All Forum Posts by: Taz Zettergren

@Wayne Lee Normally I advise people who want to be active to invest in their local market. So it really depends how much time you have, how hands on you want to be and of course what your real estate goals are. I'm in Memphis and have no experience in Seattle but I've worked with a dozen or so investors from there and the laws/price points pushed those clients to invest out of state. I have hundreds of clients from the west coast and they prefer to invest passively in the southern/middle part of the country because the price points are easier and the states are landlord friendly areas. 

If you do decide to go the passive route do your homework on who/where you're invsting with. My clients prefer to work with a company who owns the entire process top to bottom. Meaning they buy the properties with their own money, do their own renovation to the property and own their own management company on the back end. This ensures the interests will be mutually aligned as they will be married with you through the longevity of the investment. 

Feel free to reach out if I can be of any assistance. Best of luck getting started! 

Glad to hear it Vishalkumar! Very well put Greg

 I like the fact the Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas and there's a couple military bases that are north of town so there's tons of government jobs. Those aren't going anywhere so there's a strong economic base but also looking at the city logistically it has all forms of transportation with a high volume of traffic coming through. Hwy 40 and 30 meet in Little Rock, 40 goes through OKC to LA and 30 goes through DFW to San Diego. Also the Arkansas river leads to the MS which leads to the Gulf so there's barge traffic as well. 

I don't do any section 8 because of the clientele you work with isn't as consistent. There's a lot of people who have an appetite for it and are successful but with that clientele the risk increases. Most of my purchases, and clients I work with, are leveraged so we are looking for as much consistency and security as possible so that puts us in more owner occupied type areas. It yields a higher quality clientele reducing the risk and these areas typically appreciate better over time. 

 Memphis, Little Rock, DFW and OK are all great areas to name a few. Taxes and insurance are relatively cheap in these non TX markets so the monthly yield is more attractive whereas TX has higher taxes but there's much more growth. 

@Dennis Lin welcome to the forums and congrats on the first post! Congratulations on the ADU as well, no better way to start the journey than getting your hands dirty from the get go. I work with hundreds of clients that live in the same area and they like the middle/southern part of the country because home prices are far more affordable and they're landlord friendly states.

There's always going to be unexpected's that come up unless you're buying a property turnkey. I would advise having a healthy reserve fund, for my unrenoavated rentals I keep about 7k liquid per door.

Feel free to reach out if I can be of any assistance and best of luck investing! 

@Alex Ng I think Birmingham is a great place to invest because of the cheaper prices and low taxes. It all depends on the areas you're looking in, I would advise focusing on the median priced homes, those types of areas normally don't have a lot of vacancies in my experience. 

Personally I like areas like Memphis and Little Rock better but I wouldn't shy away from Birmingham. Best of luck investing! 

@Joey Guillermo welcome to the forums and congrats on the first post! I'm a fellow realtor doing the same thing you are but I also paired up with a turnkey provider specializing in investment properties. I work with dozens of realtors and hundreds of real estate investors across the world. 

Don't hesitate to reach out if I can be of assistance! Would be happy to talk real estate with you, best of luck investing! 

@Will Goldenll welcome to the forums and great post. I agree with what Peter and Will both said. Since your time is limited I wouldn't advise trying to do a BRRR out of state. There are too many variables that go into a BRRR. Turnkey or working with an investor friendly agent would be a great option.

I haven't gone as far east as Atlanta so I don't have any experience there but places like Memphis, Little Rock or DFW have been and are still great markets to invest in. Best of luck on the decision! 

@Sandra Regnell I can't speak much to the communication and process of transitioning but Memphis Invest rebranded to REI Nation a few years back and it doesn't look like you purchased with us so it must have been Memphis Investments. Area, price and time of year can definitely play into some of that. I'm sure they're working diligently on it but 30 days is an average vacancy for the Memphis market so that's not alarming just yet. Now if you get to 70-90+ days then sirens are going off and it's a full out fire.

There are several providers in the Memphis market and they all bring value it different ways. In today's market places, like REI Nation, are waiting until the properties are rented before selling to an investor to reduce that risk of vacancy and maximize your return. Once you close on a property you're then assigned a customer service rep who will contact you weekly for the first month just to build a relationship. From there it will be either monthly or quarterly communication depending on the clients preference. The standard management fee for REI is 10%, for an owner with less than 5 properties, and that's pricier than some other companies. Some investors aren't interested in the value because of the price while others are. All this to say every person and company is unique in their own way so of course value is viewed differently by each unique individually.

Best of luck with your investment, Memphis is a great market! 

@Ryan Anders There are some hoops to jump through to get financing on a foreclosed home but nothing too strenuous it really just depends on your lenders requirements. Hard money is always an option. If you could find a deal like that it sounds great, like you mentioned it depends on the rehab costs though.