All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Adam Farmelo are you by chance a Survival Podcast listener? That’s the only other place I’ve heard Geoff Lawton’s name.

I am by no means a high tax guy or an environmentalist, but it’s probably time for us to start paying more for water.

Actually, it’s not even technically an issue of taxes. We simply need to start paying what water is worth as opposed to what we are used to paying .

also, I believe most of the water use is agricultural. I would imagine Geoff Lawton would have something to say about all of that mono-cropping in the desert.

I've got 3 houses in the area (Hoover and Helena). I've had them for about 2 years, so as is the case with just about everywhere, what I did then may be hard to do right now. But I want to speak to crime/poverty. Take it with a grain of salt: I'm out of state, investing in a pretty good area, and leaning on advice/impressions I have gotten from my realtor (@Rob Drum and my pm @Mark Byers) both of whom grew in in Bham.

In general, I would say the average area Birmingham has a more crime than most comparable cities, but it tends to be petty/random, as opposed to gang-related/organized. That being said, my metro area (Phoenix) probably gets associated with cartel violence, but it doesn't effect my life one bit and I never think about it (and let's hope that bubble doesn't get burst). Crime, like real estate, is local...very local. The only time I am exposed to the real crime in my life is at the downtown neighborhood where I got to church, and ironically, with a few exceptions, it's the same type of petty crime I would generally associate with Birmingham.

Hoover, Trussville, Helena and probably Leeds and Moody are some of the more stable areas that come to mind when investing here. I am certain other people have more thoughts, but those are mine.

@Richard V. My wife and I have two in Hoover and one in Helena. Zero issues getting them rented. I mean, fill times have been anywhere from 2 weeks to maybe 6  weeks. I was never worried, so it must not have been long.

Pulpit time: We have had good experiences with all of our real estate purchases thus far (numbering 6 across three states-including primary residencences, as well as rentals). Lay out a healthy down payment, stay in warm weather areas and look for good schools (in as much as I can trust public schools, but that is another story). 

It's not the only way to invest, but it has just worked for us. Hoover and Helena have pretty good schools, so that fits our model. We probably get an average of about 1400 a month in gross rent off of properties worth about 195k each and bought for about 180k or so each. You can cash flow better in other areas on Bham, but you will have more drama. It's totally viable, just not my bag.

Good info, Jason! Thank you.

Some friends are trying to buy more properties since money is cheap (but not always easy, as they are finding out). They have great assets, but no credit history (it's all in the past). They asked me, but I'm stuck.

They were aware that this could be a problem, so they were monitoring their credit on Credit Karma. Surprisingly, merely applying for a card raised the score from 660 to 730. This happened even before the cards were received in the mail. At this point, they felt they were ok to start looking at getting a HELOC to get more properties. But during the application, the lender told them they use a different model, and their lack of actual credit card activity for 5 plus years meant they were a no go for about 6 months as they establish credit.

Is anyone aware of manual underwriting options for HELOCs? The net worth of these people (both in terms of liquid and total net worth) is considerably more than the proposed line of credit.

Thanks.

I use Jeff Bost. No problems at all. I like him.

Obviously, the guide by @James Wise is great. I use @Mark Byers for management and @Rob Drum for a realtor. The guide has it all, but in a nutshell, the affordable areas with decent schools I have focused on are Hoover (on the higher end), Trussville, Helena and Moody. Of course, check out the actual schools for your property, because some times there are negative outliers. There are other ways to go about things and make money in Birmingham, but I like areas where appreciatation potential is better due to schools, even if my rent to value isn't as great.

use @Mark Byers. that's my vote.

Try @Mark Byers.

@David Chappell No complaints, but it is still early on, so we will see.  By the end of July, each one will have turned over once.