All Forum Posts by: JJ Conway

As @Account Closed said, you'll need to talk to city/county officials. Some will have lists online that tell you what the zoning means - A4 undeveloped could mean you have lots of flexibility or can't do much. You'll only know by talking with the governing city/county/parish.  A quick google search might help too.

Also, if there is an easement for the well that's not necessarily fishy, though I've never seen one for a well unless maybe it was a historic landmark.  More often I've seen utility easements such as power lines at the back of your property so they have the right to access a strip of your land at will. Or one large parcel of land with the original owner retaining access to the pond for fishing. These kinds of things should be well defined and documented at your local land records office (many counties are now putting this online).  Hope this helps

If your Realtor is no help, then please find another Realtor! I was a Realtor for years and there are great ones out there. If no one will work with you, then it may be because this isn't a deal they think will go through (i.e. they fear not getting paid).  But you haven't given us enough info to draw that conclusion. Recommend looking for a CCIM. Even if you signed an agreement with your current Realtor, if they aren't helping (and you're doing everything you should be as a client) then please do end things on good terms and move on.

Lastly, Dauphin - that's Hershey, right? My family is from Wilkes-Barre so we used to love going down there. I hope you find something nice

^^^ that is the beauty of this site!  @Mike Goikhberg so glad you're here. Not only did you save yourself a ton of money, but you've likely saved others too!

@Chris Sherman Welcome! I recently moved back into the area and have property in other states. I am finding the Shreveport / Bossier City area to be excellent buy-and-hold or renovate-and-hold

All of the above. You didn't say how many other deals you have under your belt in addition to this duplex, so I hope you also have a plan to develop "street cred" in the sense of completed deals.  Have you looked into hard money lenders as opposed to private lenders?  I'm a cash investor (don't like debt) but sometimes I'm willing to partner with a student or new investor (as opposed to a loan - and no, this is not a solicitation because I don't do out of state investing lol).  Maybe you could think about it in the sense of "what would make a cash investor who doesn't know me take a chance on me and my duplex deal?" and then deliver that to the people you're hoping will invest in you. 

Hi, I don't know if there's any "best way to properly value" a special purpose property.  I suppose what I would do is look at the following

-  what the market is currently bearing for similar properties (that is, what's actually sold- not what's for sale)

- what is it zoned for? can it be repurposed into something more profitable (and does the owner care)?  For example, a church purchased for 350K 10 years ago just sold for $1M so someone could turn it into retail (but if the owner wanted it to remain a church they may not have sold, even at that high price).

- what is the jurisdiction planning (is anything is coming in the future to increase/decrease value)?  For example, was excited about paying $1M for a country ice cream shop and adjacent vacant lot with Comcast billboard on it, until I discovered the metro plan had them capping off the road it was on to turn the cross road into an expressway. In a few years that land and shop would have limited commercial value so it was no longer worth that price to me.  This also works the other way: if I find out that the metro plan is to turn a now-rural area into retail 10 years from now, I might start looking at buying there, depending on the needs of my congregation

- with regards to renting another facility, one thing to consider is whether or not the special purpose is welcome in affordable rental spaces. For example, a church might find another standalone building or church to rent but may have a hard time finding space in a storefront. I've helped many churches find storefront space and it can be tough because churches are not attractive from a retail standpoint (if Landlord X has to choose between a church or a UPS store, they'll probably put in the ups since it will be less likely to default, have significant revenue for percentage rents, and attract clients who will patronize other the other businesses of that strip mall

While I can't give you anything more definitive, I hope that helps.

Great discussion above

I especially think @Mary K. ideas can be applied to a wide variety of ventures beyond just syndicates.

I'd like to echo the relationship recommendation. People invest with those they like and trust. Building a bonafide relationship with someone in the group you want to access will go a long way toward breaking in. And I'll also echo the REIA recommendation. You have a collection of people who showed up specifically because they want to invest their money. I've found my pro/VIP/etc membership in several REIAs to be well worth the membership fee.

And be sure to confirm that the CFP or CPA you seek is familiar with real estate. Many aren't. Everyone has their own specialty. The realm of money is so vast it's easy to specialize in one area but know only "the surface" in another. Recommend looking for someone who works specifically with real estate investors.

Hi @Shelly Scruggs I'm a VIP member of the BWI Meetup and can second J Scott's recommendation. I moved out of state temporarily so I don't attend right now, but they have a fantastic VIP facebook page that keeps me informed.

Two others I can recommend are the Real Deal Meetup (there in Balt.) and also the Capital City REIA (if you ever find yourself in NoVA).

I run one as well (though it's not specific to real estate) called Building Wealth Together (we're on Meetup and facebook), but with me out of state for a year we're not doing much right now.

@John Thedford I used SimpliSafe at my last place and since I already have the equipment probably would again. One thing they are good about is that it really *is* month to month. However, be careful in ordering your equipment (they did not honor my advertised special) and the best security system in the world doesn't work if your contractor doesn't use it (that plus many other reasons caused us to part ways).

So what did you decide?  After reading your additional info, I tend to agree with @Ned Carey that it's probably not a scam so much as someone who is incredibly unrealistic and unmotivated. That said, I have had (and still sometimes do) have other investors throw out crazy terms to see if I'm experienced enough to know they're offering me a bad deal. Even if it's not a scam, it just doesn't "feel" like a good deal. Surely there are other deals you can get into for $100K in Baltimore