New from Richmond, Virginia

[Michael Moore Jr]

Hello all,

I'm Mike and I am from Chesterfield, Va. After spending all my free time reading articles and posts on here and listening to podcasts to and from work I am looking forward to getting into real estate. I primarily want to focus on buy and hold and intend to deal with single family and multifamily. I will likely be using an FHA loan to start out so I would prefer multi family so I don't have to shoulder the mortgage for a year. However, I am also considering putting some sweat equity into a SFH and use the year to build some equity into the rental. I plan to stay local, at least initially, and would like to invest in Richmond, or Chesterfield/Henrico. Looking forward to getting started!

[Sam Valme]

Hey @Michael Moore Jr! The Richmond Metro area has some awesome returns for investors! A lot of the investors we work with in NOVA also do business down in that area. 

One of the greatest challenges for investors starting out is something I've personally dubbed as "Getting to The Table" aka getting Agents/Brokers/Lenders/Contractors (yes, even contractors) to give you their full undivided attention. While the smart ones will definitely respond to email, set you up with an automatic search on the MLS, etc. Until there's a face to face or some type of proof that you're going to put money in their pocket. Getting started might seem daunting.

A great way to begin would be to join your local REI and attend some meetings. Ask questions and just show up consistently. Schedule some meetings with the players in the area. Take them out for coffee or meet at their office to chat. Try and find the value that you can provide early on. Bird-Dogging, Capital Investing, or Handyman Services are all possible places to start. Once you're "In" your options and opportunities get a whole lot wider :)

Good Luck!