All Forum Posts by: Kyle Neff

Hello BP Family!

I have been researching for months now on the various ways to start investing in Real Estate. I asked the question in my last post regarding out of state investing and received a tremendous response with some very helpful feedback - thank you everyone!

To take this a a little further, I have also been wondering whether I should start with Single-Family, Multi-Family Residential, or if I should dive into Small Commercial (somewhere from 5-10 units). 

I know a lot will depend on the market and cost barrier to enter, but I am looking in both my home market of Atlanta, GA and surrounding area, as well as in Ohio - Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland. 

I am curious to hear whether it is even possible for me to get a small Commercial loan because it is my first investment property, or whether I should dip my toe in with a smaller property and let the experience teach me, then expand out later.

Looking forward to any insight the BP family has to share...thanks in advance!

Christopher, I am a fellow Atlantan who's getting started in real estate as well. Look forward to hearing your success stories and sharing best practices with you.

All the best,

@Justin Fraser

Justin - so great to hear of your success - thanks for sharing and keep up the awesome work!

@Greg Kurzner

Hi Greg - I appreciate all the insight! I agree, investing here in my backyard is ideal, especially for my first few times because I want to be able to get intimate with the end-to-end process and ideally be close enough to drive to my properties within a short time. That being said, I am open to investing in multiple markets and deploying various strategies. I will send you a PM as I am interested to meet with you and keep the conversation going.

@Brian DiMaggio

Awesome to meet you virtually Brian! Would love to sit down in person sometime soon. I will send you a PM and we can set something up. 

@David Panzera

Thanks so much, David! I love Columbus and I think the city has started to do a better job of maintaining young professionals after graduating from OSU. I'm going to send you a PM and a connection request and look forward to keeping the dialogue going.

@Justin Windham 

Thanks Justin! I love your area too, was out there for the 4th of July last year and got some good hikes in. Let's keep the dialogue open and if there's anything I can do for you, please let me know!

Hello @Jesse Kerr! I asked some of the same questions and here is Anthony's response. He can of course chime in and add but I thought this might be helpful. @Anthony White

Anthony White from BUENA PARK, California

replied about 11 hours ago

Originally posted by @Kyle Neff :

What I did first was learn and listen to all the podcasts I could, especially on Bigger Pockets, now with a 5 and 1 year old running around and my wife need as much help as possible around the house, it’s not like I could ask for some quiet time and go to my study to read quietly. Haha

So podcasts were essential for me - grocery store shopping, on the way and home from work, taking my daughter for a walk - anytime I could find to listen, I did.

At first i came on bigger pockets to find deals, Redfin, Zillow, realtor.com all the different site have homes- it was just a matter of finding where in Memphis.

Then I called and interviewed tons of Property Management companies, I probably called 5-7. Just to express that i was interested in starting there, and what they offered and what their thoughts were on areas that would rent consistantly and safely.

Some great things did happen by chance - like finding my realtor Duane Kinnard, of Tri-Leake Realty, it just so happened I called on maybe 30 different properties. And left probably 60 messages. But the homes he listed- when I called, he picked up - not just once or twice, ALL THE TIME- and if he didn’t I’d get a text that he was busy and he’d call me right back - then we conversed about what my goals were and he is someone that was born and grew up in memphis, even bough he was young, he was hungry to make a name for himself and had deep roots within the community where he knew and could see things that have benefitted me. I have more great stories about that.

The Management story is a whole other thing, needless to say - I went to the Big company route - thinking it was safe and all the red tape tenets had to go through to get in - my property and my rents would be safe - but it didn’t work out - I lucked into another person starting up their own management business and now she manages all 15 of mine and 35 total. She is incredible!!!!

For contractors - my realtor Duane and My property manager have handled everything - I am in the middle of a rehab now, my biggest yet. All done remotely - and so far going great.

When it comes to a lawyer - the one I use again was set up by Duane Kinnard, Mr. Kim has been nothing but professional and I trust him 100% he has even helped me attain an LLC so I can begin that process of moving properties over. But it has been a blessing.

I also have a wholesaler @JasonHopkins Who sold me by first deal - on here that I sold for Double 8 months later.

Basically - when I was looking to build a team - I looked for people like me, just in their field - just like the teams I coached, I never got what I expected, I got what I inspected. Therefore, communication is key for me - I want calls, emails, texts, pictures, everything. I love being involved, because I’m not wealthy or rich - so every rent payment missed is felt and because my team is so young and hungry trying to accomplish their dreams too - they feel it too.