All Forum Posts by: Patrick Britton

@Jeremiah Fennell reputation.  a lot of firms have some pretty bad reputations and that will make everything about your "job" an uphill battle.  And firms with good reputations tend to have those support structures, etc. already in place.  

perhaps enlist the services of a real estate agent for the first few deals?  Sometimes the best education is experience.  

@Roman Santos A great spot to get questions like that answered would be with property managers.  You'll need a consensus, so that means speaking to a lot of PMs, but eventually you'll get a "sense of things."  As well, you can always canvass people's opinions who had properties in those areas (assuming they actually have experience and not just a logical fallacy-loaded worthless opinion).  

It also helps to see what trends and events, etc., HURT real estate investors.  Things like single-industry towns are high risk, as are areas that have significant population decreases.  Arguably, areas with low real estate taxes are bad for appreciation in the long run, but the same can be said of high-tax areas.  So instead of looking for the good, simply avoid the bad.  

Keep in mind that no matter how much homework you do, a large minority of your "returns" will come from factors outside your control.  

@Bill B. yes, but how else would i get your deeply insightful reply if i just searched on BP?  Frankly, your answer is easily the best.  Simple, direct and leaving no room for interpretation.  

@Chelsea Gilford  yeah @Joseph Cacciapaglia here hits the nail on the head. Most homeowner's "believe" their house is worth more than fair market or ARV. Let them wait and suffer and eventually they might come around. Don't waste time on people like that, plenty of others in the world to contact.

i only buy houses with sheep.  definitely my preferred currency.  

@Woodrow Williams II  Eric here (@Eric Wilkinson) makes a point that cannot be overstated.  In addition, when you purchase a house in Washetenaw County the taxes will be adjusted the following year.  Since they're based on "market value," which is the sales price, depending on a whole slew of uncontrollable factors, your property taxes could jump significantly.  So, while the first year's cashflow might be attractive, when your taxes jump 40% the next year it might not...

From my actual experience with my own home, i'm going to see my annual taxes jump by $250/month starting next year.  This is something I was not expecting and which I find infuriating and quite frankly, stupid.  After all, this is a rather large disincentive to buy in Michigan...and Michigan real estate could really use all the help it can...

Factor in a significant tax increase when running your numbers.  And double check who pays for the utilities...between increase in taxes and landlord-paid utilities, you might realize you're better off buying Amazon stock.  

@Samuel Liapis  100% purchase + reno doesn't exist.  Best you can hope for is 10 - 15% down (try Renovo, they are in Chi-town).  

@Sameer Patil i think these folks may have beaten you to it...mashvisor.com

Biggest mistake?  That's easy.  I used commercial lenders far too willingly simply because "they are easier."  I should have kept each property in my personal name, loaded up on insurance, and used a normal residential lender.  Sure, the process and underwriting takes longer, but the total interest payment over the course of the loan is a huge amount more.  Plus, most commercial lenders are morons, so the process is actually quite difficult, and then of course there are the mortgage servicers to deal with.  These geniuses can't count the number of fingers on their own hands.  

Fortunately this is a mistake that's going through rectification.