All Forum Posts by: Ernest Grindle

The assessed value, sale price, and appraised value are all based on different opinions. $100k is a very large spread but there are lots of reasons it could still appraise for the asking price. If you're working with an agent (which is usually no cost to you as a buyer) then your agent can show you some comparable sale prices to give you an idea of what it will appraise for. I'm guessing this is a conventional buy, so make sure you have and use your inspection contingency to check for it being an approved triplex, and make sure you have your financing contingency in case the appraisal comes in low. Even if it cash flows, you still don't want to over pay.

You can also stop in to the Hampton Roads Landlord Association and talk with other landlords there. It's free other than you have to buy your lunch. They are on the first Wednesday of the month. Patti Robertson is the host, and also a prominent property manager and investor in the area. You can find the group on Meetup.

Hello @Dwight Anderson and welcome! Do you have any ideas on what you want to do in real estate? BiggerPockets is a great place to meet and learn about anything you care to know for real estate. There are also lots of great groups and meetups you can join; VA Peninsula Real Estate Investors Association (PREIA) is up on the peninsula so that will be close for you (meetup.com/va-preia) . There is also Tidewater Real Estate Investors Group (TRIG) which is a much larger REIA in Virginia Beach (trigofva.com). And the Hampton Roads Landlord Association (HRLA) meets in Virginia Beach (meetup.com/HRLandlordAssoc).

Welcome @Antonio Bryer and that is great that you and your wife are both in on this venture. Are you planning to invest near where you live in Vienna or is Hampton Roads in your sights too?

Congratulations @Tim Murphy on taking down your 2nd property. I have a house that had polybutylene piping and also had trouble with the insurance. I decided to replace it but that would be really difficult to do with tenants already in place.

I'm all over Suffolk. Depending on location and property I do different things. North Suffolk I'm more likely to flip; downtown I'll most likely rent; south can go either way but due to driving distance and no property management I'll probably flip.

@David Nacco I bought my first investment property from Candace Saunders at Saunders Real Estate Pros, and she's based out of Franklin. She'd be a great person to talk with agent to agent.

Yes, I'm a big fan of Suffolk. The city is squared away and you get good price to rent ratios. From every aspect I think it's the best city in Hampton Roads. But I'll buy in all cities, and I've been having good experiences in Newport News and Franklin also. I guess the thing these three cities have in common is they are further out than many investors want to go, so you get some advantage there (i.e. less competition) and also some disadvantage (i.e. I can't get @Patti Robertson to manage any of these :) ). For my situation, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Coincidentally the only city I shy away from is Portsmouth, primarily because I listen to everything Patti says (although her favorite city is Norfolk). Right now 80% of my portfolio is in Suffolk.

@Kevin Sack @Kenny Rains @David Nacco

Hi Jesse, that's awesome you have a building under contract! Congratulations. I think it's the NOI and cap rate but will defer to the more experienced folks to answer you. I just wanted to say congrats.

I use Caplan Law and Viking Title.