All Forum Posts by: Stephen Keighery

In my experience these type of tools don't work in New Orleans. It is nothing to do with the quality of the tools but the fact that:
1. Louisiana is a non-disclosure state so the data sources are often incomplete
2. New Orleans can very different property values from one block to the next. You can't use any stand "0.5 miles" type of rules but instead need to understand where the neighborhoods change. 

I look at a lot of these tools and while they look great, I just struggle to make them work for the New Orleans area. Are there any New Orleans investors using this or similar tools?

Hey Darnell, @Bob Norton is a CPA based in Slidell. He is also a Real Estate Broker and investor so has a good perspective on helping investors. I have only just started using him so myself but I know people that I respect who have used him for a long time so he would be worth checking out. 

I can't speak for everyone but I do like the philosophy of live where you like and invest where it makes sense. I was originally from Sydney Australia and the median house price where I wanted to live was $3.5 million and the rental yield was super low yield on that high price. I always rented where I lived and bought properties in markets with lower prices and higher yield. I used data to figure out growth in population, growth in incomes and supply of property along with the yields to make good investments decisions. It was based purely on data and nothing emotional. I ended up buying 6 properties around Australia in growth areas with good rental returns and have a good amount of diversification (I am in 3 different states). The other major benefit is that houses you live in don't allow you to claim interest payments or maintenance as tax deductions while investment properties do along with having depreciation. I think it is pretty closed minded to just consider investing where you live. The odds are that the place you live doesn't happen to be the best place to invest. 

Awesome @Leilah Davis, I look forward to seeing updates as the build progresses.

@Leilah Davis nice work on being able to recognize value and act fast. What part of New Orleans is the land?

I would start investing now. Getting financing is a big part of real estate investing so using cash to pay off that debt at this point of your real estate journey will make the journey slower.

Hey Paul, I will still be in town over that period. Direct message me and I would happy to grab a coffee. 

Dixon isn't really a great area. I know some parts of Holly Grove have been turning and I know some investors who have been getting in there recently. Hopefully some of that comes to Dixon but there is a fair bit of risk if your investment is based on that needing to happen. If it is going to cashflow well for you then should give you a base level to your investment and it the area does end up gentrifying that that would be a bonus for you. As you are probably aware things change block to block in NOLA so my advice to you would be to keep the comps really tight geographically when you are trying to value your investments. 

What a great thread, I just read 5 years of knowledge in one sitting. I wanted to ask @Sharon Vornholt and @Dev Horn or anyone else that is using direct mail successfully how you handle the branding aspect. I know that most people go for handwritten looking postcards but how does that reconcile with including strong branding in your communications. 

Thanks @Courtney Fricke. I am part of your Facebook group and find it really interesting. I am in uptown but will venture your way for one of your meet ups soon.