Newbie - Availability in Louisville

[Dustin Letourneau]

Afternoon everyone,

I'm new to the REI world. Have joined bigger pockets pro (wife's account) and started listening to webinars and a ton of podcasts. I'm currently working with an agent and seems that the pickings are VERY slim at the moment. That being said, I always hear that there are deals in every market all the time. Maybe it is my inexperienced but I'm just not seeing them yet. I have found a few properties that were worth looking at and making an offer (although many either sold or went pending before I could even make an offer) but I would consider them base hits and nothing more. While I'm okay with base hits for my first few, I'm just curious if maybe I'm missing the forest for the trees in this. My wife and I have probably evaluated over 100 properties in the last few weeks - netting to maybe a half dozen that seemed worth the time. With my inexperience at this point, rehabbing or even a small BRRRR makes me nervous that I may have numbers wrong and be kicking myself out of the gate.

My criteria:

- Buy and Hold Rental(s)
- Price Range: $0-$175k 
- B or C Deals - B deals in this price range seem like unicorns - don't exist.  Again, maybe I'm just not looking or evaluating properly?
- 3 Bedroom 1+ Bath
- Mainly looking in S. Louisville (PRP area) and basically all the way up to the Crestwood area (all outside of the 264 loop) + Shelbyville
- No flood zones (maybe I shouldn't care?)

Is what I'm looking for realistic? For that price range do I need to be looking harder at the C class deals instead of digging in the weeds for B's? Maybe I need to be doing more driving for dollars? I'm reading books, this site, and listening to as many resources as I can (2 hours total from and to work) - but I know none of it is more valuable than experience. I'm ready to be off the sidelines - PUT ME IN THE GAME COACH! Until then, Ill keep crunching numbers.

Thanks in advance.

[Dustin Letourneau]

Just wanted to post an update on our journey. I'm happy to report that we are under contract for a SFR that I'll call a medium BRRRR. We purchased around 75% of ARV and plan to put some sweat equity into the house to can pull some cash back on the refinance (we won't get 100% back but plan to have only 11-14% cash invested when all said and done) . We ended up in J-town which is an area I had REALLY hoped to be in from the get go. I'm super excited to get the next phase of this process started and completed. I have a goal to be renting within the next 3 months maximum - 2 months is ideal.

I will say, while this market really is nuts right now, I feel fortunate to be starting this journey in the middle of it.  I have evaluated hundreds of properties over the last few months' and without these conditions I may have not really had a good understanding of the market or how to really dig.  I think this, in itself, will help us be very successful when the markets are tilted a bit more towards buyers.

Again, thanks for the few of you that I reached out too or reached out to me (seriously thanks!).  This is only the beginning and will be looking for a 2nd unit before long.  I'm more hooked now that I was day 1.  I hope to work and learn more about you all in the Louisville area so that we may be able to help each other in the long run.

Cheers!