All Forum Posts by: Mark Caiazza

@Tony Clark I can't speak to Ft. Campbell, but I have had great success near Air Force bases (Travis AFB, Nellis AFB, Malmstrom AFB). The turnover may be higher as most military members move every 2-4 years. I manage my properties remotely and it is completely care free; the tenants have all used direct deposit so the rent comes in like clockwork and they have all taken great care of the properties. The rentals I own are 4 bdrm 2.5 bath SFRs (approx. 2000 sq ft) near the bases. With that size house, I tend to attract the older military members with kids E-5, E-6, E-7, O-3. I also allow pets, which seems to help fill the house quicker at a higher rent. Every zip code has a different housing allowance so go to http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm to check what the BAH is near Ft. Campbell, then you can see if the numbers work for your strategy (young single folks or families). Also, many military members use AHRN.com to find rental housing when they move from base to base; you should be able to get a property manager account to post your listings on that site as well as check the competition. Good luck!

Hi all, @Account Closed thanks for starting the thread! I was curious if there were any real estate investors in Minot as I will be PCSing there in May (currently stationed at Malmstrom).  @Tamaria Bridgeforth and @Mike Krysinski , I will definitely be interested in a meet-up when I arrive; it's very beneficial to learn from each others experiences and share ideas face-to-face. We started a meet-up with a few local BP members here in Great Falls about two years ago and everyone seemed to benefit (the first meetup started with 3 people and the most recent meetup had 12...not bad for Great Falls). I actually partnered up with someone from those meetings to accomplish my first flip, which hopefully sells before I PCS (we will be listing it late January).

I just started taking a look at the Minot market, but its tough to grasp a clear picture when I'm not physically there. I have heard the apartment complexes are struggling with vacancies causing rent drops and it seems like the housing inventory is sitting on the MLS for a while. Also, it looks like Minot BAH dropped again for 2017, which will have a negative impact on the RE market. However, it doesn't seem like the Minot economy relies solely on the AFB or oil, so if there is a drop in housing prices over the next year or two, there might be some good investing opportunities.

Let's keep this thread going and I will update if I come across any Minot news.

Jerral Williams set up BiggerPockets keyword alerts for "Houston" and start connecting with people in your area. Schedule a meetup with other Real estate professionals/investors. Be trustworthy, grow your network, and funding will get easier when you find a good deal. Good luck!

Originally posted by @Angelica Osusky:

@Mark Caiazza May I ask how many sq ft the house is? Are you doing the work yourself? The HOA is suppose to take care of any exterior work but as you can see the paint could you a little sprucing up. I ultimately think its market dependent. I think it works for this type of property, I find it appealing but i would agree with you it could use some caring for. I think if this were a single family home in a better area it could have impacted it

@Angelica Osusky My flip property is just over 2800 sq ft and I am doing a lot of the work myself. As this is my first flip, I wanted to learn the ropes by doing as much of the renovations as I could, which is why it has taken me so long. Now I know why investors purchase smaller properties... lesson learned lol. My future flips will definitely be moving towards your strategy of hiring a contractor and knocking it out quickly. 

Angelica Osusky Awesome job on the rehab! I'm very impressed with how quickly you got it done as I am going on month 9 of my first flip. Random question for you and others: It's obviously more desirable to have original brick. However, in the pictures you provided, the brick does look to be distressed/stained... Does painting the brick decrease the value of the property or would the cleaner look appeal to the typical retail buyer? Or is it market dependent? Again, awesome job on the rehab... keep rockin it!!

Paul Amegatcher thanks for the helpful link! I think putting a picture of the property on the direct mail piece is a great idea if you are just doing a small scale direct marketing campaign... it would get very time consuming if you were marketing to hundreds of properties. I understand that in driving for dollars/direct marketing situations it's typical for cash offers or contract for deed offers, but does anyone have different funding examples (specifically bank financing) when dealing directly with the seller? All-cash offers provide benefits for the seller like a quick close and reduced stress/red tape. Also, severely distressed properties won't qualify for financing. So is driving for dollars and direct marketing a waste of time for investors without all-cash?

WOW... I've never seen a house on Zillow with 2.3 million views before... impressive!

@Bryan C. @George N.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it's not your primary residence you will need to get a commercial loan using an LLC. I tried to pull some $ out of one of my rentals... Sorry, I don't recall all of the details, but I remember it boiling down to me needing to set up a llc.

I only talked to about 5 or 6 banks, but seemed like the smaller banks were the only ones willing to lend on investment properties.

Lesson learned... Get the HELOC before I move out next time.

I think the podcast and ebook are excellent ideas and can be extremely valuable to military members that are fearful of holding on to a property when they PCS out of an area. I have witnessed many of my friends sell their houses at a loss because they were scared to deal with the management of their property; and I have seen others waste their housing allowance because of the uncertainty of how long they would be stationed at a particular base. 

Therefore, I think some important topics that should be discussed are...

- tools available to assist military members (e.g. AHRN/homes.mil, free housing safety inspections, paperwork/leases/Addendums/PM tools)

- financial comparison of buying vs renting throughout one's military career

- buying the right primary residence with VA loan when you arrive at a new base

- negative aspects of the VA loan and determining if other financing is more beneficial

- tips, guidelines, and processes for managing you properties remotely

- setting up the right team/network while you live there to make remote management easier when you PCS

The reality is that it will be a slower process for a military member to build a RE portfolio due to mission requirements, but it is definitely possible. In fact, I will have to add some more of my thoughts to this post later because I recently closed on my first non-primary residence REI property and have some renovation work to do. I'm excited to see how this thread develops!

@Elizabeth Colegrove thanks for the link to the Facebook group, I had no idea something like that existed. 

@Account Closed you have an interesting perspective on military economies that I have not heard before. I'm curious about some of the specific reasons you think military base communities are undesirable to millennials. My impression is that military bases attract small businesses, large corporations (restaurant/hotel/shopping), retirement population, and even tourism. My view has always been that a closure would devastate a local military community. Are you saying Vandenberg closing would be beneficial to Lompoc?