Hello, World - from Seattle, WA to Lafayette, LA

[Jared C.]

Hi BP,

I was born & raised on a Louisiana farm, now developing software in Seattle and looking to invest back home.  Seattle's tech is booming and Louisiana's oil & gas is in a bust, it seems as good a time as any to move some capital around.

Data: http://imgur.com/a/5UR86

More importantly, my empty-nesting parents are interested in the part-time work and income from managing a property, and I'm interested in trying to start a business just to know the outcome.  Even if I lost money I'd be satisfied with the experience for them & learning opportunity for me.  Win/win.

Perhaps further setting me apart from the crowd: I've never held debt and don't plan to start now.  I have $200k liquid capital now, but think starting with a $100k property would be better.  I can always add more soon if it works out.  Thanks to my tech career & no-frills lifestyle, I should be able to pump another $100k per year capital into this Louisiana business, more if the business is profitable.  I might decide to take a leveraged position later, but for now I enjoy the relative safety of cutting the bank & associated expenses out of the equation.

So I'm feeling confident and have a plan.  Now my biggest challenge is finding the right property.  I'm really looking at foreclosures, because I'd rather it need some work than be move-in ready.  Zillow's pre-foreclosure search shows the most results, but the data isn't very clean.  Often, the auctions for the properties listed have already passed, or simply no additional information can be found online.  The best data source so far is the city's list of judicial foreclosures, about 5 to 10 properties per week:

http://webcivil.lafayettesheriff.com/csssheriffsal...

Unless I come across a better way to find properties, I'll just keep an eye on these weekly auctions until something in my price, condition, and location range comes up.  I don't mind waiting months for the right opportunity. 

Any tips & tricks, resources, recommendations for Seattle or Louisiana-based connections, are all very welcome!

[Lucas Pinto]

@Jared C.

Hey Jared

Welcome to BP and congrats on taking this massive leap man. Careful with the whole idea "Foreclosures are cheaper" I'd recommend reading Zillows book, which gets into that subject and clarifies that foreclosures (Dependent on state, location and market volatility) are not as much of a deal as people normally think they are. Other than that, layout a gameplan, give yourself room for error, and execute. I'm a full time investor and Real Estate Broker, and I've learned tons from a local Seattle group called REAPS (Real Estate Association of Puget Sound) I'd recommend you stop by and see if its right for you. If there is ever anything you need from me, a second opinion or question feel free to reach out!