All Forum Posts by: Nikki Robinson

I LOVE this thread! Never been a flashy person myself, so it's a warm feeling to be among kindred, frugal souls.

I drive an iridescent cream colored '95 Infiniti J30 named "Pearl" by the way. Paid $1800 for her four years ago, replaced the timing belt & fuel pump once & she still gets me anywhere I want to go.

Hopefully no one fries me for the slightly deceptive title... But seriously, I am the only real estate investor within 50 miles of my zip code who has a PRO membership here on BP.

BP is a big deal, so that made me feel pretty darn good about myself! Lol

And if I'm not mistaken, I'm the most active here on the forums as well. I wonder if that correlates at all with the future success of my RE company?

Looking through the member profiles of the investors located nearby, I kept seeing verbiage to the effect of "learning before getting started," "almost ready to begin," "plan to do _____ once I feel comfortable," etc. One even admitted to studying REI for eight years & still not getting started. Then I scroll down and see that most haven't been active on BP in over a year.

Can't help but wonder if they got caught in the analysis-paralysis stage and never started?

I can't toot my horn too much considering I haven't gotten my first successful deal yet, but I've taken enough action to see a 20% response rate on a D4$ direct mail campaign, to generate a couple leads through PPC ads on Facebook & to have overcome the fear of negotiation (having multiple offers rejected is good practice.. who knew?).

I "discovered" REI in October, found BP in December, started taking action in February 2015 & I'm not just poking around or sitting back watching others do their thing. I've jumped into the mix and am swimming after my piece of the pie. To me, that's a success story waiting to happen.

Which makes it good enough for a BP post right? :)

Since there's no guarantee that USA.com's data is correct, I'd mail a short, simple yellow letter first. About a week later, call whatever number USA.com shows or use online tax/property records combined with the almighty Google to find a number for the homeowner if you can.

Two (possible) touches in a week puts it in a motivated seller's mind that you're serious. At which point, they can start visualizing how it would be to really have someone buy their house.

I should add that those sub30k properties aren't in "war zones" either. It's just what the housing market allows in my area. If you're open to Section 8 tenants, even better. Guaranteed payment, so as long as you screen tenants (or have a property manager screen them) carefully, you'll have a decent ROI.

There are plenty of generously cash-flowing properties in south Georgia. I live in a college town that's also a military town (we have an air force Base), so many people here prefer renting over buying. I didn't read the whole thread but in case no one has mentioned it, search "sub30k" here on the BP forums to get an idea of the type of properties you can buy & hold with your startup cash.

I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread. I just finished sifting through my D4$ list from yesterday's ride and didn't know whether to mail out to the company-owned properties. The way you explained it @NA Jones was enough to encourage me to at least give it a shot.

I read a blog post recently about printing a picture of the owner's distressed house on the upper left corner of the envelope (return address written on the back). That'll probably get my letter seen even if other investors have mailed to the owner before.

BP is the best thing that ever happened to newbie investors.

This thread has me ready to wake up bright and early on a Monday morning to go find sub30k deals... and I'm one of those people who hate Monday mornings with a passion. Coffee or not.

Yesterday I sent a cash offer for $6k to an absentee owner who's 2bd/1ba house caught on fire last Thursday. I have Google Alerts for "Valdosta, GA" sent to my email daily and this was one of the news stories. Faulty wiring was the culprit. The local news station's online report said the fire caused an estimated $4k in damages. I know this city like the back of my hand, so I easily found the exact address of the damaged house and searched the county property records online for the owner's address. I know I'm probably pushing it by offering so little so soon, but it's worth a shot.

Wow! This might be my favorite thread of all the threads and topics I've seen in my time on Biggerpockets. You truly are a marketing mad scientist. I'm inspired to start thinking of creative (and free/inexpensive) ways to market myself as a wholesaler.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom. :)

I'm a newbie to real estate investing and lucky to live in a small city of southern Georgia that happens to have the 2nd highest cost of living in the state. The rent rates in Valdosta, GA are low compared to anything in California of course. But the silver lining is that there are more than enough off-market deals to be had here: many at or around sub30k (all-in).

That's my focus as a wholesaler. And will be my niche when I build up enough cash to start buying and holding.

To get a 3bd house around $10-$15k and rehab bringing the value up to around $50-$60k isn't a rare happening. Median rent for a 3bd at ~$650.

We're a college town and a military town, with about an equal mix of white-collar and blue-collar workers. So landlords don't have to worry much about vacancies. 

Not too shabby in my inexperienced opinion. :)

More and more businesses are putting down roots in Valdosta as the city expands, so I'm guessing rents will only go up in the next several years. I hope to be an active enough investor in these next few years to help local home values rise as well.

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this whole thread. I'm located in south Georgia, right above the Florida border. Sub 30k deals (all-in) are to be had all over. My first accepted offer as an investor was actually on a 3bd/2ba, 1466 sqft house in a B neighborhood (clean street, well maintained lawns, less than ten year old cars in driveways, close to above average schools, low crime) - only $8000. That's a lot of room for rehab and still coming in under $30k. A 3bd/2ba easily rents at $650+ in the area. ARV $50+ (closer to $55k+ but I like to keep my numbers conservative - under promise and over deliver).

I wholesale for now & do a pretty good job of finding these kind of off-market sub30k deals. But I can't wait until I've built up the cash reserves to start buying, rehabbing and holding my own. I'm not shying away from being a long distance landlord either.