All Forum Posts by: Crystal Smith
Crystal Smith has started 65 posts and replied 2753 times.
Post: New to wholesaling. Good way to start?
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Hunter Keil:
Hello! I'm new to real estate investing, and obviously I hear a lot about wholesaling being a good and cheap way to start/break into rei. Is this true?
Also, I plan to do it exclusively in my area(Metro Detroit). I think the wholesale game overall is saturated with people sitting at their computer mass cold calling and emailing potential sellers. I think taking a local "better the community" approach is more appealing for sellers and buyers. I'm guessing a lot of people are taking this approach. Thoughts?
My thoughts since you are new- Make sure you understand your state laws regarding wholesaling. Each state is a little different.
If you're just getting started I assume you don't have any buyers for anything that you may get under contract so I recommend establishing a relationship with a realtor that specializes in working with investors unitl you build up your own buyer list. Imagine getting a good deal under contracdt and no one to sell it to.
You may want to consider getting a real estate lisence and then working for a company that focuses on wholesaling. (example: New Western). Learn what systems and processes they use.
Eventually you need to learn how to acquire and hold property yourself. If your objective is to better the community then purchase and hold property in the community.
Post: FHA 203(k) Loan for First Deal?
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Spencer Sturgill:
Hello all,
I'll be in the position to make my first deal in about 3 months, so I'm planning how to finance it. I want to do either a simple fix and flip, or a multi-unit house hack BRRRR. Either way, I will get an FHA for the 3.5% down, but I'd like to do a FHA 203(k) so I can use leverage on the rehab and not have to go completely out of pocket.
Have any of you done this, or do any of you have any words or advice for or against doing this? I greatly appreciate any help!
Thanks,
Spencer
We think it's a great strategy. The challenge- being patient enough to find a property that will leave you a ton of equity after the renovation along with cash flow. Recent example for a client of ours in Chicago using FHA 203K. Purchase price for a 4 unit- $400K; renovation-$180K; After Repair Value-$750K; She can rent 3 of the units for $6K per month while living in the 4th unit. Neighborhood value has gone up a little over 6% per year the last few years.
Make sure your contractor is aligned with your consultant & has done 203K work in the past or is prepared for the paperwork that comes along 203K loans.
Post: Calculating ARV for Fix n Flip in current DC market?
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Chris Nerio:
I am currenlty looking for my 2nd flip in DC, 3rd flip total. With relatively little experience with a market trending down, I wanted to get some insight into how other flippers are mitigating their risk in current DC market conditions. Some questions I have are:
1. If you use the 70% rule, are you using 65% or 60% rule now for example? Is this dependent on certain data points? If so what data?
2. What data are you considering more now other than just comps to come up with ARV? More DOM? Lower ARV in general, for example, house just sold for $500k in May '25, how much lower will you lower yours, if any, taking into account DOM are increasing, price cuts, etc?
3. Is any of this even relevant because I should just target zipcodes/neighborhoods that match my buyers box and show homes are still moving? The concern with this is that I may be priced out of these neighborhoods
Appreciate the response, thank you!
My response is location independent. We calculate potential After Repair Value based on recently sold market data. The 65% or 70% rules are established by lenders to minimize their risks. If a lender has to foreclose on a property there is still room for the lender profit.
Reading between the lines what you are really asking about is pricing strategies. The price we establish to pay for a property is based on our company return on investment (ROI) objectives. Those objectives take into the market DOM data. When a renovation is complete if we can meet our ROI objectives pricing a property below market rate then that's what we will do. Every week we will monitor market data & if we see that we are not getting any offers, showings or is the highest price property in the market then we will drop the price.
Post: New to real estate investing and want to explore out of state investing
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Deepika Prakash:
Hi all,
I’m new to real estate investing and looking to buy my first real estate property. Im looking to buy an out of state property. My goals are to diversify my portfolio, take advantage of the tax benefits of having a mortgage, and invest in a property with long-term appreciation potential.
Given my busy schedule, I’m hoping to take a more hands-off approach by working with a trusted local team. That said, I know how challenging it can be to build the right relationships and get started, especially when investing remotely.
I currently live in a high-tax, landlord-unfriendly city with sky-high property prices, so I’m definitely not looking to invest locally. I’d love to start small and smart, but I’m also feeling overwhelmed with how to choose the right market from afar.
Has anyone been in a similar position? How did you go about shortlisting and evaluating your market? Would appreciate any tips or lessons learned!
Here's how we shortlisted investing out of state
1. The market had to be large enough to have several submarkets, which meant small towns were out.
2. There had to be a major aiport that we could fly in and out of without any transfers
3. Before investing we explored establishing partners in the market that were willing to put skin in the game with us. It was not always necessary but with a local partner we became local. Then with that local partner we established the other necessary relationships, legal, realtors, contractors,.....
4. The most important- Can we make our target ROI in the market or one of the many submarkets
Post: Advice for New Investors
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Lauren Stanton:
Hi everyone! Me and my wife have been wanting to get into investing for years but we've finally flipped the switch and are ready to take the plunge. We've been reading rental investment books and listening to the BiggerPocket podcast, as well as asking around for more info. But we're a bit stuck with so many questions on how to get started. We're currently renting and both working full time. We figured we'd start our portfolio with a house hacking gig, but more of a "live in renovation" before renting and following the BRRR strategy. However, the properties in my area (Broward County) are so expensive and finding a good deal with a reasonable CoCROI seems impossible right now. So if anyone has an advice on where to start, and/or how to start, we're all ears!
My recommendation
1. Find out the maximum you can be approved for & get pre-approved
2. Find a realtor that works with investors. I can make a recommendation. I have one in our BP Mastermind Group that works in Broward.
3. Ask that Realtor to start pulling data for you in pockes in Broward and the surrounding counties where days on market are low relative to the rest of the market. Ask the realtor to provide you with data showing the median price history over the past 5 years. Why? Past history can be used to some projections. Since you are going to do a "live in renovaton", while you may think the current home prices are high the trend data may support a purchase being profitable in a couple of years. This will actually give you an advantage over an investor that is looking to turn their money in 6 months or less versus your live in renovation with a longer timeline.
4. Once you have the data and know where you want to target work with the realtor to find listed properties in the area that are being sold "AS IS". Contact every wholesaler in your market and have them start sending you properties. Consider investing in sending mailers out to off market properties, expressing an interest in purchasing. If you are working with the right realtor he/she can provide you with which homes have a high probability of wanting to sell that are not listed.
Post: Question about Buyer’s Agent CC’ing the Buyer on Offer Email
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Mustafa Mahmoodzada:
Hi BP community,
I submitted an offer on my second property yesterday, and I noticed that my agent didn't cc’d me on the email when sending the offer to the listing agent. I’m curious—is this considered standard practice? Could it be seen as unprofessional if the buyer is cc'd in email?
Personally, I appreciate being kept in the loop, but I want to make sure it doesn’t come off the wrong way or complicate communication between agents.
Would love to hear your thoughts or experiences!
Thanks in advance.
We don't cc buyers on correspondence with listing agents or the seller's attorney and have never received an offer from an agent with the buyer cc'd.
Post: Refrigerator in need of repair
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Justin McCarthy:
We had a refrigerator that needed repair. The freezer worked but the bottom was not cooling. Our handyman who we utilize in the past and was recommended by the building engineer was able to fix it, but 3 weeks later, we had the same issue. The handyman was going to bring his appliance person, but ultimately did not show up, as he was too busy.
We got another name from the association, and their diagnostic indicated that we needed a new control panel. This was 8 days after the tenant call. By the time the parts was received and the repair completed, it was 18 days. Chicago landlord/tenant rule indicates repairs need to be done by 14 days, however, the remedy seems to be the tenant can self help, or withhold rent. The tenant is seeking $500.00 for loss of food and eating out. They have cited the landlord/tenant rule of Chicago.
Does anyone have similar experience in Chicago, and if so, how have you handled? Thank you in advance!
When we purchase properties single families or small multifamilies (4 units or less) for our portfolio we buy a homeowners warranty to cover all of the appliances, electrical, plumbing, roof..... The call goes to the warranty company who usually takes care of issues relatively quickly. We have never had anything take more than 7 days. For multifamilies we use American Home Shields.
Post: Am I wasting time looking for a “perfect” market?
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Jackie Mcmorrow:
Hi BP! My name is Jackie and I’m looking for some guidance as I begin my real estate journey. I’ve read a few books/ listened to some podcasts on real estate investing and am ready to start analyzing deals but am stuck on which market to narrow in on. I can feel myself getting into analysis paralysis (in terms of market selection) and the last thing I want is to quit before I really even try.
Appreciate if anyone has thoughts on markets that generally fit the criteria below and I’ll take it from there! I’ve also included a short list of cities that seemingly fit what I’m looking for but am open to thoughts here as well. Worth mentioning, I live in NY and am leaning towards investing out of state, for lower property taxes and more landlord friendly laws.
What I’m looking for
- Buy and hold property
- Long term tenants (ideally vacant at purchase)
- Single family home
- Class B to A (likely B for more cash flow opportunity) neighborhood
- Opportunity to add value so am more than open to rehab
- Cash flow as primary focus
- An area with comparatively low risk of natural disaster
- Of course somewhere with growing population and jobs and less than average crime. Added bonus if a large corporation/ industry is investing in the area and or a city with confirmed infrastructure improvement plans
Cities I’ve found that seem to fit the mentioned criteria but appreciate thoughts/ guidance/ direction:
- Cincinnati, oh
- Columbus,oh (but seems like too hot a market?)
- Dallas/ Fort Worth, tx
- Charlotte, nc
- Toledo, oh
- San Antonio, tx
- Minneapolis, mn
With the exception of Toledo I've heard nothing but fairly positive things on the markets you have chosen.
Post: Looking for investor friendly realtors ?
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Jesse Singh:
Hi friends,
I am looking for investor friendly realtors in Chicagoland area who can help me find good investment properties and give me guidance on anylizing deals. Are there any known tools that I can utilizes to anylize deals?
Thanks in advance!
There are so many tools to analyze deals. My partner & I are realtors and we use the following:
1. Reiblackbook- We've been clients for 10+ years. We host our CRM, Repair analysis tools, phone systems and marketing to find deals using their system
2. Realist, Remine- As a realtor we use both of these tools along with some others that are available to realtors to run our AS IS and After Repair Value numbers. We also use both tools to source off market deals
3. Deal Driven- We use this for skip tracing
Feel free to DM to set up a time to discuss any of this.
Post: First time investor here
- Real Estate Broker
- Chicago, IL
- Posts 2,814
- Votes 1,750
Quote from @Adebayo Olusada:
Quote from @Crystal Smith:
Quote from @Adebayo Olusada:
Hello team, I live in the DC area and work and tech. I wanted to know how to invest 20k as a first time real estate investor. Wanted to know the dos and don’ts of this industry as I know there is a wealth of knowledge here. I’ve seen that is it a risk with investing but having money just sitting in a bank doesn’t really help when trying to build wealth. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you!
1. Find out the maximum you can borrow given your income and savings for an owner occupied loan. Find out the same for a non-owner occupied loan. At a minimum get pre-approved for an owner occupied loan
2. I've been to DC area many times staying in local AirBnBs. Once you get approved start looking for townhomes, condo or even single family homes in the DMV area where you can purchase and implement an Short Term Rental (STR) strategy. It will have to be at lease a 2 bedroom, 2 bath property.
3. Live in the property for one year then repeat the process and purchase another one
Another thing to potentially consider is start to network with investors in your area. Find 4 other people that have $20K and put together a plan to pool your money; now you'll have $100K and go find a deal.
Regarding exploring nearby states. My answer is yes & no. Yes if you're able to establish a trusted network of professionals and advisors in the nearby states so you can treat opportunities as if you were local. Until you set up thoese networks then no.