All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Hicks

Welcome to BP!!!! One thing that I have noticed about the wholesalers that I work with for my investors is that they no longer just find houses and then hunt for the end buyer... They have the end buyer and work backwards. Helps avoid holding and closing costs on your end and you look more professional to all parties when you know how quickly you can get it turned around. Hope you do well!

From an agent's prospective (also someone that used to work for a builder) buyers are leaning more toward quartz. New and different means special and something to show off to friends. Buyer's are seeing granite as a "standard feature" rather than an upgrade thus putting less value on the choice. 

On a personal note... if I see one more Santa Cecilia granite in a flip home I might lose it. :-D

 You might check out Tulsa, OK. We have a great market right now not just residential but commercial as well. Downside is, the good Multi-family deals are not on the market. You have to have connections with agents that are cold calling or networking with people to sell the properties... I have a lot of buyers and not many sellers when it comes to commercial right now. I agree with the few that have posted, check loopnet, and realtor.com, and reach out to specific agents in the markets you want to target. That is your best bet. 

I have done a few HUD deals as an agent and the commission can differ but not usually. One that I am looking at now for reference is listing a 3% commission. However, when the agent is submitting your bid, they do have the option to change THEIR side (the buyer's agent side) and the listing side is a static 3%. Hope this makes sense and helps.

Short answer, a 6%  commission calculation is a safe bet.

Hi Pushpendu! 

I always encourage my investors to create LLC or s-corps. I have them talk to their tax accountant or lawyer to decide which one best suits the rest of their assets and tax benefits.

I do so because although an umbrella policy works just fine for liability reasons, there are other situations why an owner may want a second barrier of protection between them and the tenants.

The reason for an LLC is in the rare case of negligence, the tenant will be limited in the amount of damage they can cause financially, it will be restricted to solely the assets in the LLC. This is also why we recommend no more than 2 or 3 houses per LLC, some of our clients go up to 10, but I think that it is a minimal time savings compared to what could really happen!

Hope this helps.

 Hi Brent! Thanks for the tip. I will defiantly keep my eye out for those meet ups. I hope we meet as well. 

 Hi Bryan, Buy and holding in Tulsa is actually one of the better methods I have seen in Tulsa. Some of my investors' portfolios of properties are seeing 10-12% cap rate with post 1985 construction in desirable school districts. The interesting part about Tulsa, is because of housing being at such a low cost, and rental rates being decently high comparatively, you can purchase a newer home with few issues, or a rock steady rental, instead of having to buy a sub class of house. That doesn't mean our 30-50K houses aren't habitable or profitable (I have investors in that range as well seeing great returns). We have found a good balance at the 90-120K price point for quality of tenant, profit, longevity and desirability if you chose to liquidate your portfolio down the line. 

Thank you everyone! 

My name is Jennifer Hicks. I am a Real Estate Broker. I go my license after I finished my marketing degree from Oklahoma State University.

After pursuing residential sales and moving to and from new home sales, I wanted to branch out and obtain my broker's license. Doing so helped me better serve the investors that have been with me since the beginning of my career. 

My goal is to show anyone not from Tulsa why the city is worth investing in. I am also wanting to learn of more areas that may be of interest to clients and investors. I see a plethora of posts from such intelligent and wise investors and agents. 

Happy to be here!

This is just my personal preference... I like working with local banks more than national/out of state banks. Two reasons: One, I can have real face time with the person in charge of my loan and underwriting process. Possibly even the servicing of the loan. Two, it does build that relationship with the local bank which COULD help down the road for your 'tenth' property acquisition. 

Somethings to consider however- Local banks do not always have the man power to service their loans so yours may be sold to a secondary mortgage company. (Don't get me started on some of the nightmares I have witnessed/heard about with this practice) Also, if you follow or are interested in the macroeconomics of keeping your money and its borrowing power in the state you are in, that has an impact as well.