Richmond, VA Market?

[Welton Needam]

I'm a beginner in Richmond, VA. I want to start off wholesaling so I can gain enough capital. I've been doing ok just some of the simple things ex: bandit signs, talking to sellers & investor. I pretty much have a attorney and everything. I feel what I'm lacking now is true knowledge of the Richmond area. Is there anyone who can share? Examples: what's a realistic strategy used in Richmond to obtain homes that have mortgages on them. I have strategies that I feel are great but really don't have that mentor guidance to help me with them. If anyone have knowledge of Richmond and how the real estate goes about in the area please post letting me know.

[Jon Deavers]

Hi @Welton Needam

I work the entire Richmond metro area and while the true hotspots have their own pros and cons (Church Hill, Northside, Carytown, City Stadium/Byrd Park, etc) the metro area as a whole is experiencing a very hot seller's market. So location-wise, you shouldn't have a problem unloading deals to investors (add me to your buyers' list, I represent a wide variety of investors) in most any area of the city. There is an appetite for deals across the metro but it all comes down to what's happening in the adjacent couple of blocks as to what your ARV's will look like. Many of the hotspots (especially Northern Church Hill and Northside neighborhoods) support huge resell gains but many of the homes there have seen deferred maintenance for decades so you really need to be good at evaluating and projecting rehab costs in order to move deals quickly and for a profit.

In the surrounding counties, there is almost unlimited demand currently for single family homes in the $250k and under price ranges. Below $200k there is even some appetite for turn key investors who don't look for the typical returns that most folks are shooting for on BP ( several of my clients prefer the long-term track record of long established neighborhoods that generate lower returns but are more historically liquid). These areas would include places like the Tucker and Freeman High School districts, North Chesterfield/Midlothian, Sandston, Glen Allen, among others. 

It's also worth noting that the 2-4 unit multifamily inventory levels are almost non-existent. As of this post there are only 33 active small multifamily listings in the central Virginia MLS and most of those are located in the tri-cities (only 7 active in the Richmond city limits) so small multifamily buildings would be a good property type to target.

Hope this is helpful. Feel free to connect if you'd like to chat more.