All Forum Posts by: Lara White

@Charita Cadenhead I'm in Oklahoma now (military life) but I'm originally from Tuscaloosa!  

@Charita Cadenhead Welcome to the BP forums!  It's a great place to find like minded people, get different viewpoints, bounce new ideas off of others, etc!  I always recommend setting up some keyword alerts, that way you get notified when someone posts on something you are interested in (you could do: Alabama, Birmingham, Wholesale, flipping--to start out and always change or add later).  Are you looking for deals there in your area, or out of state?

I agree with @Brandon Sturgill and @Joe Funari too - find a good local investor friendly agent in whatever market(s) you pick. They will (or should be!) your boots on the ground so to speak.  Don't forget to set up some key-word notifications on the forums here - that will help you see what other new investors are talking about.

@Cole Falkenstine Welcome to the BP Forums! Just curious why you are interested in the Columbus/Cusseta GA area? Have you narrowed down what your niche will be? SFR, Multi? Will you house-hack or do you have some cash you can use as a down payment? Definitely check out some of the Bigger Pockets books, and set up some keyword alerts on the forums (newbie, Georgia, new investor, other things that you are interested in or looking to learn more about, make as many as you can think of).

@Darrell May I agree with @Ryan Kelly if you don't have plans/want to become a Realtor...don't waste your time on the licensing classes (wasted money and time unless you want to be an agent of course)!  Just like a lot of traditional schooling...you don't learn as much as you think you would.  And you'll hear over and over...most Realtors don't know a lot about real estate investing itself.  One Realtor I know very well is always telling me that I think too much like an investor! lol!! They can have totally different mindsets. I became a Realtor and I did learn about real estate in general of course, but I had to get most of my investing knowledge from different resources (like Bigger Pockets forums, reading books, talking to other investors themselves). That being said, it could be a great side hustle if you are able to devote the time to it.

@Stephanie Ro My husband is military (27 years), so we've lived near our fair share of military bases!  Right now, I live near Tinker AFB (in OKC area), and there are tons of rentals near bases for sure!  There's good and bad about rentals near bases IMO. 

Good - steady, good rents from military and their supporting civilian workers.  You don't have to worry about evicting military members as much (not always true b/c people are still people, but definitely less likely).

Bad - If a base closes, and there is not enough employment beyond the base...your rental could be in real trouble.  For larger metros (like OKC), this is less of a problem.  But if the base is out in the middle of Oklahoma (like Altus, OK or Enid, OK) and (not saying they will b/c both bases have clear missions currently) but IF they did close... there aren't a lot of jobs to replace the jobs lost from the base closure....therefore renters might leave.  So just use caution when selecting your military base, they are not all equal IMO.

@Tyson Thurman Oh I love the Birmingham area!  I'm originally from that area, but I don't know about the rental/rehab scene there.  It's a decently large metro area, so I'm sure there's lots of options. 

OKC/Oklahoma is pretty hot right now (like everywhere else! lol). But it feels (anecdotally) that it is slowing/leveling out just a tad.  Earlier this year, I had clients (non investors) bidding $20,000-30,000 over and not getting their offers accepted.  There is not much in the multi-family arena here, one big downfall. But you can find SFR's still. It's definitely a growing metro, with lots of good employers (Tinker AFB being the largest I believe, followed by the University of Oklahoma/all it's entities, Boeing, Hobby Lobby, Paycom, Sonic, tons of energy companies!)

@Christopher Hall  I don't know much about self storage ... but I'm originally from Cottondale, and I have to say... Roll Tide.

@Tyson Thurman After you narrow down your market (or markets), I would definitely start with a realtor (or two). They can set you up on the MLS for free, and go take video or do facetime with you (that's what I do with my clients) to help explore the property and the street that it's on. The realtors should also have some vendor contacts that will give you a leg up on getting some bids/ideas of cost. Be sure to interview the realtor though...most of them have little to NO idea about investing!! Good luck to you. What markets are you looking in so far?

@Pearce Trenary  My parents AirBnB the two front rooms of their house in (Santa Rosa Beach-just east of Destin), and just this summer (since March) have netted almost $30,000! (Last year was about the same).  They do a 2 night minimum, and have a cleaning fee.   There's lots of companies that could manage it for you there.  (I don't know any in particular, but it's a super touristy area, so I'm sure there are tons!)  But I do know, it's super important to get a good Airbnb cleaner/manager.  I'd vote for somewhere you might also want to visit (not necessary of course, just something to think about).