All Forum Posts by: Troy Gandee

Hi, @Jake Johnson. I'm a BIC and investor. We have a small management wing, as well. We're very mindful grow slowly. You can discuss with my PM, if you'd like. Our market varier wildly mile by mile, so it will all depend on budget and asset class.

The pro of agricultural is the tax rate. But, the cash flow could be pretty weak unless you already have equipment, knowledge and farming experience. It really depends on what can be grown there for maximum harvest. A mobile home park or RV park can be more capital upfront, but the cash flow is likely to be muchhh higher. The flip side is that tax rate will be much higher. 40 acres is quite a bit of land, so why not try both and see what works best. 

@Kyle Ewanic That sounds sketchy. A rehab loan will usually have something like a 2% origination fee and some pretty steep processing fees, but those are payable at closing. And 5% rates is just too good to be true with a sub-700 credit score and little personal investing history. I would be weary. Most rehab loan rates are going to be at least 8%, but typically over 10%. And a reputable lender will have a website. That's how the build credibility. You should reach out to RehabWallet, Coastal Equity Group or Robert Wade at Tangent Mortgage. All are legitimate lenders that I use frequently.

@Devin Venetsanos Yes! Charleston Area Real Estate Investors Club is the big one. Just make sure you answer the membership questions. We don't approve people who don't answer the questions. We also have an REI Central group.

@Sara Sileo You're more than welcome to discuss sponsorship. @Russ Scheider usually handles our sponsorship stuff if you'd like to send him a message.

@Sara Sileo There are a whole lot of flippers in the Charleston Area. Come to our monthly meetup called REI Central to jump start. We had about 120 people in the room last month. It's the 1st Thursday of each month from 6-8pm at Palmetto Brewing Co downtown.

@Chandler Butler Everyone's favorite answer: it depends. I'm a BIC, but I usually recommend newer agents go to one of the big companies to take advantage of their training. Then decide if they want to stay there or go somewhere with more freedom. I have 35 agents. We have very little as far as formal training goes. I don't charge my agents much, so I can't really afford much training for them. We focus on investment properties, so we are a niche company, but we absolutely crush it for our size. If you have a specific interest like investing, developing, land, luxury, etc., I would suggest you eventually find a company that focuses on that and join them. The big companies are great to get going, but you'll probably want to get away from high splits at some point. The success of your career will be determined on how much effort you put in more than who you hang your license with. A big box will jump start you with leads and training, but the smaller companies will teach you how to be scrappy and creative. I started in a tiny brokerage with a lot of freedom and it taught me how to be tenacious, resourceful and creative. I'm grateful for that. 

@Misti DelMar There are still deals to be had, but it's extremely challenging right now. At the moment, we have 650 single family homes on market in the tri-county area. About 1/2 of them are new construction, so many aren't even completed yet. We should have like 4,000 available homes. Probably more to balance the market. It's a strange time. You just have to be patient and keep plugging along. We're expecting it to try to recover later this year as rates increase. You may have to make concessions on locations. The most desirable areas are obviously the ones that are being picked over the fastest. 20-30k is plenty to put down if you're using a low down payment loan. I would suggest trying to find an agent that is familiar with off-market deals (like us) because you're more likely to have less competition. 

You should also come to our monthly meetup, REI Central, if you're in the area. We usually have about 100 investors there. Many are newer folks.

@Hilary Harrison A lot of us use Justin Welch with AccountFin. He's local and prefers helping RE entrepreneurs. He's just super booked up now. I don't think he's taking any new clients at the moment, but I believe he wants to expand next year. He's awesome and understands what we're doing.

@Monica C. It's interesting he would discourage RE over the stock market in this age. RE is far more predictable than the market, imo. 

There are still a lot of opportunities to invest here in SC. However, it is extremely competitive right now. It's even harder for out of state buyers who are unfamiliar with different areas and do not have contacts yet. In Charleston, for example, we have less than 1,000 single family homes available for the tri-county area. Of that, about 1/2 is new construction. This is the worst inventory shortage we've seen and isn't likely to improve soon. We may see a surge in listings this Spring, but competition also spikes, so it will likely be about the same.

My suggestion would be to get moved here, then find a market in close proximity and start hunting. Wait until you can physically drive these areas and walk the homes before you start making offers. You don't always have to do that, but newer investors should be more diligent with their first properties.