All Forum Posts by: Susan Maneck

 Not really. I only got started buying real estate five years ago when I was 55. As you may know the real estate market in Mississippi did not go down initially during the recession except in the most high end houses because our houses weren't overpriced to begin with. But around 2010-2011 the bottom fail out of the real estate market in places like south Jackson and recovery is still nowhere in sight. You can still buy houses there at 30-35K and rent them for $850 a month. Hard to beat those returns. 

 Welcome Duncan! 

I'm Susan Maneck, a professor of history at Jackson State. I own eight houses in South Jackson and manage one on my mother's behalf. 

Hi Tyrone, 

I'm a professor at Jackson State. So you are from Oprah's home town? 

Unless you are buying high-end properties in Madison County, you won't get those rates here for the simple reason you aren't borrowing enough because properties don't cost that much. What is typical is more like 4%.

Hi Carl, 

I would suggest that despite all the bad press that Wells Fargo has had lately that you consider working with them. I live in Mississippi but I have ties in California as well and Wells Fargo is one of the few banks that does business with both. It is also one of the few banks that will give you a first place HELOC on rental properties. Usually what I do is pay cash for a property, then a year later get a HELOC for a new property. You can get a HELOC sooner but if you do it is based on 70% of the purchase prize rather than the appraised value. Because rental property is so cheap in Mississippi it doesn't make sense to get a regular mortgage due to the high closing costs. With a HELOC you just pay for the appraisal. Also, in late summer and early fall they usually offer a teaser rate for year that brings the interest rate down to about 2% for a year. What I do is use my credit cards to pay off the HELOC when the teaser rate expires. Then I call them and ask if they have another special offer. I then use that money to pay off my credit cards. Right now the highest interest I pay on anything I own is 4.5% and that was originally for my primary residence. My son works with Trustmark for his rental properties and that is a local bank but he buys in more expensive neighborhoods and leverages his property with standard mortgages.

warmest, Susan 

 LOL. The house is so old people don't even know what an old fuse box with fuses looks like anymore. What year was it built? 

Hi Tommy. I'm a history professor at JSU and have been buying properties in South Jackson since 2011. I'm now up to eight houses including the one I live in. My son, who lives in N.E. Jackson owns three houses in that area. I've been afraid of Madison. It just seems so overpriced. 

 You most definitely can. I've never been to one of those workshops and I now own 8 houses in Jackson. And mind you, I'm a history professor at JSU not someone who knows anything about contracting. 

No, in fact you need to do it in the shortest time possible. But mind you, the lender will ask what all these inquiries are about. Just tell them you were comparative shopping. 

You can do this in Mississippi but not in Memphis. And I also don't think you can do so if you don't live locally.