All Forum Posts by: Ryan Morgan

Hi all - I'm newer to REI, and am working on my first deal. We were close recently, but lost the deal. Here's the story:

4BR, 2BR property in a B neighborhood with lots of rentals. I estimated the property could rent for $1150-1175 per month. The list price was $74,900. After running comps, I determined the value of the house was around $68,000. We offered slightly lower than that to start, and our final offer was $70,000 with $2k for closing costs. They had multiple offers, and we decided not to go up in our offer. We lost the deal.

I was hesitant because I was concerned about paying more than was I thought the house was valued at. However, the property would have easily had a positive cash flow, and the Cash on Cash return would have been in the ballpark of 16-18%. In a competitive market, did we make the right decision, or do you sometimes have to pay slightly above market value to "get in"?

Looking for insights into our first attempt at investing. Were we too conservative? Was it a good move?

I'm looking to get started into REI, and am looking for recommendations for a property manager or management company. If you're a property manager or company responding to this, please share why you believe you're a good choice.

Also - do property managers help you assess the potential of a house, or do they simply handle the business after a purchase is made

What are the best ways to find real estate that isn't listed online? I feel like there are better ways to find good real estate deals when there is less competition, just not sure how to find them. Ideas?

I've been researching REI for awhile and am convinced it's a good investment. My wife isn't sold, and she has fair and valid concerns about the risk. We are financially stable with no debt besides mortgage, on pace for retirement, have kids with 529s, and have savings for down payment. I plan to use a property manager. So, what are the risks of REI? I'm factoring in vacancy rate in my calculations, along with 10% capex. She's concerned about housing market downturn, major house issues, and its risk compared to something like mutual funds. Thoughts?

Daniel Odess this is a good point. I suppose my hesitancy on single family houses includes: - More to maintain (driveway, landscaping, yard work, etc.) which could add up in long term capex and short term maintenance fees - I have a, possibly wrong, impression that condos and town homes are more commonly rental properties, whereas houses are more commonly purchased, especially in nice areas Thoughts on this?

I'm new to real estate investing and have been reading and listening to podcasts to learn more. I definitely want to get into it, and wanted to share my thoughts and my plan and get some feedback from those with experience.

My financial situation is good (well-funded retirement accounts, no debt except our house which has equity, 529s set up for the kids, emergency fund set up, mutual fund savings). We live in a nice suburb of Cleveland and want to invest locally.

I'm interested in starting on the smaller side - finding either a $100,000 or less condo or townhome in good shape with a good rental margin, or possibly a multi-family unit for $150,000 or less. I have enough for a 20% down payment for these options.

I plan to use a property management firm as I have a full-time job and a family.

I'm aiming to set aside 5% of rent for vacancy, 10% for property management, and another 10% for fixes and capex. I'm also figuring in taxes and insurance.

My goal is to purchase to buy-and-hold, so that I'm receiving a little bit of rental income each month (after all expenses), building some equity in the property over time, and taking advantage of the tax benefits.

What am I missing? What else should I consider? What are the next steps?