All Forum Posts by: Marc Rice

 I think sometimes foreclosures can be overhyped and even riskier to buy than traditional fixer uppers because generally you cannot do the same due diligence on the house with an inspection period and you cannot negotiate remedy or repairs if needed either. Plus you often get pressured to bid more than you're comfortable with. Also most realtors do not assist with foreclosures because the auctions do not compensate realtors at all and their buyers have usually a 1-5% chance of actually winning. Not to mention most foreclosures are unique to counties so you'd have to find a specialized realtor for every county or master all the counties yourself.

I would encourage SFR BRRRRs or rentals over flips because flipping is just another high paying job that you pay a ton of taxes on. Not to mention the volatile market right now on exit pricing. If you do want to go this route, networking with local investor friendly agents who can find off market deals for those BRRRRs is essential. It's always good to ask the agent how many successful BRRRRs they've done themselves, how they find off market deals, and how many BRRRR deals a year do they do.

Lastly, make sure you're buying in the neighborhood grades that make sense for you. Asking a local realtor can really help you here.

Cleveland and Akron are great cash flow markets. There are a lot of good off market deals there. Are you buying in Columbus too?

You should look into pulling a list of the 25 most recent tax lien certificate buyers in your area and then reach out to repeat buyers. Those would be the best mentors.

 Columbus, Ohio is a great area to MTR and house hack. You can get some decent duplexes in a B-/C+ area for around $250k. There are some great loan programs here to put as low as 3-5% down.

 I like 43201, 43202, 43206, 43207, and 43222 in Columbus, Ohio.

Columbus, OH is a great cash flow and appreciation hybrid with a rapidly growing population. 

Schalge Encode or a deadbolt style lock would be the safest. I'd stay away from the Schalge FE595 styles which can be credit carded into.

You should cold call off market deals to find this. Or network with local agents/brokers there.

Commercial mixed use has different cap rates then residential. Also south New Jersey will have its own standard of cap rates depending on what quality of neighborhood it is in. I would be more conservative with your numbers and frankly ignore his/her proforma. Run your own numbers based upon what you've been able to manage at historically.

Be careful if the commercial space is vacant, it is a lot harder to find good tenants in the commercial space. And if they move out it can be a long leasing cycle. Some will take 6+ months to find a good tenant with a good guarantor, and the good tenants will want 3-6 months of "rent abatement" aka free rent plus maybe some tenant improvements (where you give them $ to fix up the property that you own). So sometimes you won't receive your first rent check on commercial for 6-12 months. 

You should consult a local broker/property manager there on their opinion.

What are the sales comps? Subtract 6% realtor commissions and a few thousand in title fees to see what your net would be. 

Could you refinance it and rent it out? Interest rates about 7% right now...