All Forum Posts by: John Klahn

Here are a couple that I've found very valuable. I didn't know if it was cool with you (Joshua) to post resources that weren't listed under the REI clubs area.

1) Colorado Association of Real Estate Investors
http://www.carei.com
This is a good resource (IMHO) for someone just getting started who wants to learn about the many different areas of REI. They do tend to pitch a lot of books/seminars/tapes but they also go over high level concepts which really helped me in the beginning. It's a fairly large group (150+) so it is also a great resource for networking

2) Your Castle Real Estate - training classes
http://www.yourcastle.org/events.cfm
Technically, this is not a club, it is a real estate company. However, they offer a ton of free classes on a bunch of different subjects and they are taught by local people who aren't pushy or selling anything. This company does a ton of statistical analysis on the Denver market (quoted by the Denver Post quite often) and they really know what is going on in the investment real estate market.

Maybe I'll see you at one of these places! Best of luck.

- john

Caesar,
I can point you to a couple of clubs specifically in Denver. Email me if you would like the information. They have been very beneficial to my investing career.

Best of luck!

- john

I have had good luck with getting properties U/C in the name of an LLC and then selling the interest in that LLC. I buy an LLC for $50 on the Colorado Secretary of State website for each property that I wholesale. I've not had a bank refuse any of my contracts.

If you go down this road it would be a great idea to have some professionally drafted documents for the sale of the LLC.

- john

plutopia,
Look in the Denver metro area for great cash flow, look in the low income neighborhoods. You have to do your research on the neighborhood you buy in to make sure it isn't a war zone.

Best of luck!

John
Denver, CO

I agree and disagree with Jon. I agree that you would need to post more information in order to do a true analysis of the 2 deals. Details like purchase price, rental rates in the neighborhood, etc. would help a great deal.

I disagree that most areas in Denver won't cash flow. I guess it depends on which market/area you are looking at. If you are looking in Highlands Ranch, Littleton, etc. I suppose that they won't cash flow. But there are many areas where the REO inventory is very high, the prices are very low, and the rents are high. Sure the neighborhoods aren't Leave it to Beaver but they are okay and the cash flow is great. The last house I bought in January cash flows at $360/mo.

As far as a formula for buying rehabs - I depends on what your primary exit strategy is. The formula that you quoted is one that I've seen several wholesalers use in order to determine if they want to control a property and flip the deal to another investor. If you are flipping the property, it is good to have a minimum profit that you will accept on the deal and then you base your formula on that. Many flippers I know won't touch a deal if they can't make a minimum of $20K. When I am buying rentals, I have a minimum cash flow that I use to target the price with.

I hope that helps!

John
Denver, CO