All Forum Posts by: James Vermillion

Melissa Lange, I meant to mention you in the last post.

I agree...and welcome to BP Melissa. Don't forget to introduce yourself over at the New Member Introduction Forum

Thanks J Scott, you are much more eloquent than I!

Good question Brian. Often times negotiations can take quite a while, and we are by nature uncomfortable with the silence that occurs. I have seen investors submit an offer, lets call it $100K. The other party may counter at $110K. To continue the negotiations the investor submits another offer at $105K. They do not hear anything back right away and they start getting uncomfortable...so they start thinking the worst, "maybe they have another offer", "maybe I offended them with my offer", etc. This leads them to up their offer to $107,500. The other party does not even need to negotiate anymore, the investor is negotiating against himself.

I wrote a blog post a long time ago about overcoming the urge to defeat yourself: http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/2029/blog_posts/21349-staying-silent-overcoming-the-urge-to-defeat-yourself

Does that make sense?

I am actually looking at several small towns outside of my normal investment area for some of the reasons you mentioned (less competition, better deals). One town I especially like due to a high profile employer in the area the provides a ton of good, well-paying jobs and it looks like they will only be expanding for the next 20-30 years.

Of course this also presents risk, because if this one employer goes down, the market there will be in trouble. I will not over-buy in this are due to that, but I am very comfortable owning several rentals there.

I do not believe the vacancy rate is necessarily higher in small towns. It really will depend on the demographics, as the small towns I am looking at have similar vacancy rates as the larger towns and cities.

The biggest tip I can give you is do not negotiate against yourself....that is one of the biggest mistakes I have seen new investors make.

We also have put the Allure Vinyl Planks in and like it so far. They were cheap, and very easy to install and seem to be very resilient. Time will really tell, but so far, so good.

Welcome to BP Blake. One great thing about real estate is the abundance of options. There are many ways to get started, so it is important to figure out which strategy will best fit with your lifestyle, personal situation and investing goals.

Have you read the Ultimate Beginner's Guide yet? It is a nice starting point for learning more. To hear more about how people got started, check out the BP podcast...Josh and Brandon always ask the guests about their start in real estate investing.

If you cannot find something you are looking for just ask, someone will point you in the right direction.

Good luck!

Welcome to BP Jake! Have you read the Ultimate Beginner's Guide yet? If not, check it out, it is a great free resource.

Also, since you are looking at purchasing rental properties, make sure you check out the 50% rule...there are a ton of forum posts if you do a search. Good luck!

I am a lucky one...I love my job, but I understand where you are coming from. However, I would look at your current job as a tool, to help you expand your real estate investing business, not as a crutch. Perhaps that perspective will help you make it through the days more easily.

Good luck Brian!