All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Heavner

What software are you folks using to find multi-family properties?

I’m in the Charlotte, NC area.

Thanks!!

Hey my name is Jeff Heavner. I’m a plumber by trade and I’m willing to exchange my expertise (plumbing) for a stake in any flips in my area. In other words, I can update/replace existing plumbing as part of what I contribute to a flip (plumbers usually charge anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000 to RE-plumb a house). Speaking of houses, I’m more of a residential plumber, so I’d rather do residential deals (single family, duplexes, triplexes, quads, etc.).

I am in the Cleveland/Gaston/charlotte areas of North Carolina (I live in Shelby, NC).

Let me know if you're interested.

Thank you Mark and Eric! I will be sure to use your ideas. I will also update the thread as the meeting continues to evolve. 

Thanks Again!

All the best @Jonathan Cisneros!

Hey BiggerPockets community! I hope you all are doing very well! I have a quick question:

It has been a while since attending a local real estate investors association (REIA). Each time I visited there has always been a guru of some sort promoting their $795 product(s) or $1995 bootcamp (ugh!).

I want to start my own local investor meet-up; however, there will be no gurus, just investors, or people who want to become investors. What are some ideas that I could implement? What type of format to you guys like when you've visited a meet-up? Here's what I'm thinking so far:

 10-15 minutes: meet and greet (networking, business card exchange, shaking hands, etc.)

 20-30 minutes: Have a professional come in to speak about their service (home inspectors, surveyors, county officials--such as building code inspectors, etc., etc.)  

  20-30 minutes: training session on a particular topic (flipping/rehabbing, multi-family, how to "pull comps" to arrive at a price for a subject property, how to runs ads on facebook, how to use the GIS, etc.)

10-15 minutes: floor time for any wholesalers or investors with properties for sale, funding needs, potential partners sought, etc., etc. 

5 minutes: wrap up

Thoughts? Ideas? 

Maybe this thread can turn into a format/idea(s) for other people wanting to hold their own meetings without the gurus. 

@Jonathan Cisneros 

The first thing to remember is never give up! 

As far as a $1,000 budget, I would probably do a few things:

1) design and buy a back window sticker for your car (or tailgate of your truck) so when you’re driving around folks will see what you do (very cheap and effective advertising). Make sure it shows what you do (“we buy houses” and your phone number). Use Fiverr.com and pay someone to design you a graphic. 

Maybe buy some magnets for the sides of the vehicle as well (remove them at night)

2) buy T-shirt’s with your design on them. Screen-print your design on the shirt- front and back. 

3) have business cards ready when people ask about your shirt, car graphic, and during a conversation. Vistaprint.com is the best. 

4) perhaps use some of the money to have an attorney draw up an assignable contract specific to your needs or your state. 

5) maybe use grasshopper.com as a phone service to keep things sounding professional. 

6) make videos about what you do and upload them on Facebook. 

7) use some of the $1,000 to use as due diligence money (give a potential home seller $100 cash in order to put the home under contract for 30-45 days until you find a buyer). You don’t get this money back. 

8) make your own website ($20 per month) to look professional 

9) avoid bandit signs. It’s tempting, but I wouldn’t recommend them.  

10) get to know, and maybe shadow, a home inspector. 

11) know your numbers!!! Novice wholesalers’ scopes of work never project an accurate rehab budget for investors. Always add 20% to your scope of work. Also, go to Lowe’s or HD and get to know the costs of things like bathroom sinks, vanities, the cost of carpet or hardwoods, paint, doors, countertops, etc. 

12) invest in J. Scott’s materials offered by Bigger Pockets. This will help you think like an investor and I think it includes a scope of work spreadsheet if I remember correctly. ($69). 

Hope this helps.  

Jeff

Hey Matt! Welcome! 

If I would do it all over again, I would house hack (buy a property that has more than one unit, live in one of the units, and rent out the other(s)). But if your wife is insistent on not sharing a property then, given the area you live in has high taxes, I would rent and purchase investment properties elsewhere (I’ve heard NY tenant laws can be burdensome). 

That’s just my $0.02. 

HTH. 

Yes, I've used them before. IIRC, I set a budget of $10/day. 

This is broad question but here's a couple pieces of advice:

1) Put it out there what you're looking for (i.e. facebook/insta/Snapchat/craigslist posts), car magnets, business cards, etc.);

2) Secure funding ahead of time (or at least know your funding strategies);

3) Have a good home inspector on your team (he/she may be the difference between negative cashflow and positive cashflow);

4) set up automatic cragislist email notifications on potential deals (set up key words);

5) buy properties in areas that you wouldn't mind your own family living in; 

6) Remove emotion when sifting through deals;

7) Don't give up

Great job!