All Forum Posts by: Ariel Echevarria

i haven't done anything yet. Mainly because of the numbers I'm getting in my analysis of different properties. Rent here for a 3 bd SFH averages between 700-900 depending on how nice the place is, location and size. I am planning on getting property that doesn't need a whole lot of work. Maybe 5-10k worth of rehab. I think the main problem is that I have been looking at what's currently on the market.

I'm located in Iowa too and there are a lot of nice homes in that range.  when I run the numbers here (Humboldt Iowa) and I'm very conservative I barely clear $100 per month on some of these properties. Are you putting money down on these deals is that where you're getting so much cash flow?

What do you have in Fort Dodge, IA? I'm about 17 miles from there.

I heard about this story out here in Humboldt. I think it would be beneficial to give the seller maybe a little longer to reconsider. see if they can extend the closing date. I would disclose what happened only if it's brought up. I seriously don't remember the news saying the address of the place.

I guess it depends on what your goals are. Are you looking to invest in the local Cleveland area? or are you willing to look out of area/state? For example, here in Iowa, our housing market is growing. In the county to my east, a new Hog Plant is being built that will create 900 jobs with an average salary of 47k. I'm looking at investing in the local area due to the amount of housing currently available and how scarce it will be once these jobs start getting hired out over the next 4 years.

I would paint it something neutral but not plain white. The right paint can make a place feel open but warm. I would go with a nice pastel color. like ibis white or roman column. It also depends on the exterior as well. you don't want a super drastic color change. Just my $.02

Are you interested in anything outside of Des Moines? I'm in Humboldt Iowa. In the not to distant future a company called Hogslat will be building a large production facility in Wright County. They will be hiring 1200 jobs. Housing in the surrounding areas are already scarce and the ones that are for sale are going for pretty cheap. In fact I may have a decent HUD owned house that recently dropped 10k in asking price. It was a sheriff auction home but in pretty decent condition. IF you are interested let me know I may be able to get more information about it.

I am looking at a 15 unit complex in my area going for 340k. All units are 1bd except one which is a two bedroom. avg rent would be between 400-450/month per unit. I'm trying to get more information from the agent on some other info so I can do more number crunching but if it all looks good I would need hard money or alternate ways to get this. I don't have 68k to put down on this so i'd need help.

I happened across a house in my local area that was purchased in what looks like a sheriff auction by HUD for $10. Yes. That's correct $10. They listed it for 85000 back in early summer and is now down to 74999. It was appraised this year by the county for 86k but just a year ago it was appraised at 105k. Should I low ball an offer on this place and get it? I would need a hard money lender because I do not have the cash. Its a 3bd 1.5 bath house with a little over 1k Sqft. It has an in ground pool in the back yard as well. I've included a of the place. I was thinking of doing a BRRR strategy on this. Rehab wouldn't be but mostly cosmetic from what I can tell. Property Taxes are about 2300/year. Would a offer of 45k be too drastic and settle for mid 50s? I'm a total noob at this so any help would be awesome. Thanks.

OK! Thanks for the responses everyone. I thought I would update you all on what happened with this place. Well, I was able to get the house under contract for 19k. The contract was contingent on finding an investor and an inspection. I had 30 days to find a cash buyer. I was able to find many local buyers but none that were interested in purchasing. I hadn't even given these people the info on the house. I just said I had a property. So, I kept moving along. I get a text from the seller asking what was going on with the house and if I had an investor yet. Being my honest self I said no I do not have an investor yet. I am still looking. She had another property that was sold to another investor. I asked if she might know who it was. She said no. So i spent some time trying to find it in the public records. Well it took a while for the county to update their info. The next day I get a call from her realtor to see if we could meet. So I went by the office and he said his boss and the seller wanted to nullify the contract and give me my earnest back since i didn't have an investor yet. Keep in mind i've only had the contract for a week. Before all of this i would get at least 5 calls a day from the realtor. I work full time so getting calls from someone that many times a day is not good. I would call back on my breaks and lunch. Each time it was the realtor asking if I found an investor yet. So, I'm getting called almost every day 5 times a day for a week. Getting harassed by the realtor. If I wasn't getting calls or texts from him I was getting them from the seller. So, needless to say i gladly took my earnest money back and said good luck. Lesson learned...don't deal with crappy realtors. From now on i'll only look at a place that is truly for sale by owner and not a realty office. One the nice side I have another seller lined up. So, i'll be working on getting this one under contract. This time no realtor involved.