All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Roberts

@Angela Yann Why are you looking to leave Milwaukee? From the research that I have done it seems to be one of the less expensive markets out there. I am currently looking at possibly investing there so I am quite curious.

Hey Matt, 

I am also looking at Milwaukee as my next potential city. Below are some resources I have come across so far: 

1. Investing in Milwaukee by Dawn Anastasi (its on lulu as an e-book). Dawn is active here on BP as well.  

2. In regards to agents, Marcus Auerbach is a name that I have seen come up a lot, but I can not vouch as I have not dealt with him personally yet. 

Feel free to PM me to see if there is anything else I can help with as I learn more. 

Jonathan 

Hey John! Welcome! I have been looking into different cities to invest in, and Cincinnati is on the list! I wish you luck as you approach graduation and house hack. I am envious that you are in an area that is conducive to house hacking, the market in the Bay Area is a little to hot for me to feel comfortable paying 500k for a 2 bed 1 bath (eye roll). 

Welcome!

@Alexander Felice interesting point about finding a city first. I have been approaching this the other way so far, trying to find people in a few different cities and seeing if there was anyone that I felt really good about. I think your strategy may be better, as then I could focus my energy on learning one city and the people in it really well. 

Now I just have to nail down a city...

Thanks @Michael O.  

I was looking at trying to make a trip out to Detroit over the next few weeks when I am visiting family in Grand Rapids.

Are you doing the rehab yourself on that Duplex? I would super interested to hear more about that deal. I have seen a lot of pretty inexpensive multi families in relatively low crime areas (according to Trulia). 

Thanks for the feedback! I will look a bit closer into Cleveland.

Hello all! 

I am gearing up for my second RE purchase and I would really like to engage the BRRRR strategy. I have been focusing my search for about 6 months on the Grand Rapids, MI market, however I have been running into issues finding deals that need renovation and where the numbers worked out. To make matters more complicated, I am currently working and living in the Bay Area of California - which makes it hard to jump on deals and keep a finger on the "pulse" of the market in Grand Rapids.

I am looking at a few other markets and would like all of your input! The 3 cities I have been looking at are Detroit, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. The reason I have zeroed in on these markets are below: 

- Low median home price (at least compared to the Bay Area, which may enable me to purchase distressed properties with cash) 

- A decent amount of properties in need of repair/rehab

- I have seen seller financing offered a few times in each of these markets

- Predicted growth in these areas 

Ultimately I know a big aspect of my decision-making process will be getting connected with the right people in these cities as well. I have connections in Grand Rapids, but due to how hot the market was the Agent I was working with didn't think I could find something that I could seller finance as I did the renovations. I think this was partly because I was working with a very busy and established agent, and I am also not a "big fish client" (yet!). Does anyone have suggestions on how to build a team in a new city to execute the BRRRR strategy? 

I know I would need a contractor, management company and an agent. If I stay in Michigan I will have good lending connections already with Lake Michigan Credit Union. Also, if I begin working in some of these cheaper areas I could possibly purchase the property with cash to start instead of needed to work with seller financing. 

Ultimately I would love to get a system going where I could do a deal every few months. I am currently living on +-35% of my income and putting the rest (65%) into Real Estate to build an empire as fast as possible. Now I just need a location and team to do it!  

Looking forward to your input!

Jonathan 

@Kuba F. Thanks for the input. The rents are a bit conservative because I am only planning on renting out 5 of the 7 units and then beginning the major renovation on the 2 that I do not rent out. The previous owners were renting out the property for 650 a unit, I believe I will be able to raise these. Definitely not an A neighborhood but I wouldn't call this one a C I believe. 

The repair estimate came from a contractor this past summer to the current owner, I have my own list of contractors that are checking out the property this week to give me quotes. 

As far as the CapEx systems, plumbing was just checked out and was good to go. I did an inspection of the furnace and hot water heater which had both been recently serviced, but I will also call a professional in for that as well. The roof does concern me, going to be hiring a good inspector for that for sure. Is there anything else here that I should be specifically looking for in your experience?

Thanks again for the response!

@Greg Scott Great points, thanks again. From what I retrieved from the county website the current SEV is approx 60k - which translates to just under 3k a year in taxes. I will budget for more just in case. 

@Greg Scott Thanks for the prompt response and the luck! As far as the cost of property management, the company that I currently employ to manage my single family rental has agreed to 50/unit (so 350 a month) for the property. Historically taxes have been around 3,000 a year (obtained from public records). What other information should I be looking at? Thanks again for your help and input! 

@Brent Coombs

@Brent Coombs Thank you for the response, although I am not sure what you meant. (unless you were poking fun at the repairs estimate, in which case no further elaboration is necessary). Thanks!