All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Dixon

 There are several companies wholesaling ALL over - yes, some are not --what we would call the most upstanding, but I think you're missing a very real and surprisingly larger portion of the demographic - or at least discounting it far too heavily in the form of a negative perception based on ignorance vs actual knowledge. 

Truthfully, some people wholesale their homes - ie sell to a wholesaler bec the process is just plain easier. I bought a property at wholesale bec the owner was a LEGIT hoarder. Could that house been listed on the MLS? sure. Would people have wanted to go in ? Only a few. Would the person with the hoarding propensity be able to tolerate other "strangers" rummaging through their precious belongings? Probably not.

Wholesaling definitely serves a purpose. Some folks do give it a bad name, but, I for one, am thrilled to partner with wholesalers as much as possible, and I'd like to amp up my own wholesaling expertise bec I am doing the home owner a service.

Many realtors talk badly about wholesalers and I frankly just think it is a lack of knowledge forming strong opinions. 

I have always had great success posting my rentals in the facebook market place. PRior to mktplace I always used craigslist. I have friends that swear by zillow, but I believe there is a nominal fee. You can get (super cheap) a google number, and set up a property specific email address that auto responds with your rental application to sorta streamline the process.

Congrats! I have a buddy that started doing this years ago up in Philly and retured before he was 40, congrats! Get online and look for Philly area real estate investors groups. You'll make tons of connections. Good luck and congrats!

I'm buying and I represent folks that are investing - from what I can tell, not much has slowed down in my area - Chattanooga, TN. I am assuming you're still pretty hot if you're middle TN.

Hi Eitan! 

Welcome to the life changing world of Real Estate Investment! Congrats on taking the first step on your journey!

Ok- so I may be a bit "weird" in some of my responses, but I'm comfortable with my weirdness, so bear with me. :)

1. How can I find a market to invest in? Personally, I like to stay closer to home for single family investments --opting to be passive in multifamily investments out of town only. - as an agent, I represent a LOT of out of town investors. This is a huge honor but also a huge responsibility on my part to make sure they are in good rental areas, neighborhoods, etc. Personally, I only invest in SF properties where I can physically get them. When i first started, I was doing the house hacking method, then my husband and I would do flips/brrrs in places were we could regularly drive by. to date, I have only invested passively in deals that I can't physically observe/participate in - but I'm a bit of a control freak in this regard.

If you decide to invest in an area where you don't live- obviously pay attention to what these other folks said about location, sunbelt, etc. I think it's super important to look at housing and rent trends in the area, areas with more favorable landlord laws, etc. Finally, and probably it goes without saying, interview your agent. You're putting a BUNCH of trust in this person to help you find the right deal, so talk to people and make sure you jive. More than likely, you'll be working together for years, so you want to do your homework on the front end, so you don't have to redo it later. I'd also make sure that agent had a good network of folks to help you do the work. 

Shameless plug here - BUT - if you're looking to do something in Chattanooga, TN, hit me up, I can help point you in the right direction. :) 

2. How to search for a property? should I buy a house that's need a full rehab? or a partial rehab? Zillow and realtor.com are good options, I'd also get on some drip campaigns of the realtors you interviewed and text/call them regularly. They should do the same for you. As a newbie, I'd focus on quicker turn arounds vs full rehabs -it does depend on your budget and risk tolerance bec quicker turns will usually mean more coop. (cash out of pocket) When you have done a few, definitely don't forget wholesale deals. Those are typically really good for brrr method -esp as you get comfortable with hardmoney to conventional refinance. (if you have questions you can dm me!)

3. How can I check if the neighborhood is any good? - a very non-scientific way to check - and a friend of my suggested this to me, which i love is - Check and see how close the property is to a Target, or Publix - some sort of higher end type of chain. Typically those are in nicer areas.

4. If I live out of the state how can I find a good real estate agent? Ask around. Interview a lot, and go with your gut. You're ab to invest a lot of time, energy and money, not just into the property but the relationship, so make sure it's a good match. I'm sure you didn't marry the first person you met (if you did, that's amazing and congrats!) so take your time and get comfortable. a reliable contractor? --for my clients, I have a network of GCs and workers (I mostly represent out-of-town investors, so it's built into my business model). Shameless plug again! When you're interviewing agents, as if they like working with investors (1) and if they have any contacts in that area. These agents usually have very good working relationships with contractors so often times the agent and contractor go to the property together or at least communicate the whole time (at least it does in my business! 

This sorta sounds silly, but 1) you can use apartments.com to see what competitor mf units are charging in the area - and Bigger pockets pro has their own rent projection software. I find that Bigger Pockets Rent estimator is a little more bearish and rentometers is more bullish for rent terms. Given the uncertain market, i have made my own analysis numbers work on the conservative "bearish" numbers from the Bigger Pockets platform, but start my rent rates at the more aggressive Rentometer numbers to squeeze more juice from the deal. 

In short, I analyze super conservatively, then try to perform aggressively - making the deal work with conservative numbers but being thrilled when they work out better. Hope that helps!

If you can purchase the property separately (ie in just your name) do it! :) this will allow you to have 10 homes and your wife to have 10 homes. I'm not sure the market in your area, but buying a duplex and house hacking one side would be a great option to allow for some level of privacy while still having your tenant pay your mortgage (or most of it.) Just be sure to do your due diligence on the front end- whether it's with the purchase or with the tenant screening. Tenants can def impact your investment- no one wants any purple martians, right?! :)

I hate spending money as much as the next person, but sometimes--esp if you're seeing some ROI on your efforts, it makes sense to pony up some just so that you're be poised to pounce as you grow. Follow up boss is like$69/mo and it does email, has the function to call (additional fee), and other tools - it may be worth looking in to.

Personally, I think now is the time to really start to know the market you want to invest in. I am seeing more deals in my area (I'm a real estate agent in the Chattanooga, TN area) -but there are still a TON of folks buying -so have your prequalification / bank statements ready and just go for it...assuming the numbers work.

For analysis, definitely increase the amount of money you need out of pocket - gone are those days of like sub 10k on a hard money loan. HM loans haven't raised their rates that I have seen (I work with 4-5 fairly regularly). However, they have increased the amt of money required to close the deal. --i closed on a deal late last month and ended up with ab 10k more than expected out of pocket bec of this more conservative approach.

If you could find a seller finance deal, I'd swoop in like a freaking ninja and get that noise. I've had a couple investor friends recently tell me they were able to lock in a seller finance sub 6% --which is crazy in this market.

As far as prices--i haven't reduced the ARV in my analysis, but I have run the numbers with a 15-20% decrease from the arv in an effort to be conservative. That way, if the numbers work out with these conservative numbers, they'll be baller when the arv comes in as expected. Good luck and happy investing!