All Forum Posts by: Ronnie Galindo

@Daniel Fridrij this all depends on what you are looking to do. Do you want to buy the property full cash with no hard money or loans? Do you want to flip and hold or turn key units? There are several things to consider when picking a market. I would advise going Pro on bigger pockets (No I don't get commission for recommending that) so you can use their calculators and their "insights" section where they compile a lot of data to help investors. In my opinion it is worth it and has helped me analyze homes to see if they make sense for me. I am looking in Columbus, which I think it a good market and lower price point but if you want full cash you will have to look else where like Dayton or Cleveland or several other southern states. Good luck and let me know if I can help!

@Anurag D. from my research, it appears that due to Covid, tenants are looking for more room and a bigger home. With that being said, here on BP, they have predicted Sacramento to be the #1 appreciating market in the nation. With that said, I have not, nor am interested, in the Condo market so I would say I am bias but.... the numbers don't lie. I would go SFR myself but thats due to my ultimate goal of having several doors that appreciate and get me some cash flow. Good luck!

@Account Closed would you say that map grades the neighborhoods better or worse then what you are seeing?

@Damien Pulvino The webinar I am talking about is "How to Find a Market Using BPInsights with Data Scientist Dave Meyer" It is under education>webinars>webinar archives (Top of page button)>then the 5th one down. Goes over how to use Insights, which has helped me in my journey thus far. As for the book on Long Distance Investing, I think they are talking about the one by the one and only David Greene (which is a great book!). I would definitely pick that one up. Once you listen to the podcasts, there are several books they recommend. I am reading David's book and then will be moving onto another one he recommended. 

As for screening tenants.... In my opinion, To screen them well goes in three phases: 

• The initial meet up - This is when you meet them for the first time while showing the property to them. I think this is a great time to chat them up and get a good feel about them. How they converse and how they present themselves can tell you a lot about how they will be as a tenant as well as how they will be as a roommate if you go that route. 

• The application - This is where you should be checking for background and credit (you can use websites that don't charge a fee like Zillow). This is where you should be weeding out the ones that have poor credit or a lot of debt as well as any criminal history you don't want to associate with. Now this all has to be considered towards everyone because you don't want to discriminate illegally but you do have the choice of who to rent to. Things like income (have to make 3x the rent as an example) or credit can be deciding factors for denying someone housing. Use what they put on their application as a guide into their life that you don't see by meeting them. 

• Lastly, their communication - Did they get back to you quickly when you were scheduling showings or asking them for an application? Did they fill out the application fully? If you have to ask them questions, did they response accordingly and promptly? These are all signs that can indicate how they will be as a tenant. 

Overall, you will learn (unfortunately) from mistakes, but knowing this and learning as much as you can (and there is a lot to learn) will help you as a landlord when choosing tenants. There are also several books out there (I can't think of them off the top of my head) that you can read as well to help you! If all else fails, hire a property manager. Good luck!

@Damien Pulvino Since you are a pro member here on BP, I would advise looking into their "Insights." It is a collection of Meta-data that they have gathered and see what it shows you. It helped me pick my OOS market (Columbus, OH). Depending on if you want any cash flow now or just looking for wealth building through appreciation, it will have all the specs for doing your due diligence for picking your market. I would also encourage you to go to the webinar archives and watch "how to pick a market," which will show you how to use the insights area. Good luck and if you have any questions, DM me and I would be happy to chat!  

@Moshe Sinar this is a great question! I have been working with an agent to try to start my OOS investing journey. With all my searching and research, I found a website called Niche (2020 Best Places to Live in America - Niche). This website gives you a map of Columbus and when you zoom into places, will show the neighborhood rating. I have been using it to see what it going on. Keep in mind, Columbus is a hot market right now so the C+ neighborhoods will soon turn to B- and so forth. So get in while its hot and good luck! Let me know if I can help! 

@Christian Rozo. This is a great strategy! Are you looking to rent out the rooms in your space too or are you looking just to rent out by the room in the other units? I have not done this personally but have heard of many stories of people doing well with this game plan. It works better if you have something that tends to lean towards roommates like a college or military base near by. I have heard of another investor renting the rooms (he didn't live there) to college students and he would charge just under what the university charged so he was having the rooms rent for $600/room. He had several 4 bedroom units and would yield $2,400/mo instead of the typical $1,200 per 4 bedroom unit. Check out BP's podcast (Wish I could remember the podcast # for you). 

Good luck! 

@Alex Xu, just be careful. I have heard (from a BP podcast) that when the IRS hears "home business" they sometimes like to audit that person so ensure all your "t"s are crossed and "i"s dotted! Other than that it is very hard to hide when the tenant knows the owner lives there. I manage my parents rental property and its a duplex, they live on one side. When the tenants know that (as well as the landscaper) they tend to just go to them with problems instead of letting me know. It is a pain but for one year it shouldn't be bad. Just don't be surprised if the tenants "ask for sugar" regularly! Good luck!   

@Nick Weseman I have family over there and when a new development is built, the city taxes heavily on the homes there (usually 3-3.5%) to pay for the parks and all the amenities. As those “debts” get paid the taxes go down to around 1.5%. That’s why when looking at taxes, they vary so much! I think it’s called MUD taxes if I remember correctly. If you buy older made homes, then your taxes are lower. It’s very interesting.

@Renee Lindgren Welcome! My wife and I are in the same boat except we are looking in the Houston area. Yes taxes are high but they do go down over time, at least in Houston, due to "paying back" the parks and such for being developed. I think it all depends on what your family's goals are? Something that cash flows? Appreciation? So I would first decide what your plan is because Sac will be growing in both cashflow and appreciation but CA is very tenant friendly so if you get stuck with a bad one....it will be a bummer. As for TX I believe they are more landlord friendly so it makes life easier in that aspect but overall you can't go wrong! Take care and good luck!