All Forum Posts by: Jesse Hyder

I suppose with any city you've got to ask yourself. What is the perception of the place from people who might want to move there? What does it have to offer?

Off the cuff people will say stuff like

New York: Money/Wall street

Boise: Potatoes

Detroit: Crime/Blight

Cleveland: Rock and roll hall of fame?

People generalize and put things/people/places into simple categories like that. Fighting against the tide of perception of the general public who might want to consider moving to a place will take a real sea change in public policy/local residents/jobs&income/infrastructure/crime and on and on and on.

Top 10 lists all the time for Boise

http://www.boiseidaho.gov/notes-info/boise-list-of-lists/

New Skyscraper finishing this year. Zion bank building

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zions_Bank_Idaho_Headquarters

New Convention center finishing in 2015

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/08/02/2685183/jump-ahead-a-look-at-simplot-cos.html

And a boatload of other new stuff. Its growing, will it slow down? Sure but for now people want to move here and have been for the last 20yrs. Once you live here and see the mountains and river and the blue sky you wont want to leave. Most people dont! :-D

@Christian Carson CLE isnt going to go to 0% pop but I see no reason to live/invest there. I've lived there, most of my family is still up there. I wouldnt put a penny into it anywhere. I've seen the whole rebuild Cleveland thing and thats great but I'm done living/working/investing up there its just not my type of place.

Amusing video on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

At least were not Detroit! That about sums it up. Alright done bashing on Cleveland now.

Hello @Douglass Belt

Alrighty then... You can lose money on anything Multis/SFH/Ranches/stripmalls whatever there is money to be lost everywhere, if you dont get a good deal. My experience is the exact opposite of @Bryan L. when it comes to multis. I've profited quite handsomely and rents have been rising every year in my area for the last 5 years.

When it comes to multis dont just buy any old "good deal" What makes it a good deal? Cause its cheap? I hear there are plenty of one dollar houses in Detroit for sale. Look for a place that is close to employment centers Downtown/Large malls. Look for amenities that are close by Parks/pools/rivers/entertainment districts and so on.

Is the area growing or shrinking you want to invest in?

growing = good shrinking = bad

Look at this link to find info on whether or not your area is growing or shrinking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

I love Boise its growing +3.46% almost every year. People pouring in from California. Prices keep going up.

As Opposed to where I used live Cleveland. Shrinking -0.66% and has been for the last 50yrs? Jeez what a bad place to invest IMO.

Dont be scared off from multi you can make $ with them for sure if you buy right and in the right area.

@Justin Przybylski @Sid Newstrom @Natalie Wright

And anyone else who is new to REI. I have to always ask, where do you live now? Apt/SFH? Make your first investment your own home! Buy a 2-4 unit building to get your feet wet and occupy one of the units. If you get a good deal you are now living for FREE! Well your tenant(s) are paying the mortgage anyways. Then with the money saved up by not paying rent/mortgage you take that money and roll it into your new flip/rental venture whatever floats your boat.

I agree with @David Krulac 5 v 20 is nonsense. Pick a # you like and go with that. Dont get hung up on this at all.

@Mamie Phillips

What exactly is a ton of work? If you cook the price of a management company into your investment. You can manage the managers. Make executive decisions as it were. I like to look at REI from more of CEO type of role not a land lord role. I mean eventually I feel I'll have 50-100 units under my belt someday and I'm not going to be a full time landlord yeck!

Here are the things I look for in an RE investment

Cash flow

Appreciation

Amortization

Tax shelter

One or all of them combined are your friend.

@Mamie Phillips

@Mamie Phillips Roll the dough into a 450k multifamily. I guarantee you can get more cash flow that way. You start to get economies of scale working for you. But like you say you are terrified and thats ok just buy a smaller 2-4 unit and see if you even like investing in RE nothing wrong with that. My first house was 4-plex and now I also have a duplex. Looking for more! As with any investment understand what you are investing in and you'll do great.

@Travis Fisher Sure consider from The Wealth of Nations.

'A dwelling-house, as such,contributes nothing to the revenue of its inhabitant; and though it is, no doubt, extremely useful to him, it is as his clothes and household furniture are useful to him, which, however, make a part of his expense, and not of his revenue.'

So we have to realize that a house/dwelling/unit we occupy is being consumed. To offset that consumption the rest of the property should create revenues to pay for that consumption and ideally provide a profit to the owner occupant after expenses.

If you've never read the wealth of nations its pretty awesome stuff but, its NOT light reading and is in ye olde English as it was written in the 1776 :-D~

http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/adam-smith/wealth-nations.pdf

Also consider multipurpose properties. What I mean by that is commercial/residential combos. Properties where say there is a business on the bottom floor and apartments on top. They are not crazy common but you'll see them every now and again. Especially in denser areas sometimes. Not super familiar with these as far as financing goes.

Something also to consider is a 'farm house' where you can lease the acreage out for ranching/farming/logging and so on.

I only mention all of this because I live in a multifamily myself it was my first home purchase. I feel that every property should pay for itself even if I live there. :-D