All Forum Posts by: Jody Schnurrenberger

California has great weather and there's tons to do in the Los Aneles area, but I don't really dig some of the people I meet here.  I'll definitely be leaving when I graduate, but am not sure I'll be coming back to AL immediately.  I've got family in Indiana who have really been trying to woo me in that direction, so since I've never lived there, that's probably going to be my next move.  I like to check out new places. :-)

Good luck with all your decisions and with your new real estate adventure!

Welcome to BP!  I'm originally from Auburn, though I'm going to school in CA at the moment.  You seem to have some good ideas.  Though do look more into whether Devin should get her real estate license.  Check out the forums here regarding that.  If she's not looking to become an agent, while there are benefits, there are also drawbacks, as I understand it.  I think the biggest is maybe that you have to disclose that she's an agent when buying and that may turn some people off.  You can always buy directly from a seller using a lawyer if they don't already have an agent, so no agent is required.  Since she won't be working in an agency (I assume), she won't be getting 1st knowledge of upcoming deals.  She'll learn a lot of legal stuff, but as I understand, it's mostly about contracts and stuff, not so much about how to choose a good property.  Anyway, be sure to research that before spending the money.  Or maybe she can take the class and not take the license exam.  That way she has the knowledge, for whatever it's worth, but doesn't have to disclose that she's an agent since she's not...just a thought.

Anyway, whatever you all decide to do, good luck and welcome to BP!

I never thought to look there for prospects.  Good job!  How did you track him down?  I would think that he'd been in hiding from the police.

I'm from Auburn and have a few rentals there, but I've quit buying in Auburn.  If you want to LIVE in it, I certainly can't speak badly of buying a house in Auburn.  The schools are some of the best in the state.  And in general, I think it's a lovely, relatively safe town.  As for rentals, the returns aren't that great because the prices are so high.  Though your money is probably safe as the market probably won't bottom out in any but the worst crashes.  During the recession in 2008, etc. I read an article saying Auburn was one of 15 places in the nation where property values still increased that year, though I don't recall the exact year.  

Personally, I've quit buying in Auburn.  Of course, there's always someone who gets lucky so maybe that someone will be you one of the times.  But just be sure about your research and numbers and be open to Opelika and other areas nearby.  Also, consider alternative means of acquiring properties like Driving for Dollars.  ;-)

Are you planning to manage any rentals yourself?  If not, BEWARE OF AUBURN PROPERTY MANAGERS!!!  NO LIE!  I've been repeatedly told there are no good ones and now believe that may be true.  I've been through 3 before settling with a 4th from out-of-town.  I pay more and it's not convenient, but seriously, I belong to the local investor's group and have a couple of agent friends.  I'm telling you finding a good property manger in that area is like finding a gold doubloon during a day at the beach!  Nearly impossible!  Send me a PM if you want to know my one possible suggestion and why I'm still hesitant about them, another you could use if you make sure to stay on top of maintenance requests and rent yourself and a third to absolutely, under no circumstances use!  (Three of my 5 tenants threatened to leave after a year with him.)

Auburn is a great place to live, but for owning rentals, because the cost of acquisition is so high right now, it's not a great place to put new money.  I hear there is a market correction coming in the next 2-3 years and I may dip back in then.  But until then, at least consider some surrounding areas.  Just my 2 cents.  :-D

Good luck with the future!

I've been interested in multi-family in a while, myself. Depending on what you mean, returns aren't necessarily bigger. For a duplex, maybe you'd do well. But if you mean apartments, I can't find any apartments in my area that offer the return I can get on SFRs. I do have 2 duplexes and they are find. But my SFRs often have a 10% better ROI than what I can find in apartments.

Also, be on the lookout for places you make permanent improvements on for an increase in value.  A 3/1 with 1600 sq ft probably has space for an extra bathroom somewhere.  I've seen 1600 2/1's. Yep.  There was no only a good place for an extra bathroom, but a room that, with the addition of a closet, could be considered a bedroom so my 2/1 could be a 3/2.  (I didn't get that deal, though.)  My agent is also my property manager and he used to do flips as well as have his own rental portfolio, so he can tell me what it would cost to fix things and what they can rent for.  He said, assuming we can find a good location for it and the house is on a crawl space, we can usually add an extra bathroom onto the outside of the house (if we couldn't find room inside) for $5-7k.  A slab is a different story though.  ;-)

Another thing to consider is where you are buying.  If you are buying in your area, you already know the good and bad locations.  That's important.  My agent says he won't accept a rental, thus won't sell me a property where he's afraid to go collect rent alone at night.  He runs mostly Section 8, but not in the dangerous areas.  A lot of new investor's buy in bad areas, then as they grow and learn, have trouble unloading those properties in favor of better ones.  Now, some people target bad areas.  They can be a great source of income, for sure.  But it's headaches I don't want.  Just be sure that's your well thought out targeted plan if that's what you buy.

I invest out-of-town, though in my hometown and a nearby town, so not places I'm completely unfamiliar with.  It's a giant headache and if it's doable, I totally recommend folks start locally so you know what your strong and weak points are, what you need to keep an eye on in out-of-town investments, what your strategy really is (often not what you started out as), etc.  Iron out the wrinkles before you take your money someplace you can't keep an eye on it.  ;-)

GOOD LUCK!  Exciting times!!!

Welcome, @Matthew Banks!  What area are you looking into and what is your plan?

WAR EAGLE!  :-D

Sorry, I'm behind. Yes, welcome!  And Jake is great.  :-)  I'm looking forward to the upcoming meetings.  I believe we are having a speaker on tax sales in both Muscogee County, GA and Lee County the first several months of 2020.

I think it might vary by state.  My (very limited) understanding of GA tax sales is that it just goes to the sale again the next month.  However, in AL (at least in my county), if it's not sold that day, it reverts to the state.  Each year the cost of the property goes up because the state adds that year's taxes to the cost to purchase it.  Supposedly, there are properties that the cost of purchase (based on back taxes because no one owned it to pay them) is significantly higher than the value of the actual property.  In addition, a friend tried to purchase one and ended up giving up because of the headache.  For her, purchasing at tax sale was much easier.  Anyway, years of back taxes may explain why a property might be much more expensive after it didn't sell at a tax sale a long time ago.  Good luck!

@Suhendri U., keep in mind, I'm not a lawyer, nor have I even been to a California tax sale yet, but from what I've been reading, CA doesn't sell tax delinquent properties until they are 5 years behind.  Thus, though there can be a 1 year redemption in some cases, my understanding is that you generally get the property in CA, even if you have to wait that final year.  But if they haven't paid in the last 5 years, odds are, they won't pay that 6th year.  But again, this is just my understanding from reading.  Definitely do your own research!  :-)

I have no experience with that area, but noticed no one ever answered this thread, so I thought I would.  You probably already figured this out by now, but while tax sales can be a great, they can also be a disaster.  In most (or all) places, you can't enter the property, get an inspection, or have much, if any recourse if the property is terrible.  In many states, there is a redemption period during which the owner can get the property back and, depending on the state, if you made any improvements, you may or may not get reimbursed.

Tax sale laws vary by state and, IMO, the implementation of such laws vary by county.  As it's been several years now since you started this thread, I hope you've found success, if not in tax sales, somewhere else.