All Forum Posts by: Franky Aikens

No matter the industry, behind every successful business, there's is a proven effective system.  You can't mention the concept of systems without mentioning technology. Automation is the most powerful tool businesses could harness and with so many platforms and technologies to leverage there are many ways to achieve a level of automation to streamline processes. This is truer today than ever before in Real Estate.

What technologies and or platforms are you using to automate your processes and make them less manual? How are you using this technology and how has it impacted your investing process?

@Matthew Irish-Jones All great questions, Matthew. Many of which I haven't made a conclusion on yet. But, my overarching thought was that there could be an arbitrage opportunity with having a vested partner who can also handle the renovations. I've seen this contractor's work and he and his company as a whole have a stellar reputation.

Honestly, its been my experience with him that made me think of having a partner, to begin with.

Whether it would be buy and hold or flips is TBD.

@Josh Hill Appreciate your thoughts and I think you're on to something regarding the pace at which this transfer of real estate will happen. I've been reading more into the topic and much of what I've found speaks to how this generation may not be willing to move out of their homes so quickly. Life expectancy has extended. People are working beyond retirement age. Kids are coming back home to live with their parents and in term provide support day to day living. Culminate these factors with those that I mentioned in the initial post (debt soaked millennials and pro-renters), the turn over could take longer than many think.

It's an interesting topic and I'll be following int continuously for sure.

@Frank Geiger Very solid advice, Frank.  Thank you!

@Sean Poulos That book has been on my list of "Must Reads" for too long. Going to pick it up ASAP!  This contractor has a great reputation and would be the ideal person to have this type of partnership with. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

@Frank Geiger A lot of great points, Frank. There's a lot to consider and agree upon. You've flagged some great details to discuss with this potential partner. Have you or someone you know created a partnership with a contractor before?  Wondering what kind of learnings I could glean from any first/second-hand experiences.

Hello BP!

I may have an opportunity to take on a contractor as an investment partner.  His business acumen is great and he doesn't really good work. On paper, it seems like it would be a great idea. Just kicking the tires on the idea as of right now and haven't really conceptualized what the partnership structure would look like.

Wondering what everyone's thoughts are on having a contractor as an investment partner.  

What are the pros and cons and would this be something to seriously consider?

@Killian Ankers This is something that just came up yesterday with a place I'm purchasing as a primary residence. right now its a 3 bedroom but we wanted to remove a wall on one bedroom to make it an open space office. My financer and real estate agent told me I should rethink that option because of resale/rental value for the future. We don't plan on being there more than 3-4 years (our little one will be starting school and we'd move to the burbs).

But as others have mentioned, the answer to your question is largely market dependent. In my case, my financer is looking at things very black and white - and the prevailing school of thought from that perspective is that 3 is better than 2.

If you buy right you could make the differentiation a non-factor and charge 2 rb rents for a 3 br unit which would make you much more competitive for folks looking for either or. Of course, this only if you're having a struggle getting a tenant in there.

We're at the beginning of an interesting time in real estate. The nation's largest generation is starting to downsize which means they are selling their homes to capture the years of equity from mortgage pay downs and appreciation so they can move into a more manageable living situation. An unbelievable 50% of all homes in America are owned by the over 55s They are a motivated group of sellers as many of them will be using the profits from the sale of their home pay for assistant living/smaller apartments.

This could be a huge opportunity for those who are prepared to take advantage of the windfall of inventory but who will be buying them and will there be enough buyers to avoid devaluation due to the surplus of inventory? With Millennials being strapped for cash and preferring to be renters and Gen X'er that are still feeling the effects for the 2008 crash, who else can handle that much inventory? Wall Street?

How does one tap into this market to find deals before they are listed? Has anyone else found this to be a point of interest/opportunity?

@Keigen Hogan Your market, product preference, etc does matter but your specific question is really about how much risk you should take since you're just starting out. The fact that you asked if you should save more money sounds like you are weighing risk against your eagerness to get started.

Honestly ask yourself a question - what is your level of risk tolerance? The answer should tell you what direction you should go in.

Good luck!