All Forum Posts by: Stephen Barton

I agree but somewhat disagree. I think @Jay Hinrichs is missing is locally I am seeing such a dramatic shift that has not been seen before. I mean, the numbers are staggering for our area. Where I used to make an offer on a total rehab project on the MLS and only compete with maybe 5-10 other investors now I am seeing over 43 offers on the last one I submitted an offer on. At least, that was what the listing agent disclosed to me in writing. So, I have no reason to doubt them. The numbers are just out of this world.

Furthermore, I am now seeing where my SFR clients who already own properties here in the Indianapolis area being challenged by their HOA to keep their houses as rentals. Sure, this has been going on forever too but not at the level I am seeing. This was never an issue I have seen in the last almost 10 years of doing this. Times are changing.

Hi @Shane Rojas! I have a few tips I can offer but @Mike D'Arrigo pretty much nailed it with his reply. Indianapolis is an amazing market but there are some areas to avoid. Just because it is a deal financially does not mean it is a deal worth keeping. Often, I see investors who are buying their first rental only worry about CoC returns rather than long term stability. Who cares if you get a 15% return when your vacancy rate is so high that you end up having to do a turnover every 3-6 months. Trust me, the repairs you will face after more than 1 vacancy in a year is going to kill any return you might have had. It is all about location! #1 Rule of real estate right?! Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to learn more.

Hi @Tatyana Rimar! Glad you made this post. Deals are absolutely still being done right now as we speak. In fact, I am seeing rents just exploding in all areas of our city. You simply need the right team in place to help you invest out of state -as safely as possible. As investors we are not necessarily doing everything ourselves. We simply source the best providers for each task we need. As an agent I have been helping a lot of my out of state AND out of the country investors navigate the Indianapolis market. I hope to hear from you!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Indianapolis.

Purchase price: $95,000
Cash invested: $140,000
Sale price: $185,000

This took longer than it should have. First COVID-19 came up on the entire world and really put a dent in our timeline. Then, we had a tough time getting our GC to find people to help him. But in the end we got it listed and sold it in 3 days for $10,000 over asking price!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Because it was an off market deal that made sense.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

From direct mail marketing over three years ago and stayed in contact.

How did you finance this deal?

My client Cory Peffer used his own funds. I worked as the agent.

How did you add value to the deal?

I worked as the project manager and the listing agent.

What was the outcome?

We got it done and the seller made money.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

To have better communication with our contractor.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Cory Peffer. He was absolutely amazing to work with as a client. I could not ask for a better client. He did everything I suggested and was always in constant communication with me.

Hi @Dante Foreman I agree with what @Jeffrey Edwards said. I started out going to every possible meetup on real estate investing that I could. Find some online speakers you two could both follow. I like Grant Cardone but he might be a bit much for someone just starting out. There are real estate "heros" all over this site. Take your pick. I bet there are at least 5 in any given area of the country. You need to find an area that is of interest to him. So, if rentals are interesting to him find someone who has lots of rentals. Find an association of real estate investors in your area. We have one here called CIREIA. Central Indiana Real Estate Investors Association. They have talks on about everything real estate investing. I bet you can find something for him. Reach out to people in your area. People that he can look up to as a Mentor. I have at least 3 mentors at any given time. I don't just pick one. There is no one way to invest in real estate so I want to know as many people as possible! I think he should absolutely flip his house. He will get the bug and it just might change his entire financial future forever and the legacy he leaves behind someday. What you are doing Dante is amazing! I just wish someone would have encouraged me when I was younger. It is NEVER too late to start now!

Hi there @Nathan Stanley! Think nothing of it. Of course you should reach out. You NEED to do this. If an agent does not want to "deal" with you just yet then find one that does. This is so important because I need my clients to understand the area they are jumping into. You cannot learn areas overnight. It takes time to learn a decent-sized city like mine (Indianapolis IN). You need to really get a grasp on the area and why people like certain areas and why they avoid others. YOU need to learn this. Of course, an agent knows this but I am trying to get my clients to actually invest- not just have me pick deals for them. I want my clients to know the second they see a deal to recognize it is in fact a deal. The competition already does and that is why the best deals are sold on Day 1 of listings going live here. Multiple offers on everything. You have to really know what you are doing here. You don't just want to trust an agent to do it all for you. Agents cannot see every single deal all of the time. We are just not humanly capable -no one is. But the point is you need to start building a team now for when you are ready to start pulling the trigger. Then, you can pull that trigger with confidence!

Sounds good @Tatiana Raid. My post has a few ideas. You are always welcome to message me for free and I will give you more tips than you would know what to do with. Lol!

This would be a direct question for a real estate attorney. So, since I am not an attorney I can only give you my real world advice on what I did. Yes, you will absolutely need to sign a new lease. As my attorney puts it: "By using an LLC Someone would have to break the corporate veil" if someone got hurt on your property or if something happened. In order to break that veil, my attorney says it takes a lot. By having items in your personal name it opens you up PERSONALLY to any liability lawsuit that could happen in the future. Which means, they could not only try to come after the asset in question but they could try to go after your personal assets. They might have a tough time doing that but in our state it is a real concern. I would never dream of doing anything in my personal name here. Maybe Florida is different but I doubt it. I hope this helps. Try to find a local Real Estate Attorney on here that someone can recommend in your area. There has to be someone near you!

I wish I could say it is business as usual but I do think we need to continue as business as usual. People are depending on us for one thing or another. If everyone just fell into this "crawl in a hole" mentality we are all going to be in bad shape. I feel like the best thing we can do is push on just like we always do. I have a couple of clients with several projects on the horizon. One thing I keep reminding myself is that people still have to have a place to live, rent, and work. So, by doing what we do we are adding to the solution. I do not want to add to this problem personally. We just keep pushing forward until we can't. I don't really know but that is my thought. 

I can only add my two cents as an investor/agent in the midwest. Here in Indiana, the weather is already starting to break. We almost hit 60 degrees yesterday! We are seeing more and more houses get listed with each new day. This is the time when our market (Indianapolis) really starts to heat up and this year is no exception. Now, with interest rates at an all-time low. It is a good time to be a buyer if you are financing. We are in a seller's market and that just keeps growing. Multiple offers on day one of the listing going live. So many buyers are trying to overbid one another. As the song goes: "The heat is...ON!" Things are not slowing down here. At least not yet.