All Forum Posts by: Gareth Jackson

@Zachary Hickman Welcome to the world of REI. I understand your fear in getting started especially if you have gotten to the point of analysis paralysis. I think your next step should be getting familiar with the areas of Atlanta in which you believe you would like to invest. Drive the pockets, get a feel for the area and it will be easier for you to make decisions on properties when the time comes. Also, do not be afraid to familiarize yourself with areas that you may not have considered investing as well.

@Harry Williams I think the most important question to ask yourself is, do you feel like the agent is the reason the house has not sold. It would seem like 35 showings and 1 offer means there is a problem/ issue outside of the agent as to why it has not sold. What has the feedback been on the house from the showings? What is the average TDOM in the area?

@Caleb Heimsoth makes a good point. You do want to consider the appraisal for you as the seller. With that being said @Dan Mahoney makes a great point as well and has shown you some real scenarios where 2 appraisers can get completely different numbers for the same property. I have seen appraisals come back with terrible comps, i.e, much smaller, not rehabbed, split levels and 2 stories compared to a ranch subject property, etc. Appraisers unfortunately do not always know how to appraise investment properties for future improvements. If you do not feel good about the deal I would say walk away but if you are confident in the deal I would not let an appraisal alone to dictate your ultimate decision, just allow it to be a factor.  

@Padric Lynch My sister company is a hard money lender and they require borrowers to have a LLC as well.

@Michael Zuber I agree with your statement that real estate investing is a people business. Relationships make this business go and without them I do think it will be difficult to ultimately be successful. I also love your assessment about choosing the route that best suits your skills and your situation. This is great insight because you do not want to approach the business in a way that does not work for you because I do believe that is an easy way to make the kind of mistakes that end your investment venture before it can really begin. Great post. 

@Jeremy Masson I followed up with you and you are already working with Mr. Andre Grant here at my firm.

@Justin Montgomery I am glad you have been able to get your deals done with relative ease. My brokerage has had a number of investors utilize Angel Oak for hard money loans and the complaint that we have with them is timing as you mentioned. Some situations call for a quicker close and it can be difficult to get them to speed things up. @Jeremy Masson I am surprised to hear you say to ask for Jackson Jones simply because we have had multiple circumstances in which it has been difficult to even get him on the phone. I am glad you had a good experience. 

@Claire D. I would evaluate whether or not to do the work yourself based on a couple of things. First, how quickly can you complete the work? If you cannot complete it in nearly the same amount of time as a contractor I would say you may want to consider subbing it out. Thinking about holding cost in this scenario. Second consideration would be, could your time be better spent doing other things. If the amount of money saved (minus the value of your time of course) does not far outweigh the amount of money you could make or position yourself to make with that same amount of time then you may want to consider subbing out the work. I have heard from multiple investors who have completed rehab work on a project while holding down a job that it is miserable and they would not make that decision again.  

@Holden Katechis welcome to BP. I have not made the transition that you are making but my brokerage works with a number of contractors that also invest and I can say that deals are made even sweeter when you can manage a project yourself and get all your materials at cost. The rehab is a place where a lot of investors can go wrong so that knowledge and experience is invaluable. 

@Tiffany Campbell Welcome to BP. I am sure it is quite exciting for you to consider a shift from one career to another. Investment real estate is very exciting and I hope you have success. 1 bit of advice I have is do not put yourself in "analysis paralysis". It is very easy to keep consuming information and feeling like you never have learned enough. It can keep you from ever taking action.