All Forum Posts by: Brian Faulkner

Most cities I have visited, the area around stadiums is typically so ran down...

Jennifer Wang Google "camera dynamic up" That will start you in the right direction you are looking for ones that offer dynamic ip support or they may list it as DDNS. Here is an example. http://www.lorextechnology.com/support/self-serve/Introduction-to-Network-IP-Cameras/2900039 Read under do I need a static IP. They offer DDNS support. I don't know anything about that brand. The only brand I have owned is folscam and repurposed old cell phones.

That is very unfortunate. Sorry that happened to you.

However:

"I had already paid for materials and labor to start the renovations, anticipating this would be happening end of December."

Pre paying for a property you do not own seems very questionable. 

Brandon Scott I would choose the best deal... Which deal is going to generate more money, the best return, and has the best potential for appreciation? The only consideration for multiple smaller properties I would have is that is diversifies my risk and my vacancies. The smaller properties would probably be more liquid.

@Michael Seeker Left in 2006, but I go back at least 2 times a year... all my friends, family still live and work in that area. 

"Louisville isn't an appreciation play"

This is really how I feel about the area. If my strategy is to buy and hold... then I want income today and appreciation tomorrow.  I don't want a bunch of 50-75K that I only get cash flow from. In the long run I'm not getting above average returns, and the lack of appreciation will possibly stifle my growth as an investor because I will have less leverage to use for future acquisitions. 

The career opportunities in that city are lack luster, as is the compensation. If i were in that area and investing I would look at Columbus or Indy.

Pavel Reyes Valdes I grew up there, here is my take. Louisville historically is an old manufacturing city. In its prime GE employed something like 50k people and today it's less then 5k. Fall city brewery, Phillip Morris, Colgate, etc filled in the rest of the jobs that made Louisville boom during the 50-60s. Today all of that is gone. Just guessing the number one employer is probably Humana. After that maybe YUM brands or UPS. I know AT&T has a call center there as well. But none of this is even close to filling in the the jobs of the manufacturing era. Pull up a job search engine and compare the number of jobs in various fields across Louisville compared to other cities and you will see a lack of opportunity and a lack of pay. From time to time they try to revitalize areas, 4th street live for example, but that In my opinion isn't enough. Of course if you find a deal take it... But if I'm looking for long term appreciation and cash flow, then the city need industries to move back in. Just my 2 cents.

Jennifer Wang IT expert here, I'll address some of the challenges. 1. The cameras at a remote location need to be able to be viewed via the Internet and they need to be able to upload recordings or snapshots to a central location. To do this they need an IP address and net access. If the property is vacant will there be Internet? If yes that's a start, but the next challenge is your ISP can and will change your public IP address from time to time. This usually means any apps for example that you had setup to view the cameras stop working. Think of it like having your phone number changed randomly. How would anyone know what number to call? Smarter cameras are able to phone back to a central location on a routine basis to report if their IP changed. If a PC or laptop is on site you can also have a piece of software do this for you. To combat this one option is just to buy a static IP. Or you can pay more for cameras that either have built in cellular unit that handles all of this for you. 2. Yes you can use mobile to connect to them, there are a couple of free apps on iTunes for example that will let you view up to 4+ cameras at one time. 3. Yes there are plenty of cloud storage options. A quick google search and you will find them, they all offer monthly plans and some of them will address the IP change issue mentioned in section one. As for free ones it depends on the cameras software, some can work with Dropbox, some not so well. But I would consider all of the features. As mentioned in another post a lot of these cameras have motion detection and sound + microphones, and they can be configured to only record when motion or sound is detected. A good monthly cloud service will then email you as soon as one starts recording. Last, there are retail camera packages that handle all of the above for you, but you usually pay the price. Say 500$ for a 4 camera system instead of getting cameras for say 40-50$ each off amazon and setting it all up your self. Let me know if you have any questions.

@Greg Baur I have seen multiple people refer to this book.

The Book on Estimating ReHab Costshttp://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Drew Lubsey Because a loan between two people isn't subject to the strict rules that Fannie and Freddie require from banks. A loan from your bank will require 25% down payment. But an investor might give me a land contract on his 4 plex for only 5 or 10% down.... Or every NO Money down!

Braden Jobson how did you find the property?