and budgets.

Good luck!