All Forum Posts by: Derek Guyer

luckynicole,

Great questions. My opinion is that you should get yourself a good competent realtor who will help coach you through this and that you can take care of paying by giving them the commission on the deals. I would visit your local REI club and try to find someone who is humble enough to serve you and teach you and that you can help as well. You need someone on your side to help you write everything up in a way that benefits you, especially on your first deal when you know so little. Many successful investors I know and work with have capable realtors that they regularly use to help them because it's that persons job to know how to write it up and how to make the deal work for you.

Let me say again, get a GOOD and COMPETENT investment realtor, not just anyone. Ask them for references of other investors they work with and check them out. Do your homework and you won't regret it.

Resmith,

I like to be conservative, so here's the numbers I would consider in monthly if I were you in approaching the property:

- Mortgage for 100% of it's value at a 8-9% interest rate
- Insurance (you should be able to get a quote pretty fast)
- Taxes
- Property Management- 12% of rents (Seriously consider what you would do if you could no longer manage this property if something happened to you. You want the freedom to let someone else manage it and still make about cash flow)
- Maintenance- 5% or rents (for simple repairs)
- Vacancy loss for at least 1 month (but maybe 2 or 3 depending on the area)

Your desired ROI is mainly based on your opinion of how much you are paying for the property, the area it's located in, and your initial investment. Give us some more information and maybe we can help more.

Feel free to email me if this is an emergency.

Hello and welcome from a Hoosier! That really didn't have the ring I hoped it would...

Welcome to biggerpockets!

Welcome to biggerpockets! We're always glad to have more who have experience and something valuable to share.

Now that's my kind of post. Please do share!

...and welcome to biggerpockets!

There will always be motivated sellers in every market, so interest rates can help and sometimes make it worse for an investor.

During a time when interest rates are high though, multiple opportunities end up presenting themselves. As a result of higher interest rates, the market slows many times and sellers begin to become more desperate. Because of this, many of them will sell on seller financing and become more creative to get their property moved and to move on. Others will just drop the price to get it sold and off of their hands.

keepitreal,

I would definitely suggest that you consider using that $65k for more investments. That gives you plenty of money that you can use towards multiple properties that could begin to replace your income and move you closer to your financial goals if used correctly.

I would start by putting together a solid idea (plan) of where you want to go. Until you establish your direction, it could be very difficult to 1. stick with it and 2. make wise decisions in the first place.

Does that make sense?

You could rent a nice 2 or 3 bedroom house for that price in Indianapolis. It's getting harder, but is definitely still happening regularly.

I believe that this depends on each states laws governing the closings and how they are done. I would talk with a competent real estate professional (broker, attorney*, professional investor) in the area to get the details cleared up. Once you know the laws, you can structure deals accordingly, but if you're unfamiliar, you're bound to run into problems in situations like this.

Great thoughts, dcg123. I would like to also add that each market is different and to assume that all are going down or not already at their lowest point could be a big mistake. The market you are in may be on its way down, but many others are just now picking up, just now dead, or way up. But, when your strategy won't work in one area, don't think it's a flawed theory, it may be the wrong timing in the market.

So, your buying patterns should be based on market, pricing, timing, and your ability to handle and analyze each of those variables.