All Forum Posts by: Connor Bell

Lindsay,

A couple questions:
May I ask why you are looking to sell? 

Was it rented via voucher? You mention the rent was $1,650. Was this what the latest tenant paid? How long did they stay?

CB

Hello BP Community, 

Eager to connect with wholesalers in the DC, MD, VA, and the Carolina's! Looking for SFR and MF up to $1m.

CB 

Hello BP Community, 

I just signed up for the 7 day free trial for RealtyTrac and I am curious to know if people have had success using this web app for buying foreclosures or utilizing some of the other info/services it offers? Just trying to determine if it's worth my time/$50 a month. Thanks for your help!

CB

@Brad Wood

Curious to know if you made any investments in Baltimore since you made your post? 

I would caution investing directly in Baltimore City unless you know it really well. As you correctly mentioned, Baltimore is block by block. I would instead focus on Baltimore County neighborhoods. Baltimore City data hasn't been encouraging over the last several years - population is shrinking (they saw their biggest drop last year and lowest pop. in a century), crime continues to spike (300+ homicides a year), and businesses are leaving.  

I see that you're a DC resident - have you looked at house-hacking here in DC? Completely doable in good up and coming neighborhoods. I always recommend house hacking before you do anything else in RE. 

@Austin Smith - Here are the options I would consider:

1) Don't buy him out. Why do you need to buy him out? Assuming this is a close friend, I would come up with a written agreement (nothing fancy) based on the deal the two of you thought you were getting into. However, if you do that, you do need to structure a promote or something for you for guaranteeing/originating the debt. You two got a deal done together, I would try to keep the relationship intact. 

2) Sell the property and distribute the profits based on each others pro-rata share of invested capital. Obviously the cleanest way but probably not much of an ROI on time/capital involved.

3) Offer a return of capital plus his share of what the profits would be today if you sold the deal (after selling costs) and maybe the net present value (at a fair discount rate) of projected cash flow/appreciation for the first year or two. Not a common practice in my experience but he deserves more than the profits today if he took the risk with you and you're the one that wants him out. If he wants out, that's a different story. 

Hope this helps!

@Account Closed - As I am sure you know, anyone who tells you they know what's going to happen is guessing. But I love talking about where the market is headed and I love guessing...so here's my guess: given that it's an election year and the impact of COVID on the economy has been severe (with national unemployment at 13%) I think the government will continue to throw money at the problem which will prop things up temporarily. When they stop throwing money at the problem and people look to go back to work (because they are no longer getting the extra $600 a week), if there aren't jobs for those people in the market you are investing in then I think you will see significant distress in the multifamily and the single family market...because at the end of the day, residential real estate performance is largely correlated with employment and wage trends. Be patient, opportunity is on the horizon. It just may be a year or two before we see it. 

@John Underwood - do you have any books you can recommend? Would love to learn more. 

@Account Closed - in my opinion, your first real estate investment should always be an attempt to house hack! I did it 5 years ago and it was one of the best decisions I have made. That said, I caution you on the "rent by the room" strategy. It works but I would use it as a back up option. Try to find a duplex first. You will likely have to push your pricing expectation but my guess is you will be able to house hack a lot longer in a duplex than with roommates (i.e. better value). I would also go Baltimore County or as close to the Inner Harbor as possible. 

@Christopher Grobbel - message me and I'll share the contact of my guy

@Russell Brazil thanks for the referral. Will do.  We should connect, would love to get on your distribution list for investment properties you come across. Always looking to add great agents to my team.