All Forum Posts by: Jordan Vance

@Vic Marichal welcome to the forums, are you living in Melbourne currently? I'm looking to get started investing here with buy and hold oriented strategies, and have found the advice from members here to be invaluable. Best of luck!

@Cathryn Leasure welcome to BP! There are some very helpful folks in the real estate industry here who will provide valuable perspectives on investing in the area.

What kind of niche are you focusing on currently?

@Scott Schuetz Thanks for the advice. I've noticed the lack of multi-family properties on the market, and was somewhat disappointed about that after hearing Brandon gush about them so often on the podcast! My thinking is that I'd like to orient towards cash flow investment for now, but I'm curious about appreciation as well. Is the appreciation that you've seen over a specific span of time (e.g. past 5 years, 10, 20), and do you expect it to follow the same trends as in the past? What resources do you use to evaluate past appreciation? My knowledge is mostly from Zillow curve charts and word of mouth from friends in the area (who admittedly aren't as real-estate minded as me, let alone you).

@Jonno Rushbrook I appreciate the insight, and I think for now I'd like to start real estate investment in a capacity that allows me to keep my current career path until I can build enough of a portfolio such that I could switch to full-time investor and part-time engineer. It seems that buy and hold properties fit this mold, but a live-in flip as a first or second investment may allow me to build capital more quickly to work towards that goal, much in the same way you're planning. I'm curious about your comment about elections shaking up the market; I assume you mean US elections, and am wondering if this is something that historically happens, or you expect to occur specifically in this wild election cycle.

@Scott Schuetz Finding a niche/strategy is something that I see mentioned frequently, but rarely talked about in terms of getting there. May I ask about how you and @Jonno Rushbrook decided upon your niches?

With that said, it seems like cash flow and appreciation can go hand-in-hand in many situations; I see the Melbourne/Palm Bay area market as subject to decent appreciation over the next few years, and I likely wouldn't want to buy a property that doesn't cash flow at this time. A property that I live in -- a single-family slow flip, as @Joseph Landis mentioned, or a multi-family property -- would be ideal for me currently. Such a property would provide me a place to live while I'm employed in Palm Bay, and they would allow for me to learn different aspects of the real-estate business in my spare time. Additionally, it seems that these properties are in a price range such that I can consider acquiring more than one, from a cost standpoint.

In terms of property class, I assume I would be looking for more middle of the road type properties, but I'm unsure as to what exactly the term is referring.

What do I need to do in terms of fine-tuning my strategy/niche? Does my general idea seem practical in our area?

@Jonno Rushbrook yes I am here in Melbourne, and I would like to be added to your buyers list for mailings, thank you! I'll send you a PM.

@Scott Schuetz thank you, and the beachside towns are certainly on my list of areas to investigate further; it seems like most of the properties I've seen in those areas are much more expensive than on the mainland, and would preclude me from investing in multiple properties at once, slowing down my acceleration into the business of real estate. Where would you recommend a young investor to begin?

Hi BiggerPockets forum members!

I've been perusing the forums and listening to podcasts for some time now, but finally am taking the next step to get more serious about real estate investing and making my first post on the forums! I recently moved across the coast from Los Angeles, California to Melbourne, Florida after accepting a new job; part of the reason I took the new position was because of the opportunities in real estate investment that seemed to open up with a more accessible market that looks to grow in the near future.

In the future, I hope to be able to entirely sustain myself and family from wise investments made in real estate. In the near-term, I anticipate buying profitable single or multi-family homes; ideally a live-in single-family flip, or a live-in multi-family landlording situation. Far along in my real estate investing career, I envision owning larger apartment/dorm complexes near universities with a high international student population, and making a business of facilitating the study and exploration of foreign students in the US.

I look forward to meeting all of the BiggerPockets members in the Brevard County (Melbourne, Palm Bay, Titusville) area, and hope to learn the skills and confidence necessary to be successful in the business! Please feel free to ask questions or offer advice.

Best,

Jordan