Moving to Richmond...Trying to connect

[Joedocei Hill]

Hello All,

My name is Joedocei Hill and I will be moving to the Richmond area this summer. Before moving I am looking to lock in a multi-family unit. So for those who are in the area please reach out if you have any advice or want to connect. I would love to build some relationships before I move hundreds of miles to this new location.

Thank you for your time!

[Kelly Hall]

Welcome Joedocei! 
I am not exactly sure  what you specifically mean by "lock in a multi-family unit", but will share my recent experience in case you are looking to owner-occupy a 2-4 unit structure with a home loan. 
Since the summer I have been trying to purchase a 2-4 unit structure to owner-occupy with a home loan. As soon as it hits the MLS, I would have an "as-is" offer immediately over to them unless they specified a time/date of bid reviews. In almost every single scenario, the seller would come back and say something along the lines of "we have multiple offers in all-cash and multiple over significantly over asking. At this point we are only entertaining all-cash offers $50k over asking" Richmond has been identified by investors, especially those representing foreign investors, as a safe place to park your assets. With this bull market, bajillionaires have extra millions to park regardless of the rate of return making no sense to any investor. I did find through the experience that I was beating out many local investors simply due to the fact I could go higher with my low-interest home loan.
Saying all this, don't get up. I got very lucky on an offer in December and am closing this week. My luck is based on being first and therefore demonstrating I will close asap no hiccups, having a great realtor (listing agent is not tech saavy and my realtor knew how to work with him), and just plain emotional appeal (I will be living in it, it will not be run by a bad name property management company with an owner that will never see the place). 
Good luck. I hear there is still room in the single family home market, which was my plan B. And most importantly, welcome to Richmond fellow midwesterner!