All Forum Posts by: Leo Bleier

@JT Johansen sorry this got a little long, I think there's some helpful stuff? 

My journey is as such, I have an S-corp, mainly for tax purposes, I am a freelance television editor and one day my CPA recommended the infamous Rich Dad Poor Dad book. He talked to me about how real estate investing is a great approach to retirement income. After reading the book I was hooked. The next thing that happened for me was just general discussions with friends and family about investing in real estate. And honestly looking back what I thought was a good idea was not.

One day a friend of mine told me to check out the Bigger Pockets podcast, fyi this is true and I have no affiliation to BP. I listened to one episode and immediately wanted more. I don't remember how many episodes there were when I started but I think it was around 187. I listened to ALL of them. Even if it didn't pertain to what I thought I wanted to do. Eventually I started to understand topics and know what certain real estate jargon meant. I love to learn new things so I would always check out the books mentioned at the end of the podcasts. I definitely didn't read them all, not even close, but picked up a bunch that either seemed to be repeated mentions or ones I thought would help me create my strategy.

After reading a few, and I'm still reading them, I started to come up with my criteria for where to buy. I crossed referenced a lot of random things because I'm no expert but it was fun doing the research and coming up with my own vision of where/what the future could be. I looked at things like "hottest real estate markets" (past and present), cross referenced with job growth, population rates and where "the cool" kids were moving. Trying to understand what industries were thriving and where they were going. For some reason I felt that google fiber was a nice perk for an area, I mean everyday more and more things go digital and google fiber is lightening fast. I investigated local industries, read business journals and scoured BP for topics in my top 5 potential markets. 

My list eventually narrowed to a handful of markets at which point I started to try and make connections and find out who I knew where or who I could meet and talk with in these areas. At this point I was dealt a dose of luck because of the connections I had in KC. As I mentioned my mentors in KC were willing to help me along the way (and still do) and were always giving me advice, but also very encouraging when they told me that everyone does it different and that I will make mistakes.

Eventually I started running numbers using the BP calculators, I knew what my investing budget was, and started making offers. 

I really think a key to investing out of state is going to the area. I was born and raised in CA (just North of you actually) and KC is a whole new world to me. And being there for the month of July allowed me to understand the types of houses there, the potential issues they could have and what the market was offering. Also if I wasn't there I would never have gotten my first deal. The market is so competitive that most houses I looked at already had offers. The house I purchased was one that I had been watching through a real estate site and it came back on the market while I was there. I made an offer that day and still had to compete with one other buyer.

I'm constantly learning and always reading new material. And you'll hear it said but the more you tell people what you're doing the more you'll find out that other people are doing the same thing. I've had so many conversations with people that I never knew were investors until I mentioned I was. I love hearing about what other people are doing in other markets.

I hope this helped some, I probably went off on some tangents.

Best, Leo

@JT Johansen @Jared Carpenter

Hey guys thanks for the inquiry. I'll try to keep this informative yet brief. I ended up not investing in Utah. After doing more research and talking with contacts I have here in California, I found that the Kansas City area made more sense for me. The biggest reason for investing there, besides the market fitting my current strategy, was it ended up I had great connections there. Including some that do a lot of real estate investing. Because of this I went and spent a month living in the area to learn from them, understand the area and market, and to gather a team to get my investing off the ground.

I'm currently doing a rehab on a SFH I purchased at the end of September. I might not hit the exact numbers I calculated in the beginning but I should get around a 6-7% return on my money (this is after all expenses, cap X etc.) once the project is finished. I'll be happy to hit these numbers and honestly I'll still be happy even if it's lower. I spent lots of time researching markets and strategies and needed to put my knowledge to the test. I'm much better at learning with a hands on approach. And because this was a bank owned foreclosure that is a complete rehab, and I'm adding an egress window to turn it from a 3 bed to a 4 bed, I'll have even better numbers to work from for the next one.

Sorry that I don't have info on Utah, but hopefully this stuff still helps.

Best of luck!

Hi Kimberly,

I've recently spent time in KC searching out properties and networking to build a team. I'm going a different route than turnkey but I would suggest reaching out and when you're in the area visit @Nathan Brooks. He's been investing in the area for some time and has a turnkey service. I've reached out and asked questions about the area and have also read many of his posts on BP. Good luck on your endeavors, KC is a great place to invest.

Leo

Not to be captain obvious but if it's a hot market these houses go fast. I will try my hardest to get in as soon a property comes on the market and make an offer that day. It's been said many times on Bigger Pockets good deals move and you need to be ready. The foreclosures that I've seen sitting for long periods of time usually have major issues, or are over priced for the market. I've walked into homes looked at a faulty foundation and walked out within 5 minutes knowing that the property wouldn't fit into my system. I think the key is patience and persistence.

Good Luck!

For that you'd have to go through a realtor, but yes you can get it if it's listed. If it's listed to go to auction that's another story. I currently have an offer in on a bank owned home that myself, my realtor and my contractor walked through and crunched the numbers on. This way I had a good idea of what my top purchase price COULD be (when/if they counter) but offered well below hoping they just want it off their books. 

I'm not sure if they're houses that didn't have winning bids or not, I'm myself starting to learn about auctions and foreclosures, but the listings on Redfin, Zillow, etc. are bank owned foreclosures. If they are HUD homes or similar program homes, then there is generally a time period before an investor can make an offer. They hope to sell to first time homebuyers or owner occupants. The listings will generally have an asking price associated with them. After you make an offer, the bank, or banks depending on if there's a second, will see if they like your number. They are generally looking for a percentage of what they're owed on the property. Although I have run into banks that won't budge on price at all. I hope this helps a little. I'm still a newbie investor but have been working on educating myself about foreclosures.

Good luck out there!

I've been speaking with Lenders here in KC as an out of state investor, I am here in person, but Commerce Bank told me they would lend up to 10 properties and I believe Bank Midwest said they would go up to 6, so you might want to contact them as well.

Good Luck!

Hey Serena,

I can't speak much on your deal or where to get financing, but I'm an investor from the L.A. area and have been here in KC for two weeks now and have been speaking with lots of local banks, property managers and working with locals who know good and bad areas. I'm in the process of starting my investing here. I've found that with a non-owner occupied property all the local banks want to see cash reserves, some of the local banks don't want to work with out of state investors period. Also I was told by a BP member that the zip 64128, where your sixplex is located, is not a very desirable area, aka hood. I haven't been up around that area but I'm focusing more on the BRRRR strategy in other areas.
After being out here, I can truly appreciate the advice of at the very least visiting the areas you want to invest in, especially when you're out of state. The real estate here is very different from CA.

Good Luck with everything, KC is a great city on the rise in my opinion.

I'm looking to join/attend some meet ups here in Los Angeles. I'd prefer they be focused on out of state investing, although I have some local investing plans in the works as well. My main focus is buy and hold.

Hit me up local Angelinos!

Thanks @Lelith Walker, I kind of figured, but just wanted to double check!