All Forum Posts by: Brian Kittner

I'm in the NY area, and NY/NJ are pretty expensive and have high taxes. Not to mention their bleeding populations. I began to be of the mind that I needed to flip a few first before I got into income properties to build experience and capital. Read The Book on Flipping Houses and talked to several investors, HMLs, and contractors in my area.

Wise words then came to me from someone smarter than me that made me realize it makes more sense to invest OOS, which is a whole nother skillset. Purchased David Green's book on OOS investing and am looking for good potential markets. Hard enough for me to trust GCs to do a good job and charge reasonably in my own backyard let alone someone to do a job I can't physically see. Have to keep educating myself and network a LOT more (my low post count can attest).

Congrats man! Looking in the Westchester / Rockland area myself, great to hear there are deals out here!

@Mike Flora wow I like this idea, makes a lot of sense! I'm sure this had helped you avoid what would have otherwise been "unforeseen" difficulties with additional holding costs and appraisal surprises. Especially for someone like me doing a first deal or even just jumping into a new market this could save a lot of heartache. Thank you Mike!

@Jay Hinrichs very interesting I have never heard of this. As of now I'm lucky enough to have someone close to me with access to the MLS in my area, but definitely good to know for OOS analysis. Thanks for the tip!

Very helpful, thank you for the insight @J Scott!

Hi All,

I'm working my way through "The Book on Flipping Houses" by J Scott, and am currently working to identify a prospective farming area.

When trying to gauge whether there are buyers in an area, J suggests that at least 60% of listings should eventually sell. Would comparing the number of active listings per month to the number of sales per month over a 12 month period give a general sense to this metric? 

Also, if anyone has any of their own tips on how to get a sense of the number of buyers in an area, or just market analysis tips in general they would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Brian

@Engelo Rumora thanks for the insight Mr. Dingo. I'm by no means an expert or even a very seasoned investor, but I'd agree with your assessment about the current state of the real estate, and even the overall market at this point. Seems to me now is the time to be conservative.

Hey BP!

Just a quick question regarding the BP Rental Calculator.

In an attempt to better understand metrics used to measure the feasibility of rental properties, I have been trying to reproduce the numbers presented by the Rental Calculator.

My question is in regards to the 2% ratio  shown. My initial impression of the 2% rule was that this rule was just that the rent should equal 2% of the purchase price. The descriptions mentions that it is income - expense ratio? How is this calculated and why is it helpful?

Thanks!

Brian

Thank you @Dave Visaya! Started by using the BP search engine and am completely impressed with the great amount of knowledge here! 

Thanks @Joe Hughis, I believe so too! And yes I have a lot more reading to do on here, so much helpful info!