All Forum Posts by: Trevor Ewen

@Bryce DeCora

I have worked with several investors building scrapers for specific purchase / research projects. The key thing I have learned is that specificity is important. For instance, it's very hard to build a decent process for 'Single Family Homes in State X', the net is very wide, and the data analysis is just as hard after the scraping. 

Focusing on '3 BR, 2 Bath Ranch Homes in A- School Districts' is a much better way to build a representational set. You can then compare them against one another to get a good idea of values in the set.

There are a ton of niche submarkets that do not get their share of analysis. I would say this is the best way to focus your efforts.

@Bellman Tumasang

Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census data are good places to start. There are other data sets, I would definitely look up state and city data sets for your target areas as well. You have to do the hard work to identify what you are looking for and what are the best data sets to accomplish that. A good process would be to ask a question (even a fairly simple one) and then find all the data that would make you fairly confident as to the answer to that question.

@Bellman Tumasang

There is government data, which is free, to start.

Keep in mind that numbers are relative in this case. Unemployment is going to go way up! The question is what kind of communities have less or more than others, not the absolute number (although some absolutes could be outside hard limits for you). 

For instance, if you had told me to look into a market with steady 8% unemployment in December I would've thought it's not a great market. Within a month or two, that'll be a pretty decent number based on what I have seen.

@Dexter Hookes

Trenton is probably the best bet for reasonable purchase prices. That said, now is a rough time for states with high tax burdens. Budget shortfalls could cause those taxes to go up. I would be cautious.

@Kumar Tummalapalli

I think you've received this advice already. But as a developer who does a fair amount of data mining, be careful about anyone that offers you an 'all-in-one' solution at a reasonable price. 

This is hard thing to manage, because there are so many variations in county sites and the data they provide. If you are going county by county, imagine developing at least some part of customization for each one. That is a linear price, and therefore hard to do unless you have explicit goals and can pre-filter counties. I wouldn't start with anymore than 5 counties.

@Lloyd Preece

I am moving to Weehawken on June 1st, but I am definitely not buying a home there.

My strategy has been to consistently invest out-of-state. I think this crisis is really going to test that resolve. If prices get low enough, I could change my opinion on a few strategic, investments. That said, NJ is a nightmare on the tax side, and these areas are going to need to cover budget shortfalls. That always means hammering the home owners.

@Bleau Deckerd

Expensify is the best I have seen. It scales up nicely. I run expenses for all my LLCs through there, as I can attach them to different reports. Also syncs up nicely with the popular Xero accounting software (which I also use). 

@Jay Hinrichs

So far so good, I was slightly surprised, given how many people are employed in the service sector. That said, May is likely to be tougher and June, anyone's guess.

@Wave Taylor

About to close on a home this week. We have the tenant in place and the lease signed. Granted, this deal has been in process since January. I don't think I would go out and get something started, today. 

Now is a good time to re-tool, and to think up some scenarios that could come out of this. What would you do if properties in your target market dropped 5%, 20%, 30%, 50%? What would you do if your vacancy rate went up 5%, 20%, 30%, 50%? Same question with non-collections.

Anyone who tells you they know what's about to happen is a little too confident. But there are a number of different outcomes where you could stage your response.

@Arun Dharan

Coastal residents like us should definitely take the out-of-state route. I have invested in Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia. 

If I was farther west, I'd likely take interest in some of the better income markets out there. Phoenix, Reno, Boise (although not for long) come to mind.

Get your strategy together in order to find good partners. As a long distance investor, you primarily provide one thing: money. Good brokers, managers, and service providers see this an opportunity for growth. Bad ones see this as an opportunity to con someone outside the locality.

Feel free to reach out with questions. Thanks!