All Forum Posts by: Allan Smith

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned numbers more. Going by the zestimate is a red flag. Do comps to value your property  and then you'll have more obvious options.

also would want to know rent amount.

if you only have $50k of equity, this whole convo is moot. If you have $400k equity, then $100/mo is a poor use of that. (Could treat the equity like a bank and get heloc even though cash flow would be negative).

There's a post that says something pretty much exactly like this at least once a day on the forums. Of course that plane can work, but the devil's in the details here because you will need to hustle. To me, returns in real estate are so low right now they just aren't worth it as a primary game plan. Unless you are a cash investor than they are a little bit better than they were before. But even still that cash can be invested Elsewhere for a much better return.

so I guess the conclusion for me is your plan can work, but is it worth the effort and time? Perhaps there are better alternatives

At first just sell them the dream of how working with you will be profitable and easy for them. When you are looking at a property, send them to get you a quote on one or two. Usually they'll do that for free and submit a bit. But if you don't accept the first or second one, they probably won't go out for the third. That's when you would need to start paying them.

when possible, try to get a contract with contingencies before you send them out. That will greatly increase the odds of them giving you a serious bid and taking the time to do it without getting annoyed with you. But sometimes the market is too competitive for that and you have to get them in the door during the narrow window of the open house or whatever, and in those scenarios you might have to just start paying contractors. You can also look at it as an inspection to some degree as they will likely come back with information you did not have before. 

I am a contractor and GC in Nashville tennessee, and every time I've gone to make a bid, I saw things they didn't know about . Usually projecting issues they were not prepared for yet.

I feel like lately they've revamped their podcast a little to be for more advanced strategies instead of the same old. They're trying to change their message.

But across the board I think I've worn out all the podcasts. Like Jay was saying they all kind of keep saying the same thing over and over. There's only so much you can learn from free information I guess.

I used to want a Beach rental but now when I look at them the ROI is so low. Stock market does better. Even a savings account is competitive.

I've heard some people manage their own rentals without living near there. My VA does most it for me here in nashville, but the main part I can't crack is the physical items. Who keeps the keys? Who stores the lockbox for the next vacancy? Who keeps the for rent sign?

here locally we have a courier do all that but they get all the stuff from My home office.

Thanks for the feedback y'all.  Good thoughts.

I'm hearing differing opinions from realtors/investors. Nashville's DOM are about 50 right now. Used to be 14. Lots of inventory that buyers are selecting from, hard to get them to choose your house.

Is it better practice to stick to your guns, price at comps, and let it sell in 3 months? Or price aggressively and get it sold right away to take advantage of the initial hype?

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I heard an analogy yesterday from an agent. He said imagine in front of you is a white sheet of paper. On that paper are hundreds of horizontal lines. Some lines start before the paper and end on it. Some start on it, and end on it. Some start on it and end after. The paper is your listing, and the lines are buyers. When you first list the house, all those lines that started to the left of the paper are the motivated buyers, looking for the right house for a while, and ready to move. But after that first 2 or 3 weeks, they either bought yours or didn't. And from then on, all the buyers coming to see the house are new, tire kickers, feeling it out, etc.

So his point was get that thing sold right away. He's a flat rate broker so he gets paid on the front end whether house sells or not, so that helps his advice to not be as biased.

But other realtors tell me you'll get full price or close to it at comps pricing, you just have to wait.

Biggerpockets in 2017: cash on cash return is life. Buy real estate for cash flow or be a forever idiot.

biggerpockets in 2024: who cares about cash flow, you simpleton? CoC return doesn't matter. Why would it matter? Of course it doesn't matter.

I have 3 flips going right now. 4 builds. Nashville Market. Trying to scale up. Built a rental portfolio 2016 - 2020.