All Forum Posts by: James H Webb III

Finally closed on the house! Thank you to everyone that  helped the process went seamlessly. My loan officer facilitated the contract and we negotiated price and closing costs over beer by the pool. Hopefully will have a tenant in place soon!  

I just closed on my first ever real estate buy and hold deal! I am meeting with a few property management companies in a few days and have a small quandary. I called two companies that service the area and got two very different responses. I will list them below.  ( paraphrased )  

Property Manager A: Very confident we can get your property listed and rented quickly for $1000 a month. I have actually sold that very house you are in and while I don't normally service that county we should be able to get it rented to a good tenant with little to no down time. We will charge a premium which will be 15%, but we do so because we are the best and provide a better service than all competing property management companies.

Property Manager B: Yeah that property is in a good location that I am very familiar with. We service around 100 properties not only in that county but your town specifically. $1000 a month is not out of the realm of possibility, however I will more than like list it for $750 a month and we only charge 10%. While other companies may quote you higher potential list prices you can assure the number I tell you can be taken to the bank. If I can get more I will. Our main goal is to get a great low maintenance tenant in place so you can lay back as the investment property does its job.

...Property manager B is an acquaintance of mine that has always been a pretty stand up gentleman. I have done real estate transactions with "acquaintances" before that didn't go well. I am trying to take an impartial approach to hiring a property manager and want to interview both. The ultimate question I have is how do I discern the best property manager for my situation? Any advice on good interview questions or alternative ways to make a good hiring decision are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! 
 

@Geraldo Holter Awesome thanks! I will look for it now!

@Tyler Gibson absolutely! I have a title company I just used for a refinance on my current property that I can talk to and am working on the pre approval through my bank now. I don’t mind paying and agent and definitely see the value! I just struggle getting one involved when I found the property, negotiated the price, and did the financing myself.

@Jaysen Medhurst that is what I was thinking as well. I have an agent that I work with who is on board with my goals and understands my objective and he actually suggested I purchase the house without an agent. The general process is usually approval, inspection, appraisal, then closing. I see where you are coming from and will definitely use an agent as a fail safe if need be, however I think I’m TN you can buy a house without an agent without much difficulty.

I’m about to partner with a friend of mine on a single family real estate deal. The numbers look great and I will actually buying the house from him for his payoff and putting a down payment on it to increase cash flow and get a lower rate. There is one hiccup. I have no Idea how to buy a house without a real estate agent! Any advice or tips to speed this process up or things I need to look out for?

@Christopher Davis I am in the same area. About 45 miles south of Nashville and I have started to find through vigorous research deals that CAN be bought off the MLS that won't break the bank and should be able to get you a decent ROI. I'm a newbie as well and am putting my first offer in This evening! The Nashville market is so tough. I do have a mentor though in the Nashville area that is capitalizing on the cities growing population. Check out some properties in the Columbia TN market. It is dangerously close to Nashville, there is a college and a hospital, and you can find rent ready homes for under 130k before any negotiations. Again I am no professional but I did live in Nashville when my real estate big started to bite. I moved to Columbia on a whim and believe there is untapped potential in this town. Good luck!!!

@David Greene that was exactly my line of thinking. I actually found a neighborhood within an hour of where I live where you can buy a turnkey property 3 bed 2 bath for 100k with the right agent. I called a property manager and he said a few of the houses I have been looking at he has actually sold in the past and they would definitely rent for $1000 a month! With my planned down payment my mortgage would be $550/month which makes room for property management prices and maintenance.

@Anthony Ward that is definitely the method I would prefer! I’m sure I can find contractors, hard money lenders, find a distressed property, etc. My fear is that while I believe that’s the best strategy there are more moving parts that I will learn along the way and it could take me some significant time to get one rolling. Would it not be better to pull the trigger on something that needs light cosmetic work and get some skin in the game now, or try to figure out a different strategy and risk never getting started or not building equity for some time when I could start within the next 90 days.

I have been looking to get started in real estate for about a year now. I have a sound job and I've sold everything I have debt on except my house which I am refinancing so I can open a HELOC. I'm ready to pull the trigger on SOMETHING but I'm stuck in "analysis paralysis". With the money I make I will be able to afford a large enough down payment to where I can buy a house in my area and it be cash flowing immediately as a buy and hold strategy. I know "great investors" CREATE equity as opposed to BUYING it. The thing is I'm not a great investor, as of right now I'm not an investor at all and I have to change that. I'm already pre approved for a loan and can't take being without a rental property for much longer, but my fear of a poor decision has be stuck. Thoughts?