All Forum Posts by: Jordan Thompson

Thanks Mason!  You got this!  And yep she’s definitely amazing. 

Thanks Tim!  Those were my thoughts as well during the due diligence period because the pictures seemed to hide a lot of sins... unfortunately in person, things were quite a bit more dingy and there was an odd smell, not necessarily bad; just odd... 

Anyway, I'll be painting, installing new flooring (LVP) and some new steel exterior doors.  The previous landlord or property manager apparently thought hollow interior doors were ok to put on as entry doors; no bueno. The existing tenant (in the other unit) wants a more solid door and I don't blame them - I would want one too.  I should be able to post some pics of paint and the first box of flooring today or tomorrow.

Jordan

Hello BP!  I've been a pro member for about 6 months now and am proud to announce that I have officially closed on my first deal - a duplex!  The gameplan for this thread is to chronicle my progress through the rehab, marketing, and management so hopefully I can learn from the experts and any new or aspiring investors can learn from my experiences.  Any and all feedback is welcome - I really want to learn, and would love to hear opinions and guidance.  I'm very new to this but I've fully embraced the challenge and have been hooked ever since the offer was made...  so here goes nothing:

The background:

REI has been a focus of mine for years but I apparently didn't take it as seriously as it wanted... until this year (2021). I've worked my way out of about 17k of personal debt, made some sacrifices, refinanced the primary residence and aggressively saved every penny I could spare for my capital fund. I sold my Infiniti late last year, promptly bought an older Corolla, paid off the remaining balance of my credit card in March, refinanced the house in May, and made my first offer on July 26th (they declined...). At that point, I had about 9k saved up; not bad for a newbie I suppose. To top this all off, I'm married and my wife has some medical issues that prevent her from working a full-time job and her hand of cards brings a few higher-than-normal costs to the 'ol budget. Rest assured she makes up for it in her faith and support...

The Support:  where to start...

First and foremost, I couldn't have been more blessed by God to have the supportive wife that I do.  Seriously.  It would have been sooooo easy for her to be negative and try to sway my endeavors and opinions away from Real Estate investing since it's not her niche, or she's scared we'll lose money, or we need to focus on a better life, or... any number of the other excuses some spouses can make.  I've only ever gotten a "Go for it" response from her for anything that I was passionate about and I couldn't be more thankful for it!  Her faith in my drive and ability is second to none - even myself most times.

My agent.  I mentioned I've been a member for a while - listening to the podcasts, reading books, and then took the plunge earlier this year as a pro member - good move when you realize you need to get serious - more on this in a sec...  I reached out to the agent that helped my wife and I purchase our primary about 4 years ago since she has experience with investors and she connected me with @Jordan Spaller ... (good powerful first name lol).  I feel guilty for how much work he has done on this deal for the commission he made... He has a background in hospitality and it DEFINITELY came through with this search.  The amount of comps and disclosures he pulled, Saturdays and Sundays he spent touring properties and responsiveness to my neediness have been unparalleled and he deserves a trophy.  Looking for a property in the Charlotte, Concord, Hickory, Statesville area?  Then reach out to him...  He finally drank the BiggerPockets Kool-aid and became a member!  Welcome to BP Jordan!

The deal: I wanted a duplex. SFH just didn't seem to produce good numbers so I moved up the chain and this one fit the bill... we closed on 11/12 and so began my quest on basic rehabbing; skills I knew nothing about. Here are the listing photos:

  While it didn't show well, it does have a ton of potential; at least that's how both my brain cells and I justified it.  So we made the offer, it got accepted, and @Jordan Spaller negotiated credit for repairs.  We've made some progress so far and I'll keep the pics and posts coming...  Stay tuned

Jordan

Great question! I've found that the SMF units are typically in the $0.88 to $1.10 per sqft range in the Concord area depending on location, condition and amenities. SFH seem to fall in the $0.95 to $1.20 range based on my research. Large complexes can come with pools and gyms which can sometimes skew my data.

If the property is closer to popular areas like interstates and good schools then you lean toward the higher side especially if the units are nice and have good appliances like a dishwasher (I was surprised to find that quite few don’t have them). 

If you’re looking for more specific info then I would check out the rent calculator here on BP first, followed by rentometer, listing sites like craigslist, apartment, and Fb, and then reach out to a property manager to confirm if that’s a route you’re planning. 

Best of luck!

Hi Thomas, I live in Concord and am familiar with the market. How can I help?

Count me in as well!  Do you guys have any time and place picked out to meet up?

I was literally on my way about 2 months ago to make an offer on a townhome when my agent called to inform me that the local HOA was no longer allowing renters in that community. Best advice is to talk to any HOA of the community you're looking at and ask them about this. I would have been left with a property I couldn't rent as my first investment which would have been bad.

Charlotte is very hot right now so outskirts are a better idea IMHO if you're looking at the MLS. I just put a duplex under contract in Hickory so keep going; there are still good properties out there.

Jordan

UPDATE 9.21.21    So Duke energy owns the pole and I had them send out a technician yesterday who called me yesterday evening from the site. His words were “I’ve probed all around the pole and don’t see any problems. It should last for years...” so that’s something. Also, the Google street view image capture is from may of 2019 and the embankment looks the same just less vegetation; since then we’ve had a 5.1 earthquake, a lot of rain last year and several hurricanes so while I would like to have a wall there at some point it doesn’t appear to be in any immediate danger...

Thanks again for all the replies and opinions!

Jordan

@Dave E. Thanks Dave. It’s actually mostly clay and dirt; I was able to scrape off a decent amount with the back of my flashlight. If it were mostly rock I think I would be fine with it but the crumbling sent up a red flag for me.

Do utility companies have any requirements usually on how far a pole can be from something like this? I wouldn’t want to put up a wall only to find out the pole has to have like 4 feet or something of ground around it...

I’m waiting on some replies from contractors now about their thoughts along with what the seller may know about it. I’ll keep you guys posted.

Thanks for all the advice!

Jordan

Thanks Steven!  I’ll check around locally and see who has some experience before I take the plunge. 

I had a similar thought too, Scott.  I took a photo of the pole ID number; I wonder if they even know about how close it is and if they have any contacts they work with for this sort of thing. I’ll reach out and confirm. 

Jordan

@Wayne Brooks Thanks Wayne! It looks to be about 12 feet tall or so; how would I work around the power pole?

I think the pole is 2-3 feet behind the ridge and with your formula I think I would need to go 6 or so to get the 2:1