All Forum Posts by: Jason Howell

Thank you! That was clearly an assumption on my part. We hear everyone talking about "the" MLS. I just assumed the MLS to be something that Agents had access to equally across the US.

Honestly, not get the license saves me a lot of time and headache so this answer makes me happy. :)

Two years ago I started this journey of educating myself to prepare for out of state real estate investing (I'm near my 4th closed property via Turnkey in Indianapolis...within weeks of that).

Now I'm formulating my plan for taking more of this process into my own hands. But along the way, about a year ago, I signed up for a class at the Junior College near where I live to get a formal weekly basis of knowledge on Real Estate Principles, and now this semester, Fundamentals. The idea was less about becoming an Agent (which is largely what these classes prepare you for) and more about simply surrounding myself with a more traditional educational basis of knowledge on the industry at large, not to mention meeting people in class on a weekly basis, and all that comes with this kind of educational approach.

In the end, I'll likely be prepared enough to take the CalBRE Real Estate exam to get my license. If I've already gone through this much education, I might as well, right?

My question is: How useful is having that license for investing out of state? Sure, it'll be a California license, but I'll have access to the MLS and that's nationwide so that's a good thing... What other benefits might I see from having this license that I can apply directly to my goals of BRRRRing my own properties out of state? I'm not entirely interested in becoming an Agent. (I have a terrific day job) But that doesn't mean I shouldn't get the license. Right?

The license was never my goal. Education was. But if I've come this far, it makes sense to just do it. Right?

Originally posted by @Hunter Latta:

@Jason Howell Paying family is tricky. If you were in his shoes, what would you do? 

 I mean, I fully realize this is the kind of thing that is different for everyone... what makes sense to one person when crafting a deal with their family is different from another. I'm just curious to know where that landed in this case, to get a sense of the whole picture.

As for me, I don't know... It's a short term loan and it's giving them SOMETHING for their equity that is currently earning them nothing... 5-7%? But honestly, knowing my parents they'd probably offer it as a straight loan with no incentive. (I'd do it anyway)

The "vacuum the truck" stinger at the beginning had me scratching my head at first but it all came together in the episode and it's such a valuable lesson! One question I have is about Bryce's experience funding his deal with his family's HELOCs. What kind of terms we're associated with that? Obviously you are doing THEM a favor cause you are bringing them in on the deal, but let's say you only have their money for six months before you refi and pay them back. In the interim, what would you pay your family for the borrowed money? 5%? More cause it's family? What's both fair and enticing? Really, this a question for anyone.

I'm working on finalizing my fourth out of state turnkey investment and have been feeling more and more like I need to take the whole process in my own hands to really maximize what I learn and what I can get out of it. David Greene is one of my all time favorite guests on the BP podcast and his book is fantastic for a person in my shoes. At this moment, I'm re-reading it a second time. This time, I'm actually listening to the audio book while following along in the actual book with a highlighter and noting all the essential components page by page. Then transcribing those notes into a searchable doc so I can have a clear, concise reference point for doing this myself. All that work helps me retain what I need to know to do this effectively (to my own standards, that is!) It may be overkill for most, but I know how my own brain works and so far it's been a really impactful process. I'll keep you posted as I begin to jump in thanks to what I have learned from this book.

No doubt! I understand where Mike is coming from, though. All things being equal, if I've never done this all on my own, yet I'm at least somewhat established in a given market, it simplifies things somewhat to begin in an area I know better than an area I don't know. I just know that Indy is crazy competitive. So that might make it more complicated, but obviously not impossible. I just know that I want to do it right. But hey, don't we all!

Originally posted by @John Leavelle:

Howdy @Jason Howell

To answer your direct question.  I like using the website www.housingalerts.com

You can easily see what markets are hot and which ones are not.  The basic information is free.  But they have different pay levels for more detailed analysis if you want.  Check it out see if it is what you are looking for.

Once you identify potential markets then you can enlist the help of experienced Realtors and Investors in that area.

 I had not heard of this site before, thank you so much for the recommendation! This looks to be a valuable tool. Are you a paid subscriber? Seems to be a good resource perhaps once you have narrowed down the view to a few key markets.

Originally posted by @Jonathan McGee:

@Jason Howell networking in your target market would be your key to success! Pulling together a solid and trusted team would be your first step. This would consist of a seasoned wholesaler or investor friendly agent, general contractor, inspector, property management, local mortgage broker and possibly a marketer or property scout. Find a deeply discounted off-market property via your wholesaler, agent or marketer, have your licensed inspector crawl through the property and supply you a report with photos, pay your contractor for a line item rehab estimate, then reach out to your property manager for potential rent rates, history of vacancies in the area and their overall opinion for a long term hold on the property.

I'd suggest sticking to B/C+ areas as buying into A class areas can easily exceed your budget and may or may not net the returns your expected. You can gradually move into the higher class suburb type areas once you've become thoroughly familiar with the market and which parts of the A class areas are worth jumping on deals. You'd also want to make sure you find a local bank branch with a mortgage broker that offers up to 80% LTV with no minimum (several lenders only lend up to 75-80% if the value is $75k or higher, anything below they only lend up to 50%).

   As stated previously by @Dean Harris several investors have seen a lot of success utilizing the BRRRR method in Memphis since you can still buy discounted off-market properties here in B/C areas, run a minimal rehab and then cash out at 80-110% of the cash you put in.

   If you have any questions about the Memphis market, please feel free to reach out!

 Awesome summary here! If I were to stick in the area I'm already invested in (Indianapolis) then at least a few components of the team are already secured and trusted thankfully! I have considered Memphis, absolutely. You certainly hear about it a lot in this kind of conversation.

As an ultra competitive market, though, where it seems like so many people are (and Indy is no different in that regard), does it make more sense to find a less competitive market?

Originally posted by @Jason Cory:

Google has an add-on for spreadsheets that will drop pins on a map. Color code the pins by sales price (under $50k, 50-100, etc.) Then do the same for rent amounts. Try to do a historical for prices & rents using the same colors.

You'll see appreciation or depreciation for price & rent like you were looking at a monopoly board overlaying the city. 

If that doesn't work for you call an appraiser in the market. We get around & have double top secrets on how to analyze data.

https://batchgeo.com

 Fantastic tip for Google Spreadsheets! This has definitely been a challenge using online tools that I've seen: Sale price compared to rental price in the same area. The data is there, but getting the visualization that shows them side by side isn't straight forward.

Thank you for this awesome tip!

But seriously. For those of you who have actively began the arduous process of picking a market, what has been your RESEARCH strategy. I guess what I'm hoping for is some sort of systematic approach: I have a doc on my potential market for facts, I log property tax info, I investigate schools/hospitals in the area, I dip into MLS listings to compare neighborhoods looking specifically for "x". That sort of thing. (I understand if that's a lot to ask, but no harm in asking right?)

Right now I'm throwing all of these random pieces of information into docs on particular areas, but I will need a way to then look at that information, that data, and then make a decision and I'm not confident I'm tracking the right info in the best possible way. And I LOVE process. it gives me a great starting point to then come up with something of my own.

What's your process?