All Forum Posts by: Walker Hinshaw

@Tom Spaeth that is a great story, congratulations! I am curious, how often did you follow up and what method(s) did you use? Do you have any specific recommendations for keeping a likely future seller in the pipeline?

@Adam Hedio if you have deals you are looking to analyze, take a look at some of the links on the analyze tab, search the forums, and listen to the podcasts. There are several rules of thumb like the 50% rule and the 1% rule that are a good place to start. If I remember correctly, the Ultimate Beginners Guide should walk you through these so definitely give it a read.

As for duplexes, @Matt M. is correct in saying that inventory is likely to be very low for at least the rest of the year. This is why it is important to know your criteria and be ready to pull the trigger when one does come along that works. If you are looking to owner occupy, check out this article (another great one by @Scott Trench) http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/02/21...

You may not be able to hit traditional investor criteria like the 1% rule in this market but that doesn't mean an owner-occupied duplex isn't a great option.

@Adam Hedio welcome to BP and welcome to Denver area real estate. I second @Bill S.

 in saying check out the Ultimate Beginner's Guide before you do anything else. It gives you a great lay of the land as far as potential strategies go. Also, if you haven't been already, start listening to the Bigger Pockets Podcasts when you are driving, working out, cooking, etc.. They will help you learn the lingo and really open up your eyes to all the different possibilities in real estate. 

If you are in this for the long haul and not just a couple of quick deals start networking now! The best way to do this is to attend @Anson Young's Denver meetup on the 4th Monday of every month (the next one will be on April 27th). The second best way is to set up keyword alerts and get involved in the forums. The forums are an incredible way to learn about your local market. Make sure to set up keyword alerts for the area you want to invest so you can learn about your market. Personally, I have a keyword alert that is just "Denver" because I wanted to learn as much about my market as I could. Once the majority of those alerts are no longer useful, I plan to refine my keywords to look more like "Denver Buy & Hold".

I also suggest you check out this article http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/03/28... by@Scott Trench about some simple steps you can take to prepare yourself to actually buy a house once you find something you want to invest in.

Other than that, just take some time to click around the site and get a good understanding of all the great resources available on BP. If you spend enough time on this site and listening to the podcasts, soon you'll be having dreams about real estate. Like actual dreams. In your sleep. (At least that's what happened to me). Good luck and hope to see you around the site!

I am looking for a portfolio lender to build a relationship with in Denver, CO. I am currently looking to buy & hold but have partners that are interested in large flips as well. Because the Denver market is so hot, I am also looking into turn-key properties in other cities. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Sorry, my fancy little excel table did not post very well. Here are the details in a more readable format:

1301 Whittenburg

Fort Worth, TX 76134

Purchase Price: $118,900.00

Number of Bedrooms: 3

Number of Bathrooms: 2

Car Storage: 2 Car Garage

Estimated Rent Range: $1095-$1195

Rent Amount for Expense Calculations: $1,195.00

Estimated Annual Property Taxes: $1,289.00

Estimated Annual Homeowners Insurance: $742.36

Estimated Annual HOA Dues $0.00

Estimated Annual Vacancy Expense (5%): $717.00

Estimated Annual Maintenance Expense (5%): $717.00

Estimated Annual Management Fee (10% and Lease Fee): $1,832.33

Year Built: 1978

Square Footage: 1,848

Price Per Square Foot: $64.34

I am looking at purchasing a turn-key property in Fort Worth, Texas and would like to know a little more about the area before I make up my mind on the deal. The details are below. Also, are there any considerations I need to take into account/things to look out for when dealing with a turn-key company?

@Scott Trench I think I see what you are getting at. The "how to get started with no money down" posts do seem as though they may have a tendency to attract newbies who have not managed their money well over their lifetime and therefore have no savings to invest. I agree with you that these people should first learn the basic tenants of personal finance before jumping into buying a property. 

The trick becomes how do we separate these people out from those who have been fiscally responsible but their money is tied up elsewhere or gone for whatever reason. I think there are quite a bit of both of these types of people visiting BP and would hate to deny the next @Brandon Turner the information they need in order to build their financial future.

Maybe the answer is that posts about investing with no (and low) money down should have disclaimers warning newbie investors that it is important to make sure they have their personal finances in order before they invest and link back to some articles that teach the basic tenants of creating wealth. I definitely think that BP would only be made better if it added a personal finance/getting started in wealth building section. 

At the end of the day, I bet a lot of people are on BP because at some point they either wanted to be rich or retire early and wanted to learn how. A personal finance section would help people achieve those goals even faster.

@Kevin Dickson

I think it sounds like it's worth a shot and I like the creativity. Worst case scenario you don't get any bites and then sell it like normal. However, if you are finding decent $200k lots that would sell for $525k per side when turned into a duplex then I would love to know where you are looking. I think you may have to sit on any $200k lots for a few years before you see returns like you are suggesting.

@Adam Haman is there any way you could buy the garage, unite the properties and sell it to someone looking to house-hack as a quasi-triplex? I could see that potentially fetching $375k.

You may be able to get $375k if you turn it into a duplex but that seems pretty expensive for the area and with it having the feel of someone living on the property, I have a really hard time imagining someone buying it as an SFR at that price.

I was a part of a duplex purchase in Clayton in November and while it didn't have the same sq. ft. and needed about $10k of work, it sold for only $240k. The market has been going nuts lately though.

@Matt M. I second @Karen Margrave's suggestion to put this up on the deal diaries so we can follow your progress. Definitely sounds like a really interesting project with a lot of potential!