Building a team in the Durham/Raleigh area

[Daniel Machado]

Hello Raleigh BP community!

I've spent the past few months better understanding the Research Triangle market and I'm excited to invest in it for my next home. This will be my second investing home and I'm interested in targeting multifamily markets in Durham and the surrounding area. My goals are appreciation while generating sufficient cash flow to balance out my expenses. 

I'm looking for an investor-friendly lender, real estate agent and property manager. I'm also interested in connecting with other investors in the Research Triangle to learn from your experiences and share my takeaways as well. 

I recognize that the market is very hot right now, but I'd like to take action quickly (within the next couple of months) rather than cross my fingers waiting for the market to cool down. I look forward to connecting! 

[Kenneth Jackson]

Look like Cali is in the house!

You'll need to bring some creative strategies to the table and get a broker that is incredible nimble if you're shooting for MLS properties. I have a mentor here in Durham that I can suggest you to that is a broker and manages local properties as well. He has a whiteboard of properties he's working through 1031 exchanges for clients and "pocket" listings for lack of a better term.

As a test, I like to do the reverse search method on zillow - Multifamily, Sold properties, last 90 days (suggested by Scott Trench). You'll notice a lot of these properties are in East or Southeast Durham and those are not the preferred areas to invest in Durham in my opinion. Many of these require a decent amount of work too. For the small MF that do pop up in the nicer areas of Durham, they are priced so high that cash flow is commonly negative. Imagine paying 400k+ for a duplex in Old West Durham that has two units that are 800 SF. You'd have to invest a lot of money up front and pray for appreciation, not a great investment strategy. 

If you're deadset on MF I'd suggest a vigorous direct mail campaign to get some leads going (I've been doing this for a bit and it's difficult, many people are holding or want top dollar like everyone else. The best leads come through local relationships for me.) and be extremely ready to make a quick and strong offer should something come up on the MLS.

As an alternative, I think the single family house hack strategy (if you're here) or rent by room will work right now in areas close but not in immediate proximity to the urban areas of the triangle. A 3/2 where you rent out two rooms seems to be the move in popular NC markets - I have friend that do this in the Charlotte area and it might be my next move.

Happy to help, shoot me a DM. I'm licensed but not active.