All Forum Posts by: Susan Maneck

I know this market pretty well, however, I moved to California during the pandemic to take care of my elderly mother. I still own quite a few properties there. My real estate agent is also my property manager and her husband does much of the repairs. I can give you contact information if you like 

Be careful. If roofs don't get repaired right away in Mississippi they tend to get mold. 

To get an FHA mortgage you have to live in one of the units of a multi-unit no larger than a four-plex.

Welcome Kelsey! 

I'm a real estate investor in Jackson. If you can stand the moves and have limited resources it is a good idea to do the things you are doing the way you are doing it. I started buying up properties in my own neighborhood during the Recession and it worked out well. I currently own eight doors, having sold four of them during the pandemic, when my mother's age forced me to move back to California. If you are thinking of multis may I suggest you start out with a 2-4 unit. If you live in one unit it is eligible for conventional financing just like if it was a SFR. You can even get FHA financing.

Yeah, when I was doing HELOCs, you got an introductory rate of about 3%, but if you paid the HELOC off you could get teaser rate for another year. I was using my HELOCs like balance transfers on credit cards, playing musical chairs with them.

I built my Mississippi real estate portfolio in Mississippi with First Place HELOCs from Wells Fargo on my rental properties. First I'd pay cash for a property, fix it up, rent it out and get a HELOC the following year to go out and buy another property. Sadly, they stopped doing those shortly before the pandemic. Now they aren't doing any HELOCs period, let alone on rental properties.

What makes it a hard sell to locals? 

 You assume beach front properties will still be there in 50 years. Probably not the same ones that were beach front now. 

The best areas of Jackson are the Fondren District, Bellhaven and the 39211 zip code, but those are also the more expensive houses. I tend to invest in the 39212 area, mostly because that's where I lived and could get more bang for my buck there. Avoid 39209 as it is a war zone. Watch out foundation problems. Everything is built on Yazoo clay. 

You can always contact her, but wait awhile. There has been a tragedy in her family. Her number is 601-238-3287. Give it a few days. BTW, I lived in Aptos for a short period after I graduated from UCSC. Miss Santa Cruz, but if I sold all of my numerous properties I couldn't afford anything there.