All Forum Posts by: Michael Wentzel

@Tim Shin

We have done 17 properties over the last three years. We are big fans of the BRRRR strategy.

Most of the listings were on the MLS. A few have come through wholesalers and a couple properties were brought to me by Realtors.

Pueblo is not nearby. I just took a quick look at the map and there doesn't seem to be much nearby if you'll be living in the mountains of western Colorado. I believe the vast majority of Colorado's population lives on the "front range", straight down the I-25 Interstate.

Mike

@Tim Shin

I lived in Colorado Springs for a few years and never made it out to Western Colorado. It sounds like it is worth a trip next time I'm in the state. 

We now live overseas. We had a couple buy-and-hold rentals in Colorado Springs. We sold them about three years ago and started buying in Pueblo. We have 17 properties and 23 units there now. It has been a good place to learn and make mistakes with smaller amounts of money. We are very happy with our portfolio and the community. We hope to enter a second market back in Ohio this year, just to diversify. 

I think you are right about Denver. I don't think it can keep going up forever. Even Colorado Springs has become a bit expensive for cash-flow rentals. You can find cash-flowing rentals in Pueblo, but you need to do a bit of research. Just because something is cheap, doesn't mean it will make money. I have a great property manager I can recommend and a group of contractors I like. PM me if you have specific questions.

Mike

@Isstad Rashadeem

The plan that Belinda mentioned sounds interesting, as long as they don't want $15,000 up front to enroll in the course. If you have a small family, going the small multi-family route can be more difficult. Often times the units only have one or a two bedrooms and aren't ideal for a family.

With the family in the mix, I might recommend option B. Purchase on good rental property and start learning from experience.

If you haven't already, I would encourage you to read the Ultimate Beginner's Guide on the Education tab above and listen to as many of the podcasts as you can. This will give you a great, free education in Real Estate Investing.

Mike

Here is one that I considered...

https://oncarrot.com/

In the end I decided to build my own on Wix. 

Mike

@J Perez

I would encourage you to setup appointment with a few banks and see what they can offer. Maybe try one big national bank (Chase, Bank of America, etc.) and a few local and regional banks. Many investors have found the smaller banks to be more flexible and interested in working with local investors. Don't let them all run your credit. Run it yourself ahead of time and they should be able to give you an idea of what they will be able to do for you.

Mike

@James Montgomery

Welcome to BP. Many Real Estate investors have their own companies and websites. Some of investors could probably use help in building websites and revising their websites for better SEO. Many investors are using their websites to create new leads on properties to purchase.

There are a few companies that offer investors templates for websites. So that could be another option for you.

You might offer some of your services for free to get started. Beyond that you might be able to really serve the community and maybe make some money in the process.

Mike

@Divya Bharathy Parthasarathy

You have some cash to get started so that puts you in a great position. But it can also be dangerous. I would encourage you to put time into education, so you can make the pile of cash work for you. Read the Ultimate Beginners Guide. I believe you can find it above under the Education tab. Listen to the podcasts. Read the forums. In a few months you can learn a ton about Real Estate Investing here on BP for free.

Charlotte is also a big enough community that you should be able to find a few REIA's. Attend a few meetings and take a few investors out to coffee.

Then interview a few Realtors, Property Managers and Mortgage bankers. You can get local referrals from BP or the local REIA's.

All these actions are free or cheap. They just cost you time and effort. You can never guarantee success. But a good foundation of education and networking will make you much more likely to be successful in Real Estate investing.

Mike

@Simon Wold

It looks like you have a great plan to move forward. When I moved into a new market a couple years ago, I went down and interviewed three Realtor and three Property Managers. I scheduled all the meetings in one day and it gave me great insight into the community. I ended up choosing Realtors and Property Managers that were also investors. 

If you could connect at some local REIA's, you might be able to get a number of referrals for Realtors and Property Managers. That would make your meetings even more worthwhile. I just randomly picked the ones I interviewed off the internet.

Mike

@Heidy He

You should probably ask the mortgage bankers that you are seeking to get a loan from. I have heard that you can generally move out after a year or two and turn it into a rental. And you could actually move on to another property and get another owner-occupied loan (best terms). I have never done this and I'm not a lawyer, but I'm sure there are plenty of people here on BP who have done it. The best part is that you could actually move into a small multi-family (2-4 units) and still get the low-down payment and best interest rates.

Mike

@Eric Neeb

I have used a similar strategy to acquire 17 properties in the last 3 years. In the beginning we used a regional bank for the purchase and the refinance. Now we usually use private lending to acquire and rehab the properties and then refinance them. So seek out a good local/ regional bank to work with you.

Mike