All Forum Posts by: Rachel Kokosenski

As an investor-friendly realtor, I do these video tours all the time for clients that are not local to the area. I conduct them just as I would if the client were standing next to me, pointing out good and bad aspects of the property. I also use the videos with multiple clients, who are often looking for similar properties. This allows me to leverage my time and provide my clients with stellar service. 

I was once the out-of-town investor myself so I try to position myself to provide as much detail as possible for clients that cannot tour the house in person. And, yes, a home inspection will also be strongly encouraged for any deal as a good home inspector can save you plenty of problems if they discover things during the inspection!

@Mike Wall - I recommend connecting with an investor-friendly agent in the area you want to purchase properties. Not only do we know how to run the numbers and help you find properties to meet your goals, but we also tend to be connected to other investors looking to buy/sell properties and know about off-market options as well. BP has the "Find an Agent" on the top menu that you can use to connect with an investor-friendly agent! 

@Lauren Hawthorn - This is totally normal! The first deal is the most agonizing. It will get easier as you go along. My experience is the first deal is usually the most stressful and then you almost get addicted to the excitement of finding the next deal and more. Hang in there!

@Lee - I'm unclear as to whether you are calling individual companies, like Farmers, or going through a broker that can shop multiple companies at once. I recommend talking with an insurance broker because they can compare policies for you across a large group of companies without you having to call individual companies yourself. Also, as they "speak the insurance language" they will likely be better at comparing different policies for you. 

21st Mortgage will finance mobile homes. Call them at (800) 955-0021. 

Note: I do not work for them, but I was given their information for a previous client that needed to finance a mobile home!

@Jerica Buchanan - this is an interesting concept. I suggest you contact the Kent County Parole office and see if you can speak with a parole officer to get connected to current halfway houses in the area. Perhaps you can reverse engineer this by asking the manager of the halfway house how they got their house started? 

@Mark Lester - I recommend talking with a mortgage broker in your area because they have the ability to shop multiple types of lending sources, they are a great resource for those of us with nontraditional income sources! You may also want to talk with a local bank in the area that you are investing as they may also have some more local programs that you might qualify to use. 

@Kwame Koom-Dadzie - this is a frequent scam that comes up a lot when you have an STR. Report it to whichever platform it is coming through and it should stop!

@Drew Sygit - love your explanation of property classes, investment strategies, and tenant types! 

@Nick Fadden - Hello and welcome to Bigger Pockets. I'm an agent on the Lakeshore (near Muskegon/Grand Haven), but I'm also on a big team that works out of Grand Rapids. Would love to talk with you about investing in the area as well as about becoming a realtor in this area. I'll send you a connection request too.