All Forum Posts by: Anudeep Yapala

Some ways I check for rent comps for an area is to search online under "Rent" tab on local real estate websites for that area.  I'm about 2 hours from Knoxville but other great places for researching area comps is under the "rent tab for zillow.com, realtor.com, craigslist and Facebook marketplace. For Facebook go under the location you are researching and search  "For Rent Knoxville, Tn." 

Its a bit of work but I actually create rent comp. lists for areas I'm researching. You can also get current rents by contacting Knoxville HUD office, current landlords and property managers in that area. If you will be needing a property manager in that area call several local managers. Make a list of question and conduct your interviews. This will give you an idea of how experienced and the knowledge of each property managers, while getting the information you need from several sources and seeing how well you click with each personality. If you get the same suggestions from several of the property managers on investment areas of Knoxville, you can feel better about where to start investing.

Landlords and local property managers should also be able to give you some advise on contractors, agents, PMs, etc.

To get tax assessment and appraisals for the area use www.propertytax.knoxvilletn.gov. 

Andrew Neese  although young has 14+ years of experience in real estate. He is an independent contractor, real estate agent in Tn. & Va., owner of his own Property Management Company, Investor/developer in multi-family/apartment units and started by flipping houses. He seems enthusiastic about helping others. 

Hope this helps. Happy Investing...

Rhonda

@Anudeep Yapala

I’m not yet an investor as I’m just getting into the game so I likely don’t have the answers you’re looking for but I’m local to the Knoxville area. I’m trying to gain as much experience as I can so if you needed some boots on the ground I’d be happy to try to make time to help you out. Feel free to message or email me. 

North Knox is a good place to invest. There are some areas I would steer clear of but fewer than some other parts of Knoxville. Feel free to DM me and I can help you out any way I can. 

Thank you, @Dmitriy Fomichenko !

@Anudeep Yapala Feel free to reach out with any questions - happy to help.

Anudeep, 

When it comes to real estate investing the expertise and knowledge is more important than location when you are trying to select a CPA to add to your team. There are several experienced tax experts here on the forum such as @Michael Plaks, @Nicholas Aiola and @Brandon Hall. 

Metro Phoenix is like Houston only drier. It sprawls. I don't know of a way to buy a house, live in it for a year and not lose money selling. Simple real estate agent fees are 6% and there are other closing costs. So, I'd find a property and buy it "Subject To", using minimal amounts of money, live there for a year and if it doesn't work out you can sell it for more than you bought it, get $10k to $25k down from the guy you sell it to and get cash flow on top of that. Since no real estate agents are involved, you save $15,000 to $18,000 on top of that. That's what I would do.