All Forum Posts by: David Ribardo

Hey @Chris McDonnell. What kind of properties do you have, and how are things working for you in the LV? Are you self-managing, or using a company? Any lessons learned, so far? What are you looking for in your next deal? What do you need to take your business to the next level?

 That's sound advice. It doesn't matter how good the market is, if you don't have the right folks on the ground working for you, you will never be able to hit your numbers. It's like a chain - from the deal source, to the agent, to the contractor, to property manager, to the tenant. Only when all of them are strong and well connected will you be able to accomplish your goals. Some of my clients are having an interesting experience with their move expanding down towards Philly right now. It's not because the market is any better or worse, it's just driven by the people that they have chosen to work with there.

My business coach always says, "the best date is the first date". I always say, "fire your property mangers early, fire them often, until you find the right one". Either way, surrounding yourself with a strong team on the ground is key to success.

Hello, and welcome to the community! I grew up in Plainsboro, and currently live, work, and invest in the Lehigh Valley. I'd recommend you take a look at this market too.

Comparative to Philly, you will find that the landlord / tenant laws are much more favorable towards investors. The ease of management, quicker turnaround if you have to do an eviction, and simpler inspection requirements make it a little nicer from a management perspective. The return on investment numbers are similar. The biggest challenge you will find here is a lack of inventory. In Philly there are tons of off-market deals available through wholesalers, but in the Lehigh Valley the ones that come across my desk usually have some deal-stopping issues. As such, we have had to come up with some creative strategies to get our clients properties. We typically are seeing new investors that are looking for a BRRRR strategy duplex go under contract within four weeks of starting their search.

@Randy Gutierrez thanks for the shout out! It was great seeing you the other day.

Matt, nice to meet you. My recommendation is to call the city building standards office at 610-437-7694. They will tell you what is and is not required for your specific situation.

I could sit here and quote the city codes... But they are the ones that ultimately are enforcing them, and will be much better sources of information. 

Of note, my team has closed some tough off market deals that definitely didn't come with any sort of inspection. A friendly call to the inspector office and offering to clean up the paperwork as soon as closing completed was quite acceptable to them. 

Huge shout out, thank you to @Justin Brownfor putting this together. Last month was my first time getting out of the house for a meetup in a while, and I forgot how much fun they can be. He has really put together an awesome crowd!

Sandeep, pleasure to see you here! There are tons of good agents that should be blowing up this post!

Hey Justin! I see a lot of folks giving you advice here, but much of it seems to be based upon promoting their self-interest.

What are your goals with your investing? If you are looking to retire in 5 years, that will be very different than someone looking to build a generational wealth and pay for their kids college. What is your risk tolerance? Do you want to be hands-on, or hands off? Are you looking at local markets where you can work in person, or are you willing to trust a remote team?

The Lehigh Valley is very different in terms of the wholesaling market. Yes, there are folks that you can buy deals from here. However, it's not quite like Philly, where there are tons to be had. Be wary of using one for your first deal, as most of them leave you exposed to risk in one way or another compared to an on-market deal.

My biggest bit of advice, is to seek guidance from somebody who specializes in helping new investors like yourself get up and running. You should never have to be someone's guinea pig. When I got started years ago down in Louisiana, I had not one but two agents, property management company, and a contractor that I thought were going to be a great fit. Unfortunately, they sold me three properties that turned out to be on the lower end of the market, needing tons of rehab. Ultimately those became a great lesson learned and what not to do. If you're seed money is $30,000, something like that could set you back years. Make sure your first one is profitable, don't try and swing for the fences, but find something that's going to generate you a consistent and positive return. If you ever want to talk more, let me know, it looks like we're local!

Hello Ryan, great conversation topic. 

I grew up in NJ, and spent eight years on active duty with the Army. I bought my first house in Columbus, GA. When I moved to another duty station, I handed the keys to a property manager. I had no idea what I was doing. I watched my stock market account shoot wildly up and down, while this property consistently handed me checks for $1,150 each month... the rental property was a better performer. I quickly became curious on how I could repeat the process.

When I was settled down in rural Louisiana, I decided to allocate my portfolio almost entirely into real estate. I worked with two agents, read every BP post I could, and poured through books. That summer I closed on seven units - two duplexes and a three unit. My agent, lender, and property manager all agreed that I would be 100% occupied by Christmas. Boy, were they wrong! We couldn't find a reputable contractor, and I ended up having to renovate six of the units myself. I did all the flooring, painting, tile, appliances, and fixtures, which took over two years of my free time. Lesson learned - just because an agent says they work with investors, doesn't mean they actually have any idea what they are talking about. 

My next venture was with remote investing again. My partner in Atlanta and I bought a eight unit building which we held onto for just over a year. We picked it up for $365k, filled it with good tenants, did some rehab work, and sold it for $480k and a nice profit. I also did some private lending. This proved to be low-stress and a good fit for helping keep cash deployed when my time was already being spent elsewhere.

Once getting out of the Army, I moved to the Lehigh Valley. I got my real estate license with the intent of buying a property, fixing it up, and handing the keys to a management company. I quickly found my presence on Bigger Pockets provided me with a steady stream of investors looking to work with me as an agent. Since I enjoy coaching, teaching, and mentoring them to have successful businesses, this has taken precedence over my own investing. Over the past five years this grew to the establishment of my sales, property management, private lending, and contracting businesses. Now I get to work full time to help new investors get started , and help established investors move into an awesome market. 

One of the key things that has been amazing is the ability to apply a team based approach. By bringing together some folks that are absolutely rock stars, we have given each other the freedom to work remotely and on a flexible schedule. I've spent more time with family, been able to teach flying and diving to students, and been able to start a volunteer organization. Was it a smooth or easy process to get here? No. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Hi John! Overall, I've seen the demand for contractors remain extremely high. In the past year, 629 investment properties were sold, compared to 691 last year, for a decrease of 9%. In the grand scheme of things, this shows higher interest rates cooling demand.

For my team business, investors that I'm working with who are looking at the NY/NJ markets or comparing Real Estate to conventional investments, and continuing to buy here in the Valley. This has kept our contractor team working full time. 

Overall - there are plenty of good contractors out there, but with demand so high, they get to be picky about who they work with. Be a good investor, take care of your team, and you won't have any issues.

Hey Matt, good to see you on here!

https://www.camaplan.com/ is my recommendation. From my personal experience they are fantastic, and have provided my clients all the knowledge necessary to understand the requirements of SDIRA investing.