All Forum Posts by: Garmeon Y.

Hello all,

My wife and I bought our first property that we're looking to rent out. We've found a candidate we're likely going to rent to, we've done the background/credit check and my wife's communicated extensively with the person via text message. Would it be okay in this instance to forego the face-to-face interview since the prospective tenant is from out-of-state?

Thanks!

Got it, but the foot looks like it was Big-Foot or something. 

@Patrick Connell the open-house guests discovered it. Why would you not?

...literally.

It's the day of open-house, lots of people. A guy from one of the groups was talking about all the things they were going to do with the place when he discovers this: someone had kicked in the door last night. The guy quickly pointed this to the agent (negotiation point, of course). The kicked in door went on the disclosures. What impact does this have on the sale in a hot market, none?

Note: there was an abandoned-looking red shopping cart in the neighbor's front lawn and the area is an "up and coming area" that's near a millionaire residential area. Would people get discourage by this?

If so, how do I adjust my offer accordingly? In addition, there are no strong comparables -- either ones from the millionaire neighborhood or into the "bad" side. Also, there haven't been many recent sales.

Your local hero,

Garm

What does a real estate investor do when there are no strong comparables within close proximity of a property? Would older sales be representative? Value based on standalone property criteria? Find a similar area/zip code?

@Chris Mason he's a tax accountant. I think what you're describing is closer to what I do...

@Joseph King PwC is the best in all things accounting.

I've been coming up with my own twist for marketing for off-market homes:

Might not be the most efficient, but rather than pay for a list I've been combing Zillow in target area codes for properties of interest. I plan to learn that area more by "driving for dollars" and identifying potential opportunities, at the same time. 

I'm saving all of this information on a spreadsheet and creating my own list, as well all the information I gather on each property. Not going to go with post-cards/yellow letters, instead I'll just print out my customized message on Microsoft Word. Also, I might only use postage for some of the envelopes, the others I'll hand deliver when I drive back to the area.

When I get the chance, I'll revamp my old blog, setup a website, wash my Instagram to be real estate-oriented, Facebook/Twitter/Youtube for real estate. Lastly, I got the idea from one of the podcasts, I might consider @Brandon Turner's idea of putting a sign on my car. Luckily, I don't have a wife that might disapprove. 

What do you all think? I'd appreciate any suggestions or input.

Sincerely,

Garmeon

I thought the question of this thread is "how to cash flow in the Bay Area?" not @Diane G. 's property, the better investment strategy, and the definition of an investor?

No one is personally offended, but I do smell a troll...