All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Edmund

I do look at homepath but a lot of those get snagged up in the owner occupancy only window before I can make an offer as an investor that's the only problem with homepath @Ketan Patel. Yes I'll take a look at the direct mail game plan thank you @Ray Lai

So I'm actively looking for a property to be my first investment property. I'm looking for something either that needs work and I can get under value or someone in financial trouble that I can get a good deal from. Having access to the MLS, I'm not finding good deals on there which I'm not surprised by.

My question is: What are some creative ways that investors use to find great deals on homes? I sign up for a pre foreclosure list but none of the phone numbers work. I want to find deals before others do and use some creative ways to do so. I'm just having a real tough time finding a good deal. I want to start owning rental properties as well as doing flips but I can't find anything where the numbers really make sense.

Any ideas? 

Thanks for all the input guys all of this helps a lot! 

@Corby Goade I'm not making 300k a year. (yet) I think house hacking and a couple flips in the meantime may be what I focus on thanks for the input!!! 

@Nathan Milazzo Hey thanks man I'm in the same boat. I'm 25, single, and if I can't find a better deal, may get a 3 bedroom home for as cheap as possible making sure I have some equity in it, house hack it with a couple roommates, buy a couple more properties in the meantime and then buy a primary when I can offset it's costs. Thanks for the input man! 

Thanks @Shawn Ward! Yea I think I'm going to just keep looking for the best deal possible and if it's more suitable for flip, I'll do that. If the rental numbers make more sense I'll do that and just buy a primary once I have enough cash flow to cover my expenses for that home. Finding the really good deals seems to be the tough part in my market but no excuses just gotta keep looking. Thanks! 

Thank you @Ian Voakes @Carlos Zapata and @Dave Passey for the advice that definitely helps me some. Definitely wish I had been making these moves in 2010 to 2013 though. But I just got in to real estate then and wasn't financially ready to make any moves. I had another investor tell me to flip now and buy rentals when it tanks again. May look into that instead for now. Thank you all! 

I have recently decided to pursue long term rental properties part time as being a Realtor in my area is my full time job. I currently have held off on purchasing a primary residence due to wanting to pursue rental properties. I wasn't sure if it was a better idea to incur the debt of being a homeowner before having 1 or 2 rentals under my belt first. As a first time investor, do you recommend finding a good deal and using the property as a rental property first or with the first deal, using it as a primary for a year, then renting out and moving onto something else?

I currently don't have much debt besides a small amount of student loans and a car payment and my monthly living expenses. I'd like to weigh the pros and cons of both options if possible. Any input is greatly appreciated!!! My end goal is to eventually move out of full time real estate and be a full time investor.

@Jeffrey Long Thanks for the advice man! I really like the Little River area but I think I'm going to have to get a little more creative! 

I have thought about finding a 4 plex or something and living in one for a year then moving on. The problem in our area is finding one in an area I'd be ok living lol. That would be the perfect scenario because I could do a primary residence financing but I have yet to find a decent multi family in our area and I don't want to live outside of Horry County. But that would be ideal. But yea I'm 25 and single so it would work fine for me temporarily. @Pete Schmidt