All Forum Posts by: Will M.

@Will M. Yes, you are correct that it’s likely that you could loose equity by buying near the top of the cycle, however if you are a buy and hold investor you don’t necessarily need to realize said loss by selling at or near the bottom. I cant speak to your situation, but for my investment strategy it makes more sense to focus on cash flowing properties In steady growth markets for this reason, and even more so during times such as these. Furthermore, by focusing on cash flow you can better position yourself to withstand a correction. In the end, after you have made your money, appreciation is just the icing on the cake.

I have the funding and am ready to pull the trigger, but have not bought anything in 2018 yet. Having a hard time finding deals where the #s work. 

I'm will go against the grain with most folks and say you can time the market to some degree. I'm not a young person and have seen multiple real estate cycles over the past 40 years. As @Russell Brazil pointed out, if you're in certain parts of the country the cycles are more extreme and can be (admittedly imprecisely) played. My wife and I saw the lunacy in 2004-2006 and sat on the sidelines. We started buying in 2009 with acquisitions nearly ever year since.

Our we in 2008 again? I don't think so for many reasons already pointed out in this thread. Labor supply constraints in the trades is also a big limiting factor to the overbuilding 10 years ago that contributed to the collapse. 

So I am still bullish, but will only buy when the numbers work. 

Why not dollar cost average and keep buying good deals regardless of the market?  You can't time it, so just keep finding good solid deals relative to whatever market you are in.  As Russell said above, you will still have your mortgage paid off by someone else and own a free and clear asset someday.  There will always be people looking to live in rental properties, especially when there are big downturns and people can't get financing to buy.

Im sitting out because I can't get my low-ball offers accepted or I don't have the capital for bigger portfolios.

Correction could come, but that's more likely to mean more renters...and they would need to live somewhere. If you buy right and have the cash reserves then you should in theory be fine.

But if your planning on using tenant A's rent to pay the mortgage of tenant b and c ....and live paycheck to paycheck might want to rethink the approach.

If you find a deal in your target market the selling realtor will usually have a link.  Research them, find some reviews and how many properties they are listing/closing in that part of that market. If you find one of the big fish it will usually be obvious.  You can than contact that realtor and say, "I'm interested in your property @ XXX Street and any other similar properties, can you set up a search for me...." Be specific about what you want so your results emails is manageable and shows the realtor you know what you want. (# of beds/baths, garage? sf? price? zip codes/or boxed in a neighborhood by defining streets.)

It will take them less than 15 minutes and they've done you a solid that you can repay by using them if the results payoff.

Originally posted by @Will M.:

Originally posted by @Bill B.:

Most agents are only licensed in their home state, maybe a neighboring state or two if they are based close to the border with another state. So you will most likely need a new agent. 

Since you’re already on BP, when you find a target market I would repost this question rephrased as “can anyone out there investing in city X recommend a great agent for an oos investor.”

 Thanks for the reply. 

I have a little chicken or the egg issue though - part of the resource I was going to use to look for deals was the MLS, however, I can't get access to it until I work with an agent. Any thoughts on how to get around that? Thanks again for the feedback.

Redfin is very easy to use if it's in your target market and is refreshed from MLS very quickly. Realtor.com same thing... I don't like the experience as much.

Truila/Zillow are garbage don't waste the time.... unless it's for a backup data source. 

There's some finer details in MLS, but not needed unless you were deep diving a specific property and by then it'd likely be to where you're trying to get it under contract.... which would mean you'd have a agent.

Do NOT work with an agent that isn't local to the area you're looking. The best way, get a refferal from someone who either operates on your level or has/is doing what your trying to do.

You need to build trust, part of this should be asking questions you already know the answer to. The agent should match or at least align with your answer...if not find a new one. Then start building that relationship up with more and more feedback back and forth.

You should be at a point where agent either goes and looks for property for you and helps the offer get submitted or they call you with what they have ... The value of the agent is their local knowledge and networking...NOT finding deals per say. They're best use to baby sit offers once they get accepted....and push them through

Most agents are only licensed in their home state, maybe a neighboring state or two if they are based close to the border with another state. So you will most likely need a new agent. 

Since you’re already on BP, when you find a target market I would repost this question rephrased as “can anyone out there investing in city X recommend a great agent for an oos investor.”