All Forum Posts by: Chris Watkins

Grab a list of local banks and credit unions in the area and start calling, you will be surprised what you may learn from making those calls. 

Welcome from Payson! Be sure to listen to the podcasts - they are pretty incredible resources as well. 

Anyone know of any good resources for how to "learn market cycles, demographics and trends related to population growth and appreciation."? More than just websites to access the data (because it's different in every place), i'd be interested in books that teach how to analyze the data. Any good book reads on market cycles? real estate and demographics/trends, etc...?

@David Cline and @Nik Krohn - Regarding the Mother-in-law set up: That is a great idea. There are many properties that come on the market which have a "legal accessory apartment". That is what you are looking for. You don't want a "Mother-in-law apartment" because you can't legally rent it out to anyone other than family. Sometimes it's confusing and you hear mother in law and legal accessory apartments used interchangeably. Unless you have family to rent to - go for the legal accessory apartment. Although, frequently I will see someone list their property which has a legal accessory apt for the same price as a duplex which is crazy to me. But sometimes you will find deals on homes with an accessory apartment that are much more affordable than the super hot MFR market right now.

Welcome to the forum @Matthieu Miser! Looks like we've got a little bit of the same background (entrepreneurship, marketing, outsourcing, mission). Love the idea of using your marketing and entrepreneurship skills for the "edge". It's a crazy market at the moment with multi-units here in Utah. Seems as though the inventory is really low and the demand is super high which drives up the cost. In fact, there are less than 200 active multi-units for sale on the MLS in the entire state! Doesn't mean you can't find deals - just means you've gotta utilize all your skills for the "edge". Hope our paths cross sometime in the near future and good luck to you and your pursuits.

Some of the best advice I ever got was from a mentor who is a solid entrepreneur who said, "This time in your life is the best time for you to take risks because you've really got nothing to lose". That is what drove me to start my own business in college, get my real estate license, and begin investing all I could. 

Welcome to the forum. I'm fairly new to the forum as well. I've been surprised at how thorough people are with answering my questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions!

I don't know about where you live, but here in Utah there are a few different credit union/portfolio lenders out there who offer a first time home buyer 100% financing (or very close to it - 1% down payment). The interest rate here is in the high 4% range which is a premium compared to market rates on a 30 yr term but still a great deal for no money down. Check around the area for portfolio lenders.

You can get homes in the 30k-45k price range in Ohio and Michigan and surrounding states. They typically require a bit of rehab, someone who is willing to own in a tough neighborhood, and willing to deal with high turnover and unpaid rents. There are some success stories out there but it's a bit of a headache. However, rents in those areas are sometimes $400-600 /mo which is quite good for the acquisition price. I used to work for a company who acquired all sorts of homes in this range. Lots of the homes under 30k are condemned by the city, have tax liens, or other craziness. 

What a great example of determination. Way to stick with it. Congratulations!

Yup - I don't have an HOA