All Forum Posts by: Gary Parker

Please educate me :)  As a landlord I have experience receiving rent from Sec. 8 Housing but not purchasing a home.  Does Sec. 8 have some sort of down payment assistance to help you buy a house?

Many markets have seen a lot of appreciation and are VERY competitive.  Most areas are competitive because sellers know they can sell easily enough them self, and their are a record number of new investors.  It is all about marketing to find good deals.  

As far as AirBNB goes, make sure the city you are looking in hasn't made if difficult to operate a short term rental.  Once you find favorable cities, I would market in those cities.

Daniel Harris I would suggest recording a Notice of Interest or similar document to help prevent that.  I would also add to your contract that the seller is giving you permission to do that.  

I would stay away from the flood zone.  Partly because insurance will be much higher in a flood zone.

In my market days on market has doubled the last few weeks.  That sounds dramatic; however, DOM was 5 or so at one point for a specific range of properties.  And, we don't know if it is a blip or a trend or seasonal...only time will tell. Honestly, I am hoping for a bit of a slow down.  I am not sure there is an ideal market to rehab houses in.   In 2008 properties were a dime a dozen, and now the market is just the opposite in most areas.   In 2008 one would have needed to get fantastic deals on properties in order to list when the rehab is done at slightly below market.  Currently In my market, I am listing houses slightly above market because they will usually sell there.  I am willing to increase risk and take lower margins at this time in this market.  This means I can offer more $ to be compete with other buyers.  

I am considering mailing to landlords that have filed evictions excluding corporate owned. Does anyone else mail to this list? Some of my mailing lists such as probate I mail over and over for a long time. I am thinking on evictions to mail a letter as soon as the eviction is filed then maybe 1 or 2 more and that is it. I would like to hear thoughts on mailing to this list, how often and how many letters. Thank You.

I'm interested.

I think you will learn so much from owner occupying your 4 plex.   if I were young like you and had a cooperative spouse, keep buying the owner occupied 4 plexes as long as your lender will finance owner occupied.  Typically you need to live in the properties for a year then you can find another property.   

The key to direct mail is to consistently mail to the same people over time.  Perhaps pick a target market of people to mail to that is small enough to consistently mail to for several months with your budget.  The marketing Forum has many examples of of people you can mail to.  Maybe pick a group you can door knock to supliment your mailings.

Try Salt Lake Real Estate Investors Association  SLREIA.com