All Forum Posts by: Adam Hill

I usually use Melissa Data to clean my list and obtain new information before purchasing direct mail. 

Recently, I obtained a list of 1,900 entries. This is a government obtained list in excel, like one could expect from a delinquent tax list, codes violation, or something that only references the property with issues not the mailing address of the property owner. 

My list has a property in question address, full name of the owner, APN (tax map and parcel), a map address, and longitude and latitude. 

Question: Is there some place like Melissa Data (I'm thinking they don't do this) where I could up load some of my information to get a correlating property owner mailing address appended to each entry for these properties? 

Looking these up 1-by-1 is not worth it. And  I'm not sure what % of the list is owner occupant. 

Any advice welcomed. 

Thanks

Mark,

I would listen very closely to @Brie Schmidt and @Jon Holdman

Trying not to make a mistake can all be overwhelming if you let it.  At the end of the day you just have to pull the trigger. 

I have been looking at the Gross Rent Multipliers (GRM) for only duplexes in Nashville-Davidson County dating back to March-2015. In nice areas the rent multiple is around 130-140. The highest I have seen is 160-180. In Antioch it has been running between 114-136. In Hermitage and Madison high 80's - 103. And everywhere in Nashville is generally over 100.

Those are market rates and I would be looking to be at the low end or below the market rate - as an investor.  You have to be taking some risk to get a below market rate on most any piece of real estate. (In commercial real estate this is called a gross income multiplier (GIM) which is the inverse of a overall capitalization rate...anyway).

Here is how the GRM works. Lets say we have a duplex that rents for $500 a side ($1k per month gross) and it sold for $100,000. $100,000 / $1,000 = 100 GRM. Conversely, lets say you had a duplex that rents for $1,600 a month and everything was selling at 120 times rent, it would be worth $192,000 (or $1,600 month gross rents X 120 GRM = $192,000).

Deals are a matter of perception and what your individual goals are.  And this is exactly what Brie was saying.  People paying high GRMs are doing so in parts of Nashville where they anticipate the value of the property to appreciate organically creating equity for them or higher rents soon.  And when people pay lower GRMs it is because they are getting better cash-on-cash returns like Jon was describing.

Start looking at these numbers in your area.  I am not saying many buyers necessary consider this formula or this is the only thing to consider when purchasing a property - it is an appraisal tool, to be certain, and is one way to look at the market prices.

You should definitely be considering what Jon said.  And he has some other post about it.  The typical management cost in this area for something like this is 10% of gross rents per month and you need to include it in your expense calculations.

GRMs can help you gauge what is a deal and what isn't in a market.  It can help you figure out what someone would pay you if you wanted to sell.

You can see how finding something with below market rents, where you can raise the rents, can raise the value of your property.  So you are also looking for potential in an investment property.

Good Luck!

I figured out how to clean your list.  

Go to Mellissa Data and download the free application for excel.  Then follow the directions.  They only charge you for what they do.  So for the NOCA (national change of address) which uses 10 credits they only charge you for the change of addresses.

I have an absentee list of 326 absentee owners of specific types of properties in specific areas that I like.  See above.  I ran the list as a test and expected to pay $50.  They only charge you for what they adress and not a flat fee per entry.  So it ended up costing me $18.86.

For that I found out I had 5 bad addresses which I cannot find a good address for (so now my list is 321).  There were 63 updated addresses (I got my list from the property assessor's data).  I obtained 133 phone numbers and 59 email addresses.  I also obtained the age of 162 people, household income on 130, and the occupation of 83.  They also corrected some typo's in the names of these people.

Considering I had 68 bad addresses and plan on hitting these addresses 7 times, this saved me $238 (at $0.50 per piece).  And I have these email addresses, phone numbers and some demographic data that can help me tailor my message to these clients that I would not otherwise have.  

assumed 30 years

Its a highly targeted list I pulled from tax records, cross referenced with deeds of trust, added in the average mortgage rate for the month of the loan, assumed 39 yrs, and I pretty well have it narrowed down to people who owe 50% or less of what the place is probably worth now based on a price-per-bedroom.  A lot of free and clear properties.

I am targeting specific census tracts.  Must have owned for 10 years or more, 3 beds, 1-2 baths.  I am hitting the entire census tracts, except flood areas.

I have a list of about 1,700.  Unfortunately, 1,375 are owner occupants and 325 are absentee (some own more than one place in my target areas).  But I am mostly interested in the areas first and foremost.

Issue is it has taken me several months to build the list and I have been waiting to get paid so I can put a down payment on a place or two at a time.  But now I am ready and I am thinking I might need to clean my list.

How do I scrub a list through a National Change of Address service provider?

I feel like I need to run my list through looking for address changes as my list has a little dust on it.  I am having a hard time figuring that out.  Any one know the easiest way?

Thanks - Adam

Patrick,

I appraise commercial stuff.  I think Chad Grout is one of the better commercial brokers.  There are several really good ones in town.  Chad went out on his own last year and is young and aggressive.  He has a loopnet page and knows of unlisted opportunities.  He is the main person in East Nashville which is booming (See zip code 37206).

Feel free to tell him I sent you.  

http://urbangrout.com/meet-the-team/

Adam Hill

@Patrick Camuso we would be happy to have you come to Tennessee.  Nashville and Chattanooga aren't that close.  If I were trying to decide between the two I would think about whether you wanted to be in a small town or a bigger city.

Chattanooga is a cool city that is really starting to grow and there are lots of young people going there.  Its a few hours from Atlanta.  But it has a good location between Knoxville and Nashville.  There are lots of outdoors things to do there.  Lots of lakes, rivers, mountains, white water, fishing, rock climbing, good place to hang glide, etc.

Nashville is bigger and is growing faster.  Lots of new things happening here all the time.  But it is maybe the #25th biggest city.  And there is a big difference between Nashville and NYC.

Either would be great cities to live in.  I live in Nashville.  Let us know what you decided.

East Nashville has lots of upward potential. Compare it 12th South. If you do, East Nashville has a long long way to go. Look at all of the development and big money investors building commercial properties and apartments. Look at the rate they tear down or rebuild homes being purchased in the. $250-$280s. And let's not forget that Five Points is located 1 miles from the city's center which lends itself well to growth trends for born the young and old. But the appreciation play is a waiting game. You would need to plan on holding for 3-5 years or so to make any money. Spring Hill is a good place too. Lots of appreciation there too. But when the next recession comes Spring Hill will slow and stuff around the city's core won't. Just like the last recession. Also East Nashville is huge. If you are talking about the area between the river and Shelby Park you'll have continued growth. Conversely, the jury is still out on the long term potential of Cleveland Park and some of those areas. $0.02

You may want to get in touch with @Steve Chaisson

That would be a very good start