All Forum Posts by: Pat Jackson

I live in Reno, NV and invest in Missouri.  I believe that qualifies me as a long distance real estate investor.  I currently have one farm, Saint Joseph, Missouri, and am considering adding a few more.  I'm about to travel to Saint Joseph and a few other towns.

I've read @David Greene's book, and listened to a plethora of podcasts on the subject.  I realize David and many other long distance real estate investors don't see the properties they buy or meet their "core four". I don't feel the need to see properties I buy; I've purchased properties sight unseen.

I do like meeting the people I work with.  I suppose this is more in line with Chris Voss's "Never Split the Difference" idea.  I feel more comfortable once I've met my core 4, and I enjoy meeting them.  I enjoy interacting with people.

I feel fairly confident vetting realtors, contractors, inspectors, and property managers.  What I feel like I've missed out on is talking to random residents of the town I interact with.  My airbnb guests, the waitress at the diner, the clerk at the bank, the employee at the gas station, the couple at the brewery, etc.

I'm wanting to come up with 4 core questions to ask EVERYONE I come in contact with.  Sort of like the 4 questions asked on every BP podcast.  

Conversations would go something like this:

"Hi, I'm Pat.  I grew up in Missouri but now live out west.  I'm considering buying a rental house in ******, can I ask you a few questions about what it's like living here?"

Here's what I've come up with so far:

1. How long have you lived in *****?
2. What do you think the future of ****** is?
3. What's the best part of *******?  What should I see, do, or experience?
4. Am I crazy for wanting to own a rental house in *******?

These are just my initial thoughts.  I travel to Missouri in mid November, so I have a couple weeks to hash these out.  If you have any thoughts on the "core 4" questions (or maybe it should be 3, or 5, or whatever), please post your thoughts.  All questions will be considered!  In a couple weeks I'll post which 4 or so I decide on.  Much appreciated.

Good luck long distance investors!

@Ashley Wise @Stephen Watkins @Corey Adams @Cory Mosby 

Investor meetup in Joplin, MO.  I have a 4 plex under contract, and I've never been to Joplin, so I must admit this is a little self serving!  

Let's talk Joplin and Southwest, Missouri real estate for a couple hours, then go grab dinner and some drinks.  I hope this is well attended, fingers crossed!

Come on St. Joseph, let's make this happen!

@Account Closed

Posted this in the wrong forum originally, here it is now.

Investor meetup this November 11. 6pm at the new brewery, River Bluff Brewing, 1224 Frederick Avenue. I'm excited to meet everyone, discuss real estate, and enjoy craft beer! Please sound off on here so I can let the brewery folks know about how many people we will have.

I'm looking at a small town (probably too small) to invest in.  There is a small hospital, and I'm curious about the potential of providing nicer (maybe even furnished) rentals to traveling staff.  I know I've seen this work in larger communities.

I emailed the hospital the following:

Hello, this may be an odd request. I grew up in *********, MO (near *********), but still travel to ********* a few times a year. I'm considering buying a duplex to stay at while I visit. I'm interested in renting out the other side.  I'm curious if there's much of a demand or shortage for higher quality housing for traveling and short term medical professionals. I don't know if you have traveling doctors and nurses. Any insight would be much appreciated!

From hospital

Good morning,
We do have doctors who travel in for outpatient clinics and other traveling staff, but I’m afraid we would not be able to speak to their rental needs. However, we might suggest speaking with someone from one of the local real estate agencies for another perspective. We hope you have a great day and we wish you well in your future endeavors.

My question is this: can they actually not talk about the general rental needs of traveling staff?  I imagine whoever wrote this either doesn't care to properly answer, or doesn't know they legally can.

I see this as a "if mom says no ask dad" situation, however I want to make sure this is a question someone at the hospital can actually answer before I keep digging.

I thought I should follow up on this thread.  I haven't met anyone in person regarding this deal.  

The inspector was very prompt in inspecting the property.  His prices were reasonable.  The report he provided was high quality, and the .pdf was great.  He was also prompt to return my calls, emails, and text messages when I had follow up questions.  All that said, his review was a little "light".  When I asked about the life of the roof his reply was something to the effect of, "I normally don't provide remaining lifespan, but with no guarantee I would say 5-10 years."

I've worked with one other inspector in my investing career (3 others with buying primaries).  I understand we live in a litigious society.  I believe this inspector has a lot of potential, but I need to establish a relationship.  I need the real deal, not something a lawyer would sign off on.

The GC has proven to be a great guy. He pointed out there wasn't a 2nd point of egress for the 2nd story. He had a contact with the city and got the details on what it would take to make the place legal. Most importantly, he pointed out the two existing water heaters were in parallel. The MLS listing stated 5 water meters (5 units). This begged the question what's going on. Apparently the city meters require a special tool to open the cover, so the inspector "couldn't" look. The GC did whatever needed done, and what do you know....one water meter.

And then there's the foundation.  The GC says it needs a lot of work.  The inspector said there has been settling, but it's not a big deal.  This discrepancy bothers me.  I'm surprised, but all foundation experts I could find either didn't return my calls, or couldn't check out the foundation before my inspection contingency was up.  

Last day of the inspection contingency is tomorrow (10/22/2018).  Long distance real estate investing sure isn't boring!

@Costin I., thanks.  I will read all of those.

@Ahad Ali, good advice.  I grew up in Missouri, and never stopped using my accountant.  So I'll be sure to reach out.

@William E. thanks a ton, so helpful!

New builds.....they seem attractive and sexy.  You get exactly what you want, you have little to no repairs for the foreseeable future, (done right) they'd be in high demand, sounds too good to be true!

I don't hear that much about them in the podcasts or read about them on the forums.  I imagine the margins are thinner, they take really great processes to stay in the black, and you really need to know what you're doing.

I'm looking at a Missouri town, everyone I talk to there says there's a rental shortage.  There's also a new graduate school there, increasing even more the demand for rentals, in this case higher end rentals.

I'm drawn to the idea of a new small apartment.  Just trying to figure out what I don't know.  It seems like numbers would be the same as a rehab, just instead of purchase, rehab, and holding costs, it's purchase, build, and holding costs. Thoughts?

@Vince Mayer, thanks a bunch for the advice!  That seems to make sense to me.  Our farm is in Missouri.  @Matt Crawford lives nearby.  

I don't think I'd invest in Illinois (never say never)!