Newbie in South Arkansas

[Charles Lloyd]

My name is Charlie and I am new to BP and actively seeking my first investment property.

I grew in N.E. Texas, lived in Houston for 9 years after graduating from Texas A&M and for the past year have called a small town in south central Arkansas home (El Dorado, AR.).

Having lived here for a year I’ve seen what this market has to offer from a housing standpoint and there is a serious void of modern/updated housing, be that for sale or rent.

I’ve decided now is the time to begin my journey as an investor.

My parents own a few rentals and because of this the idea of buying and renting properties is fairly natural and I’ve had my part in turning a house over between tenants, giving tours, and talking to prospective tenants on the phone.

My goal, is to get my feet wet by buying and remodeling a property here in El Dorado. As it's my first deal, I am approaching it with an open mind as to what I do at the end of the remodel; sell the updated property or rent it. If I sell the property then I can repeat that process with more capital available post flip (and more experience). If turns out to be a rental (which is my expectation) then I will bank the cashflow and work towards the BRRRR strategy to add another property in the near future.

What I’ve been doing lately to make dreams realty:

-Listened to one or two BP Podcasts a day

-Spent tons of spare time on Zillow browsing properties

-Identified a single family property that has real potential to be my first deal

-Gotten an insurance quote and dug up tax records on the property

-Talked to a couple area realtors and chosen one whose background and experience best fits my goals

-Toured the property

-Crunched tons of numbers based on different scenarios

-Arranged a second showing for tomorrow, with a local contractor who will be joining me for the showing to provide a quote on the work that would be needed.

I am super excited for tomorrow! I am excited to have the ball rolling on something that I’ve wanted to for a long time and having some firmer numbers in hand will allow me to come up with forecasts that include less “what ifs”