All Forum Posts by: Stephen Barton

I think all of us tend to get so hung up on the details that we fail to even get started. Plus, with the invention of biggerpockets we get to hear about all of the other investors making 20% CoC returns with their rentals or whatever! LOL! Seriously, I have clients coming to me all of the time and end up spinning their wheels for months waiting for that perfect deal. When, in reality, they could have just bought that deal that would earn them $100/door cashflow and already be down the road investing. The truth is you cannot build on anything unless you have a starting point. Even if it is a bad deal. So, what! With this market and normal appreciation even if you bought a house at market price and just waited a year you will almost certainly not lose money. Here in Indiana, I am easily seeing where my landlord investors are getting an easy $40,000 per year just in normal appreciation. Yes, your results may vary but this is nothing to even brag about. It is just normal.

Again, I see my clients' properties earning 40k in value by that investor doing nothing. Nada, zip, zero! No work, no sweat equity, nothing. Just the normal cost of living increases. I mean, in some parts of the world a $40,000 yearly income is what some school teachers would be happy to live off of. Sometimes we need to take a step back and realize we live in one of the absolute best times to be alive and to be an investor. I see other investors who are seeing 60k to 120k on their flips in profit. Brandon Turner talks about it all of the time: You need a boots on the ground agent who knows how to help you if you are new to this game. Once you get a few deals under your belt you will not even need an agent really. But the smart investors I work with end up coming back to me because they know that can depend on my trusted resources like a GC, PM, etc. 

You just have to get started. Even the "bad" deals I have done were not all that bad. In fact, they were very important learning lessons I needed in my journey. The good, the bad, I take it all and hopefully grow from it. This is what makes us better. Believe me, you lose 5k or 10k on a deal you are NOT going to let it happen again. But it can and will! You win some and lose some. In the end, hopefully, you come out ahead overall.

Hi @Jaron Walling I try to get my clients to look at the long-term. Don't just think about your out of pocket today. Think about spending that extra bit of money now and get something that will last you. Formica in my opinion is not worth spending the money on. It gets damaged pretty easily, does not look as nice, and you are talking about having this as a rental? Tenants are going to cause wear. It is inevitable. Just like the subject of flooring. Don't do carpet. Do some sort of hard flooring that will last. I know it seems counterproductive to do this because it just costs more. But it will last longer. Just wait until your first or second vacancy when you have to replace those counters because a tenant decided to spill ink or placed hot pans on that formica counter. I know it is "heat resistant" (formica) but it is not heat proof. Just a thought. 

Indy Custom Stone is well known. My GC has his source and I just use whoever he is using at the time. A good GC should have this all squared away for you. 

Hi Alon! Yes, in fact, some of the smartest investors are taking duplexes and turning them into townhouses once they are fully rehabbed and then selling each property individually. It is simply genius! Buy a beat duplex for around $150-$250k and then sell each townhouse unit for $350k or more EACH. Pretty smart! So, it can be done. It is just a process. It is becoming more common in our area. It just all depends on the Zoning Commission and local ordinances. 

I don't see a crash. Especially in the Indianapolis market. New construction could take a hit. They have already went from going active once the drywall was up to now they are going live with listing once the foundation is poured. They are getting scared. We have already seen prices start to level off a bit- not drop just not overinflating. But, the numbers are very clear. We are almost exactly where we were last year in terms of active and sold listings in our area. Some newbie investors got spooked and decided to take a time out. I don't blame those who are using financing due to the higher interest rates but they need to "marry the house and date the rate". The experienced investors I work with know not to stop and are still taking killer deals down (flips and rentals). We went from about an average of 14 days on market to around 17 days on market. Not a drastic shift if you ask me...

Hi @Brian Hayes and @Shane Rojas I would be more than happy to explain our current market situation. Deals are absolutely still being done. We just have to get more creative!

Hi @Nick Furukawa. I have a couple of attorney's I can put you in touch with. They are extremely busy so I try to keep them for just the clients I am working with so they are not so busy that they don't have time to help my clients when something comes up. You need the whole package in my opinion. You need a attorney and a real estate cpa. You need both. Sure you can try to do it on your own but a good real estate investor/cpa is going to run circles around anyone else. PM me if you still need help. 

Hi @Weis Sherdel I have a couple I can recommend. Liv Indy is one. T&H Realty Services is another that one of my current clients is using. Evergrow property management has been another company I have worked with for years and completely trust them. There are pro's and con's with anyone but I think this is a good place to start. 

Hi @Jordan Kelly. Hey I get it. What some agents do just baffles me at times. I sincerely hope you are working with a real estate agent or have an attorney on speed dial. I would not do anything in real estate without those 2 people. Now that I am an agent I know that there are multiple ways to exit a deal. Let us know how it turns out. My best advice would be to seek out legal counsel. I have several real estate attorneys that I work with and highly recommend getting legal advice before you "try to figure this out" on your own. If you are not already working with an agent I sincerely hope this will be the one moment that gives you pause and makes you think about hiring one. This is why we are here! This is what we do! We are problem solvers. We are your guides. For now, legal advice would take top priority. I wish you all of the best!

Hi @Tommy Restivo! It is good to hear from you. I say that because I think a lot of investors have thrown in the towel thinking prices are just going up and up and surely there are no more deals to be had. Well, the first part is true but there are certainly still deals out there. It is all about getting into the right neighborhoods within the Indianapolis and surrounding areas. There are still plenty of pockets within our area that make good investments. Of course, I would be honored to work with you. So we can get that out the way right now. More importantly it is vital for you to get locked into an agent's or investor's inner circle. You have to be locked, loaded, and ready to go. If you are ready then you simply need to be "in the know". That is the most challenging part. Trying to stay on someone's radar when there are hundreds if not thousands of investors all competing for the same deals. 

In short, get plugged in. I am more than happy to help and/or simply point you in the right direction. 

Finding deals that are repeatable can be challenging. Anyone (let alone any agent) can point you toward a house that you can buy, renovate, and rent, but that last R can be a tough one. Sure appreciation will help you in pretty much any area around the Indy market. But I try to help my clients find select locations that are close to the "hot spots" yet are not that talked about. Some areas I only tell my select few clients who I am already doing business with. There are simply not enough good deals to go around for the vast number of investors trying to buy deals. It is important to get plugged in with someone locally. You are starting at the right place @Nitesh Gandhi. Keep it up!