All Forum Posts by: Cara Kennedy

@Leticia Montoya - hey Leticia, one thing to check (especially given someones comment about the rust belt) is whether the city is increasing/ decreasing/ or stable in terms of population. In general, you don't want to buy it the market is going to be dwindling.

I use the website city-data.com and most cities have population growth statistics posted there. Good luck! Let me know if I can ever help in the Detroit area!

@Timothy Moore - thanks for posting to connect! I'm a newer investor in the area and continuing to grow my network. Can you elaborate on how you manage/JV on rehabs? This is an interesting structure I've heard about recently.

Also, I'm looking at a 6-unit right now and if I move ahead I'd love to talk about getting a quote for property management and/or get your opinion on the long-term rental potential. I'll PM you to see if you're interested.

Cheers!

@Ryan Zeisel - hi Ryan and northern folks. I'm a newer investor working in the Detroit area. I've been networking heavily here and have some great connections. If any of you are looking to "live where you want to live and invest where the money makes sense" I'd be happy to connect you with some folks here if you know what you're looking for. Cheers!

@PJ Kolnik - hey PJ. I agree with the person who said have roughly 3-6 months of PITI payments held back, and then my approach is out of the cash per door, I hold about 40% back in a bank account I don't touch. Then over time my buffer will build up and unless I'm well diversified over a handful of properties, I don't touch that account.

The rough split on the 40% (plus or minus based on recency of rehab) is 10% cap ex, 10 % property management (always use this if you plan to scale), 10 % vacancy, and 10% miscellaneous and legal. More if the property is in rough shape.

@John Halverson - hey, there are calculators you can use up to 5 times for free here on BP. Run a calculation, then share that on the forum topic that is something like "deal analysis."

Calling someone in your local market can help of its a weird or tight margin community where local Intel differs the approach from the rest of the country. Hope that helps!

@Tyler Cobb - Welcome, Tyler! One book that really helped me with clarity but also knowledge on the breadth of the RE industry is the Real Book of Real Estate; it's in the Rich Dad Poor Dad company. It covers 15+ topics in real estate. If you've already got your focus, awesome. If you're curious about how vast this market is and you want some background listening, check out that book.

Vivid Vision is good for goal setting and finding clarity in your mission.

Good luck and let me know if I can ever help in the Detroit area.

@Dave Meyer - Done. Thanks for asking your customers! We appreciate the work you do!

@Lauren Hogan - Woohoo! Thank you Lauren and team!

@Ronald Starusnak - congrats on the 11-unit! Evicting old ladies is a bit of a turn from a mobile home investment, if I'm remembering correctly! The section 8 route sounds really reasonable. I'm no lease expert, but checking with an RE lawyer on providing options between eviction, section 8 application, or a termination of housing only to welcome them back with market rents may be possible.

Caution: I'm not sure if the mechanics of the latter option is legal; I'm brainstorming here.

Hey folks,

I'm new as well and have just started visiting home to narrow in on what I'm looking for and to get better at "eye-balling" rehab problems/opportunities.

I'm with @Paul Day - that Real Book of Real Estate provides an amazing overview of how vast the industry is and where you can pick a speciality. Failing to do that, your progress would be slower as you'd be spreading yourself and your knowledge expansion too thin.

I'm in Calgary for a short time and I've heard the market here is quite depressed, however prospects for improvements are high and new home developments are still underway. I'd like to buy a property here within the next two years or so.

I live about an hour from downtown Detroit and I am looking for my first property there. For people concerned with starting at too high of a home price, there are stable rental markets in the Detroit Metro area where home prices are under $50 000 and rents are upwards of $650/mo. Check out Garden City, Inkster, and Westland for vast rental markets that weren't hit that hard in the last recession (compared to the "war zones" in other areas of Detroit). If I can help any of you folks out, let me know.

Take care and let's keep in touch.