All Forum Posts by: Chris Heinmiller

@Ned Carey I suppose my concern was with the government liens @Bruce Lynn brought up. How can you catch these? I'm sure this goes without saying, but what I don't want is to win a house that has double the amount I bid, in IRS liens or in some other type of lien. I have heard most of the governing authorities are relatively open to negotiating on these gov liens, but I'd rather know about them before the auction then find out after. 

My county has tax deed auctions 1-2X a month. Although I haven't bought a tax deed property yet, I have been practicing by going through the due diligence process on the properties that will be auctioned and then checking, post-auction, to see how I would have stacked up against those who actually bid on the properties. You can tell a lot of people get auction fever as they bid at, or over market value for some of these properties. That said, there are always a handful of properties that go for 80-90% below market value, some of these properties being relatively nice condos and other homes. I can't help but wonder what I'm missing, as that seems too good to be true...thoughts?

Thanks for the feedback, gentlemen!

Hey Vincent-

I actually work down in the 32206 (Springfield) area and I completely agree with @Paul Hoffert- it's a street-by-street basis. Porchfest, for instance, occurs every year and the homes along that route are highly desirable/ pretty expensive. You're completely safe to be out walking around on the streets along the PF route, but a street or two over, you're probably going to want to stay in your car. There a multitude of streets in that area for which the same can be said...

I have driven around this area, going to and from work in the early morning, middle of the day and in the middle of the night and there are definitely areas in which I, personally, would not want to live. That said, the whole area continues to explode with homes that have either been flipped or have been torn down and rebuilt. Furthermore, the industrial/ retail areas are slowly starting to be purchased/ leased by businesses that attract people from all over Jacksonville (i.e. String Brewery, Silkies Fried Chicken, etc.).  The area is so close to downtown that a lot of people are willing to live in a less-desirable area, knowing that they have a shorter commute, and for those who purchase, there is the potential for some pretty significant appreciation, should the area continue to develop and change as it has been.  

@Chris Reese really interesting insight regarding looking at the types of restaurants in the area. I never really thought about that, but it makes a ton of sense!

Morning BP!

Sorry for the duplicate post- I wasn't sure if this category or "HUD, VA, and Tax Sales" was the correct category...

Does anyone have any advice regarding doing your own title searches? I've been spending a considerable amount of time researching the tax deed sales process in Florida, and although I'm starting to feel a bit more knowledgeable and comfortable with the process overall, there is still one component that really scares me- title searches.

I know you can pay an attorney or a title company to run a title search for you, but that can be expensive, especially considering I'll want to run titles on multiple properties at once (in preparation for a tax deed auction). In addition, considering the best time to research the properties in question would be 24-48 hrs before the auction (to ensure you aren't researching too many properties that will ultimately be redeemed/ paid off by the owner), I'll need to turn the title searches around pretty quickly.

I know how to pull records using the county clerk website and I know it is important to have a clear chain of title, but there is so much info that comes up when you do one of these title searches. What's important? What is irrelevant? Any big gotchas and watch-outs? I have not yet purchased my first tax deed property, so I worry that I'll execute the process relatively effectively, just to realize that I missed or misinterpreted something that will result in having to pay thousands for something on which I wasn't planning.

Thanks,

Chris

Morning BP!

Does anyone have any advice regarding doing your own title searches? I've been spending a considerable amount of time researching the tax deed sales process in Florida, and although I'm starting to feel a bit more knowledgeable and comfortable with the process overall, there is still one component that really scares me- title searches. 

I know you can pay an attorney or a title company to run a title search for you, but that can be expensive, especially considering I'll want to run titles on multiple properties at once (in preparation for a tax deed auction). In addition, considering the best time to research the properties in question would be 24-48 hrs before the auction (to ensure you aren't researching too many properties that will ultimately be redeemed/ paid off by the owner), I'll need to turn the title searches around pretty quickly. 

I know how to pull records using the county clerk website and I know it is important to have a clear chain of title, but there is so much info that comes up when you do one of these title searches. What's important? What is irrelevant? Any big gotchas and watch-outs? I have not yet purchased my first tax deed property, so I worry that I'll execute the process relatively effectively, just to realize that I missed or misinterpreted something that will result in having to pay thousands for something on which I wasn't planning.

Thanks,

Chris

Morning BP!

Does anyone have any experience using PropertyOnion.com? 

Considering how crazy the real estate market is here in Florida, I've been evaluating alternate means of sourcing potential investment properties, one of those being tax deed sales. Although I have not yet purchased my first tax deed property, I have been spending a considerable amount of time researching the tax deed sale process and the tools that can be used to streamline the process as much as possible- one of those tools being PropertyOnion.com.

The website seems to provide a wealth of knowledge for pretty much any property you'd like to research, and provides data that could be useful to a variety of RE investors. Although the "free version" provides a ton on useful information, the "premium/ paid-for version" seems to provide wider variety of helpful tools and features that further streamline the RE research process. One of the most useful features on the website is the title search feature, but for $50/ search, I worry about the accuracy/ thoroughness of the searches (yes, I know I can do title searches myself- I'll post about that in a different forum). 

I've spent a decent amount of time playing around on the website and will probably go ahead and buy the premium version. My concern is that there aren't a ton of outside reviews (i.e. those not on the PropertyOnion website), but I don't think the tool has been available for very long (or at least I haven't come across it until recently), so this would explain a lot. 

Does anyone have experience with PropertyOnion? Is it worth it? I'm also interested in possibly taking one of their 8-week long tax deed investment courses, but they're pretty expensive for a company that doesn't seem to have a ton of credibility, although the "professor"- Phil Kessler- seems to really know what he's talking about and has been a guest on a could RE podcasts I listen to.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Chris

@Dustin Hampton I completely agree. It's interesting seeing the streets where Porchfest takes place, which are full of beautifully restored homes, and then walking a street over and being quickly reminded that you aren't in the best part of town. There seem to be some new businesses popping up in downtown Springfield like Strings Brewery and I know there were plans for other restaurants and bars before COVID started, which is always a good sign. Some of the less historic areas do seem to have the outlying "restored property", but I really do think those areas will get more attention in the coming years. I'm mostly interested in cashflow, with appreciation being a close second. While I don't think tenants necessarily care about whether or not a home is in a historic district, I do think finding someone who can afford the rent necessary to justify rehabbing one of the homes down there can be challenging if the property is on a street with a bunch of crack houses. 

@Carrick Young congrats on wrapping up the project! Did you rehab with the intention of placing a section 8 tenant, or did it just play out that way? Melvin road is most certainly "The Westside". I'll be really interested to hear about your experiences with section 8. Out at the beaches there is an entire complex that I am about 90% sure is dedicated to Section 8 housing. It was just torn down and rebuilt with the intention of still using the complex for Section 8. This property is maybe 6 blocks from the beach, right off Beach Blvd, so prime location. They could very easily have sold the land off for a huge chunk of change, so for the owner to put that much time and money into completely renewing the property, there has to be some pay off with Section 8. 

Nice to meet you, Jack! I really appreciate the info.

Good Morning BP,

I wanted to introduce myself, my name is Chris Heinmiller and I am a long-time listener to the BP podcast, and have been a lurker on the BP forums for even longer. I have been fascinated with real estate since I was pretty young and am just now finding myself able to start investing, from a financial standpoint, although I don't want to start until I have completed grad school (in about a year). With that said, I felt now was an appropriate time to start getting a bit more involved with BP and taking a deeper look at investment opportunities in Jacksonville, FL, which is where I currently live. 

I'm most interested in doing either a fix and flip or a BRRRR and I'd like to learn a bit more about two specifics in the Jacksonville market: Springfield properties and Westside Section 8 properties, so any insight anyone has on either of these subjects would be greatly appreciated. I have worked on the Westside for the past 4 years, so I am very aware of the potential dangers of this area and specifically, the parts you don't want to hang around in after the sun goes down...

I really like the Springfield area, as it seems to have significant potential due to expansion of local businesses, in addition to being in very close proximity to a handful of large hospitals and predominant businesses in downtown Jacksonville. For this reason, the area has seen a significant inflow of investors looking to fix/flip existing properties, most of which were built in the early 1900's, or those whom plan to do complete tear-downs and build new construction. There are a good amount of properties that can be picked up for $50-75K and, based on comps, seem to have decent ARVs, and can command decent rent prices for buy and hold investors. While I feel there is great opportunity in Springfield, the potential pitfalls and gotchas with properties this old and that need such extensive levels of renovation, are a bit daunting for a first time investor, even though I plan on having a GC do 99% of the work. Thoughts?

I'm also really interested in Section 8 housing on the Westside. I know there are a lot of misconceptions about Section 8 tenants and Section 8 properties overall, but the more I learn, it seems to be a relatively misjudged realm of real estate. Although there is the possibility of having bad tenants, as is the case with any type of real estate, it seems that there are some pretty stringent rules that hold both the landlord and tenant accountable for the condition the property, rent payment (or at least the portion owed by the tenant, if applicable), etc. I also love the thought of having the majority of your property's rent payment show up in your bank account on the first of every single month, without question and the fact that many section 8 tenants seem to stay in a property long-term. Finally, these properties can be picked up for almost nothing ($20K or less in some cases) and require no high-end finishes or fixtures, so renovations and general upkeep can be done relatively cost effectively. Anyone have any experience with Section 8 in Jax, specifically?

What am I missing here? Are there any additional areas/ property types I should be evaluating in Jax? If I do decide to hold/ rent a property, I plan on using a property manager. 

Thanks,
Chris