All Forum Posts by: Andre Smith

@Mindy Jensen 

The Nebraska Market is red hot as well. A particular advantage I have is that I live in a huge ranch townhome that was built on a block where an elementary school was 10 years ago. So it's a new house in a quiet, predominantly home woner 50's built neighborhood. There are only 12 like it in the entire city. 4 have sold in the last 8 months with an average timetable of 20 days.

I have all the time that I need as we are moving into one of my nicer rentals. (1st rental purchase. Too nice of a house, have had a difficult time keeping it occupied over the last 4 years. 5 turnovers)

I planned to use zillow and other similar sites as well as reaching out to a few realtors that I know and let them know I'm willi g to pay 2.5% if they bring a buyer and do the paler work.

I've never sold before. I've purchased about a dozen times, so i want to get some feedback about FSBO.

My wife and I are looking to relocate from a small town (Fremont) to the city of Omaha. Its  about 30 miles away from Omaha.

We're attempting to make a list of pros and cons for FSBO vs using a realtor. It could be about a $12,000 difference in pocket money.

Is it worth it? Is it difficult in Nebraska? 

I forgot to mention properry location, Minnesota.

I bought a home for my mother and father to live in. My sister moved in about 5 months ago with her children. She did not have permission from me and i did not know until today. My mother kept it a secret because she wanted to help her. She is a drug addicted and has become violent, uncontrollable and has been stealing. My mother called the police and they made her leave for the night but she was allowed to return because she has mail coming to the house and my mother is not the offical owner of the house so the police said they couldn't make her leave. I am the owner. My mother finally called me and filled me in on the situation and wants her gone! what are my fastest options?

i have a situation where a tenant didnt pay rent in september. I followed the nebraska eviction procedures. I had a constable try and serve a summons. They didnt answer and apparently i didnt file a paper that allows them to leave the notice. Court was postponed. Then i had something come up that required me to leave the country for 2 weeks. I am back and have filed the corrext paper work and a new court date is set. But my tenant has disappeared. Doesn't respond to any contact and has moved what i would say is everything they wanted, iut of the house. But i do not have their keys or garage door openers. Can i change the locks and garage codes and take back the property and begin work while i wait for court. At this point i am not as interested in restitution as getting the property back up and rented to another, better tenant! 

Ryan,

I am on a similar journey as you. I have started with  buy and holds and am thinking about getting into property management. (I have had a hard time finding a quality manager) I hope to do a few flips a year to continue to grow my capital for rental purchases eventually as well. I think we have info that will benifit each other. Feel free to ask me anything. 

I would agree with "doing your own research". At the end of the day you have to be comfortable with your decision. If you don't mi d dealing with the possibility of evictions, damage and late rents, then buy with no fear. I grew up in a "warzone" and my parents rented for 25 years. Same house, always paid on time. Treated the place like they owned it. I eventually bough my parents a house of their own last summer. My point is, people have to live, some people stay in "warzones" because it close to their job and they don't have transportation or family is close or its the only place they know or maybe they don't think it's a "warzone", it just home etc. There are 100 possible reasons. There are good tenants everywhere and for every situation. If you can afford to wait for them, you can have them living in your place. I have a mix of newer suburban homes intended for long term legacy wealth and a mix of inner city homes that cash flow amazingly. It's all about your personal situation and comfort level when it comes to location. Obviously there are many other factors involved in out of state rentals, I don't have any knowledge there. Best of luck to you overall.

@Nick L. You mentioned my deal analysis was spotty. What other factors should I be looking at? 

@Leon D. Thank you for your insight. Would you say I should try and buy the newest of the properties for my long term buy and hold strategy? I worry about the mid to late 70's losing too much value 20-30 years from now. Granted that I am able to hold them that long. But that's my plan.

I am looking to add 2 properties to my infant portfolio. I have seen about 13 properties that I "think" are good deals. I've narrowed in on 6 of them. I'll give a brief summary of each pair. Keep in mind I will be buying cash.

The first 2 properties are located in a news development. Continued steady growth. A little slower than another area I am looking. Both are 3 bed 2 bath single family split level homes, 2 car garage. Both are built after 2004 so fairly new yet. Ones a HUD home that has a moderate drive way issue. The other is around the corner and is a great house. Listed from 120K to 130K. Comps support listings up to 135K. Taxes are about $3000.

The next 2 properties are both walk up town homes. 2 bed 2 bath, 2 car garage. just under 1110 sqft. Both built between 2007-2009. really clean and well taken care of. These are located in a hot area, top schools, booming growth all around this area. I mean its a hot area. HOA fees are a little strange. one is $105 and the other is $170 a month. Both are listed under $111K. taxes are around $2300

The final option are a little unique. Properties are owned by an aging investor looking to move a dozen properties in and around my area. All are currently rented and some have long term leases. 2-3 years. All rents are a little low but still bring $1100-$1200 a month. all  are Similar priced homes. Ranging from 125K to 150K. Oldest home is 1963. These are mostly in well established areas that more of a rental area with less owner occupants as the first 2 deals. Newest home is 2009. all are 3 bed 2 bath, 2 car garage split levels.

I am immediately drawn to the town homes in the hot area that is growing fast. HOA fees and the potential for those to rise are a little concerning. only being 2 bedrooms are a small negative. I like the low price tags, Under 111K with rents in the range of $1000-$1150. Am I missing some big thing that makes town homes a bad deal?? Or are the single family homes the way to go,and if so should i look to take over the properties that are already rented out or start my own process from vacant? Or is there something completely different I should be looking to do with a couple hundred K??? Any and all advice is welcomed, I'm thicker skinned. Thank you in advance for your input!!!!