All Forum Posts by: Blake Smith

Makes sense @Russell Brazil. Thanks for your insight!

As someone starting out and new to BP and REI I see wholesaling as a way to enter into REI, a gateway strategy so-to-speak.

Taking this off the forum would have a detrimental effect on those who are working their way up to becoming buy and hold investors and/or rehabbers. 

I think the OP should think about more than just himself. This is a community and the "only one" mentality is not going to get you very far. 

Based on all the posts so far, I think it is safe to say that the overwhelming majority of people are completely opposed to your suggestion. 

Thanks @Robert Williams! I appreciate your confidence and warm welcome. 

I see that there is a very high demand for property with limited inventory, which would seem to indicate it is a great area to work on. I have lived as a resident in NW DC for 15 years and love this city. 

I just didn't want to start out in the areas I am most familiar with if the competitiveness is so high that I get discouraged at the get-go. 

I am also a principle for a construction/remodeling company and so have a decent grip on the costs to renovate a home. But there are different levels of remodeling a home too. So that brings up another question: Are DC investors and cash buyers going to be more interested in renovating to a high luxury level or would they be looking at the minimum to make the space livable. This would factor in a different potential spread for considering what I would promote renovation costs to be. Hope that made sense. 

Onward!!

I have been learning a lot about wholesaling in the past few weeks and have decided that I am going to pursue this as my starting strategy in REI. I live in the nicest part of Washington D.C. And the market here has a very high demand. Should I be focusing my marketing to suburban areas or rural areas first? Does marketing in a nice city like this make sense as a good market to start out in? I have heard that marketing to people that are more savvy and familiar with home values can be harder than to those who don't. Any thoughts on this. I have targeted absentee owners in a developing area of the city and sent my first round of 350 postcards thus far. Thanks in advance for the advice!!

Anyone who charges 2.00 a SF is likely to do a horrible job. National average is 6-8 for floors and 9-12 for walls, and in more expensive markets where the cost of living is high, this base rises in proportion.

I run a very successful tile company and I can say that this is a horrible install. I agree with Aaron. Tile setting is a bit of an art and you need to find a very good one. Perhaps check with some of your local tile stores and ask if they have a "preferred installer" list. Most of them are pre-screened to do good work. We are on several in the DC Metro area and the others on such lists typically do good work.

I do understand that these neighborhoods are quite expensive and that it would be hard to get into something with little or money down, but that would be the ideal scene so to speak. 

Ultimately, I would be happy getting into a home that I could rent out and start building up positive cash flow on that then allows me to invest more vigilantly in the areas I love to be in. 

Thanks for the shout out. 

Thanks! I would like to stay in the area where I have been living. I was fortunate to get a rent controlled apartment, but it is too much for me and my wife and we have to have a roommate in order to get by. So ideally we are looking to stay in DuPont, Adams Morgan, Logan Circle area. I think the only way we will be able to achieve this is by doing creative financing with a motivated seller.

I am looking to explore and want to find some opportunities for investing with little or no money down.

I would also like to start with my first home in this fasion as well.