All Forum Posts by: Traver Freeman

 That's what I was thinking, I just didn't want to "put all my eggs in one basket" so to speak. But if I buy a duplex for $80,000, I'd be able to take in two doors of rent but only one property expense to deal with. So I may look for something along those lines.

I have not, though I have looked at some inland cities close to here, and they have properties in my price point, but they also boast some of the highest unemployment rates in the nation (so does where I live, unfortunately). So they aren't very appealing areas for consistency and reliability.

I will check out some of the places you listed, though I'm not familiar with how renting to military would work. Could you explain that? And manufactured homes would come with land fees would they not? I looked at a manufactured home to live in myself about two weeks ago, and the fees just for the spot were $800. That might as well be an HOA fee. So the income has to offset that fee as well, unless I have the tenant pay it.

@Jeremy Tillotson I would be open to Fort Wayne as I have relatives there and have been there a few times so I've got a basic understanding of the highway system.

When you say 700 a month are you meaning about 300 a month per room? And about college housing in general, are the rooms not occupied for 3-4 months out of the year leaving you foot the bill without income? How does that work? I live in a college town myself and have been told the only way I could make buy and hold work here is with college housing as I could easily rent for $600-$800 a room here. I just can't afford the down payments here. 

I've been doing research on markets for buy and hold for about a month now. I'm checking unemployment rates, population growth, purchase price, rent rates, percentage of renters, etc. and I'm still having trouble identifying a solid market for my price range. 

My main problem is I don't have a whole lot, but I want to begin investing. I've been interested in investing for about a year, but circumstances have propelled me to start taking action. 

I'm living in San Diego, and starting out here with a family and one income at entry level is relatively killer. I've been working two jobs and still barely paying our bills. We've cut down and cut back on every possible avenue and it's still not enough. My wife just got a part time job, and that will allow us to be positive monthly, but we will hardly see each other and never have the weekends off together. 

So my current plan is to find a good cash flowing property to "help" offset our deficit, though my main goal is to save the positive income for future investments. 

Right now I've got about $28,000 in the bank and $16,000 in comfortable playing around with.

Putting 20% down, I'm looking at buying two $30,000-$40,000 properties or one $60,000-$80,000. I'm looking for advice on which direction to go as well as what market falls into that category. 

I've looked at a few cities that seem to meet the criteria for a good market in that price range, but I have no idea if that's how much the ordinary house costs or if I'd be buying the dumpiest house in town.

I appreciate any and all insight either about markets or suggestions and how to take the few funds I have and put them to good use. 

@Ramon Jenkins, I just stumbled across this post as I am in almost the exact same position as @Clyde Notti as I'm from SoCal looking at possibly investing in Milwaukee. Would you be able to message me a good attorney to contact as well? Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the advice and offers for help. She said they're still just sorting through his stuff and she would let me know when they were ready to move on to selling. Once she gets back with me I will look at contacting one of you for further information!

Yesterday in my 9-5 I met an individual who may be a good lead for a deal. I wanted to get some advice about what questions to ask to determine if it is even a deal or not.

Let me first provide some foundational information. I am located in San Diego, CA. I found about the deal because she had told me she had just traveled 600 miles. Upon asking her what brought her to San Diego, she said her brother had passed away and she was taking care of his estate. I asked if she was going to be selling the home and she said yes.

She said she just had it appraised at $420,000. I do not know many details about the actual square footage or number of rooms at this point. She said it is on 2 acres of land. Somebody, I can't remember who (either the appraiser or a realtor) told her with a little bit of work the property could be worth $800,000. That seems quite a jump to me, but not totally out the price range of this area. I intend to get the address and check comparable properties in the area.

She mentioned she thought about hiring some contractors and doing the work herself, but she said she really doesn't want to have to deal with it, so she is deciding not to.

What type of questions do I need to ask or what research can I do to obtain a realistic ARV on the home. What information do I need to determine this?

I have only recently begun to look at real estate investing and have yet to do my first deal, so I know next to nothing but what I've been reading and listening to on the podcast. I do know that these properties that have not been listed are where you find great deals, so I thought I'd mention it on here and see what advice I could get.

If you had met this individual and this was all the information she gave you, what more would you want to know at these initial stages?

It is being listed as one unit on one plot of land, so that would make it commercial then. Thank you.

If two duplexes and SFH are being sold in one sale, advertised in the listing as 5 units, is that commercial, or is it still residential because it's 3 separate houses? I am watching my market and I noticed a newer listing that's in my price range, but as I'm looking for my first investment, I don't know that commercial is the way I want to go right off the bat.

@Larry Fried By "in house", do you mean turnkey companies that also are property managers so that everything is done under one company?