All Forum Posts by: Ed Riggenbach

I have never used crime date to evaluate a property or the neighborhood.  Milwaukee is so block by block that I don't think data from a website can give you the information you need to decide.  If tenants are questioning a neighborhood, I always recommend them to drive around at different times of the day and see what they think for themselves.  As an investor it is also good to drive by and walk the neighborhood at different times of day so you can get a feel for it.  I look for the follow when I decide on an area. How many people seem to be just hanging out?  How many lawns aren't cut?  What condition are the other properties in?  What condition are the cars in?  If I don't feel comfortable going to a property, I won't buy it for myself or manage it for someone else.  

I've worked with some out of state investors and its hard to describe but there are some great pockets in the city that crime data would tell you to run from.  Get out and drive around is my advice.

Good stuff.  It's great that the city is creating more programs to work with investors and not just Owner Occupants.   If you are looking into City Owned Properties as an investor, they now have forgivable loans up to $15K per unit to assist with half the rehab cost.  

I start advertising and showing right away.  You don't want to bother your current tenant more than you have to so I suggest setting up 2 open houses for an hour each.  Do one open house from 5:30-6:30 on a week day and one early Saturday afternoon.  If you have your ads online a week ahead of time, you should have a decent turn out at each and be able to have your pick of applicants.  That's assuming the home is in decent condition and priced right.  

Get your current tenants opinion on the days and times of the open house and they are more likely to help you out by having the place clean and disappearing during it.

I would be happy to meet both of you while you're in town.  Milwaukee is a great city to invest and visit.  @Steve Vu I am interested to hear what neighborhoods you have chosen.

If the rent on a single family is only $850, it is either in a rough area or in rough shape if not both. Milwaukee has a lot of great areas to invest in but keep in mind that the neighborhoods do transition very quickly.  There are a lot of duplexes out there listed between 50-70k that will get 12-1300 in rent. Take brie's advice and get some eyes on the property and neighborhood before you spend to much time on it. 

I am looking for a new Plumber in the Milwaukee area. I manage 60 units and our company is steadily growing. I am extremely happy with all my contractors but have yet to find the "right" plumber. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

http://michaeldzell.com/ is an attorney is Stevens Point. He doesn't specialize in real estate but I'm sure he would be able to do a Power of Attorney or refer you to someone local.

Last year I managed a duplex in Milwaukee for an out of state investor who got taken by either the same company or a similar company in town. This investor did not do his research as @Brie Schmidt did and was caught in a very bad spot. When I looked up the property, the company had bought it for $10 K and sold it to him for $30 K within 2 months. It didn't look like they put more than $5 K into it and shoved it the first people they could find off the street. It was littered with code violations and needed at least $20 K to make rent-able. I felt bad for him but when he couldn't admit to himself that he was scammed, there wasn't much we could do to help.

Thanks for the welcomes. @Account Closed questions. Where are you moving from and do you have any areas in mind?

Thanks for passing this along @JOAN DICKIE