All Forum Posts by: Joe Ellis

Most of the multifamily units that I've seen are in C- or lower areas of town so that's something to take into consideration. As far as condos, the HOA fees and rules are what make those either very attractive or not so attractive depending on the person. Unfortunately, if you're trying to rent out your condo eventually, a lot of them won't allow rentals so 's something to look for when doing your due diligence.

@Luiza Hunanyan, welcome to BiggerPockets! As @Mark Nolan mentioned there is more than enough information rolling around in these forums and blog posts and podcasts to get you started! Are you interested in REI yourself or just looking for investor type clients? How long have you been an agent? I'm sure after working with some investors for awhile you'll understand why they do what they do and get interested in making money the same way! If you have any questions feel free to post em up and you're sure to get answers fairly quickly! There is a BiggerPockets meetup that is hosted by @Phillip Dwyer so be sure to add him as a colleague and watch for the meetups each month! Take care and good luck! 

First of all, Congrats! I applaud you for taking action and getting started! 

I think that with the information that you have you can probably figure out how much you would need to remodel them yourself and try and see what the difference would be between buying one that's already been remodeled and then having that get rented out fairly quickly vs one of the ones that hasn't been and then needing to do it yourself and waiting however long for the remodel before you can get tenants in. What kind of rents do those properties go for in the areas that they're in? Do the numbers work out? Maybe use the rental property calculator and print it out and call her again and ask her to view one of the properties that has been remodeled and one that hasn't and then bring the sheet with you along with what the going rents in the area are and show her that you've done your research and then make an offer. She may say that she won't go lower but the worst she can say is no! Or maybe see if she will carry the note and you just handle the tenants? 

Again, awesome job on making the phone call! Everyone messes up a little bit but if you learn from each time you mess up then you'll be an expert in no time and it won't be intimidating at all! Keep it up!

@Phillip Dwyer holds a monthly one at Guiseppe's in Henderson. Use the search function and look for Guiseppe's, Henderson, and failing all of that, Phillip Dwyer!

@Steve Morris, I've had success just looking on the white pages website (not all counties will allow you to look for free) so it's worth a shot, but I really like what @Joe Abughazaleh suggested; Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, any of the social medias is a great idea! 

Hopefully we can get an attorney from NYC to chime in on this issue as it seems like there's a lot of information that is being thrown around and no one (who isn't from the area) is going to be able to figure out whose advice to take. HOPEFULLY everyone who sees this thread will know to go contact a local attorney that they trust to help them through their dealings. 

As far as @Michael Corbin's request goes, I'd look up 3 or 5 different attorneys in your area and find out if they can give you about 15 mins of advice before choosing which one to go with. Failing that, ask your broker or a couple of other brokers in the area who they recommend. 

Good luck everyone!

P.S. There is some merit to the "set up shop in Nevada" way of doing business, you just need a great attorney to help you through it. 

How long have the tenants been there? They might have just thrown some random people in the duplex to make it seem that much better of a deal but the tenants could be awful (not always, just a possibility if they didn't screen them properly). Or maybe he's owned it for a little while and something happened in his life that is extremely expensive (medical bills for example) and he needs the cash all up front. Ask for the taxes and the records they have on hand to see if the duplex is cash flowing. I'm sure others with more experience will chime in soon. 

We'll need some details about what neighborhood it's in and what your terms are. 

@Elizabeth Moore, it's getting harder and harder to reach the 1% rule unless @Al Pereira can find a great wholesaler who is out there finding those deals. Although I think that most of them are in D or C neighborhoods he didn't specify as to what kind of neighborhoods he's okay with investing in so Vegas is definitely a possibility. 

Wow! That's an impressive list of things that you've gone through and lessons that you've learned. Thank you for letting us have a glance into your journey! Obviously your attorney's cost of over $8K is much better spent than having gone to a guru and spending even $5K because you now have one under your belt as well as the experience and pride that comes with that! My questions was going to be "do you think you'll continue with NPNs" but it seems like you've already bought more! Congratulations and I wish many more successes to you! I'll be following this thread to find out how things turn out over the course of this year.