All Forum Posts by: Jake Barney

@Andy Webb thanks a lot! 

@Kiera Underwood thank you! 

@Adrienne Green The townhouses were a suggestion from a good friend in the business. I think he has had a lot of issues with detached SFHs and he thought they would be less involved, especially for a newbie. I’ll be honest, it was a little less intimidating from my standpoint as well. That goes hand in hand with you point on condos as well, so I’ll keep that in mind. 

Thank you!

-Jake

@Neil Schoepp that’s great perspective, and I appreciate it.  The SF townhome was a suggestion from another investor friend.  His thought — buy something that is easy/less expensive to maintain. 

My goal is 10 properties in 5 years; so two per year. That to me is absolutely achievable. I do think with enough momentum that more is possible and would to transition to multi-family with enough experience.

The properties I am seeing are on the MLS, which I realize won't be the best deals. Finding those distressed properties does seem to be a key part to the equation. In addition to MLS searches, direct mail has been a consistent message in many of the podcasts I've listened to.

Also, have you had any luck with looking through courthouse records to target houses in probate? You also mentioned owners behind in payments, which I’ve heard mentioned before. How do you gain access to that kind of information?

Thank you again for your earlier response and any future guidance!

- Jake

@Marco Santarelli — thank you! I've been talking with some realtor friends and others that do investments. They had the same thoughts. I think expanding my search is great advice. I'm originally from Virginia Beach, VA, which is part of the Hampton Roads area. That area is much more reasonable and I think plenty of opportunity still. I'm also going to search in areas further away from the I-495 beltway in NoVA.s

Hi all, I'm just getting started in investing in the Northern Virginia area (NoVA). I've been listening to the podcast and reading whatever I can get my hands on. I'm certainly inspired and anxious to start.  I've been networking with agents and property managers; looking at listings and analyzing the costs and projected incomes.  NoVA -- like many other places -- is a notoriously expensive area, but Metro continues to expand westward to the airport and beyond. 

My goal is to purchase and hold two SF Townhome's annually for under $400K However, I'm seeing is that the estimated rent is never enough to get positive cashflow. For example, a townhome listed for $325K may rent for $1,700/mo. 

Does anyone have any advice? My only thought is to expand my geographical search, but should I also be rethinking my criteria?  Am I thinking too narrowly?

-Jake