All Forum Posts by: Douglas Larson

In the Ogden area you can definitely get to 1% or more in monthly rents but you can get in trouble with really old homes that become money pits or really rough neighborhoods that are high crime and attract low-quality tenants (drugs, late payments, frequent turnover).

That said, I do know some investors that love the North Ogden area, Roy and Centerville for lower-end flips and long-term rentals. 

Have fun and make sure to come to the local investor club meetings and lunch groups. (go to SLREIA.com)

If you can, I'd recommend disputing the charge with the credit card company. Tell them you were not given the service they promised and charged you for and use the word "scam." The credit card company will likely reverse the charges. I'm sure you're not the only one that be filing this kind of dispute regarding this company.

The well-known company Infusionsoft once charged me $1300 and tried to justify it as if I had requested an extra service. Their "customer service" department literally told me to "Man-up and take the loss." 

American Express saw things my way and reversed the charges within a few weeks.

Take care out there!

Hi @Ben Fonohema, @Ira Ashton, @Donovan Wilcox

Looks like you guys might all be looking for the same thing... the right deals and/or the right partners. I'm not a big cheese but I'm happy with my investing in Utah. We have 10 income properties and we do several flips a year. There's enough deals to stay as busy as I want to be. 

I can point you in the right direction for great wholesale deals, seller-financed deals, good real estate agents and even good private money lenders. There are also some great networking events in Salt Lake and Utah counties where you will meet lots of other people who are also looking to buy, sell or partner on deals. 

Real estate investing takes lots of money, time, knowledge and skill. If you don't have any of these, it's not for you. 

If you can acquire at least 2 of these, you can borrow or hire or partner to obtain the others.

Send me a message! ... and have fun out there!

Hi @Jim D., 

Multi-family seems a bit over-priced to me right now in SLC and surrounding cities. I prefer SFRs.  In the Ogden area you can definitely get to 1% or more in monthly rents but you can get in trouble with really old homes that become money pits or really rough neighborhoods that are high crime and attract low-quality tenants (drugs, late payments, frequent turnover). We have 10 income properties now and 7 of them are in the Salt Lake Valley. We've got good renters and with inventory very low under 250K, appreciation really looks good too.

It is definetly hard to find properties that cashflow well in SLC with only 5% down and a 5%+ non-owner occ mortgage. Still, you can find things that work in areas of Kearns, West Valley and Taylorsville. Areas like Rose Park, Glendale and Magna can also work but you can have some of the same problems I mentioned above in Ogden. I can recommend a good agent if you PM me. There are also some decent wholesales that cross my desk each week but they all need cash (or hard money) and a quick closing, like 1-2 weeks. We purchase rentals and flips through short sales, wholesalers and even REOs on the MLS.

Are you actually in the Salt Lake area or trying to invest from Michigan?

Hi Kristen. Welcome to BP!

I currently live in the Salt Lake City area and have invested in Park City quite a bit too. PC can be great for mid to high-end flips but very tough for Cash-flow rentals and low down, seller-financed properties.

OPM (other peoples money) means different things for different people. I use hard money for big flip projects but it still requires 50-100K of my own cash to get decent terms (like 1% orig and 11%APR.)

I see wholesaler deals at least once per week that offer seller-financing and also include a little equity but they require a quick closing and 25-50K down. That down payment pays the wholesaler and the seller. You then take over payments (search "sub 2" financing) and you can lease the property to make the difference between the current mortgage and the monthly rent. 

If you want low or no down, seller-finance deals, you are probably looking for negative equity sellers that just need to get out of the property. Cashflow and equity will be slim to none, but long-term appreciation may make it worthwhile. Networking with wholesalers is the key to finding these deals. They run across negative equity sellers often and can send these leads to you (for a fee of course.) I can get you some names in the SLC area if you PM me.

Hope that helps... and have fun!

@Liz Boer

"Real estate investing" can mean so many things, depending on who you talk to. Most people simply mean "making money related to real estate." There are definitely lots of ways to do this in and around San Diego. Just for fun, I did an  in Oceanside last summer. We had some fun and made some money but I think a better, long-term strategy for that home could have been as an Airbnb rental or even a house hack. The floorplan could have worked well.

I know a few people in Southern Cal and in Hawaii that make a pretty decent living with Airbnb and VRBO nightly rentals. There have been some great podcasts recently as well -

Whatever you do... Have fun!... and keep this community posted with your .

I don't trust any site's estimate or "zestimate" for value. I do love how Redfin works in many markets to be able to look up sold comps for up to several years back. That's crucial if you are not a RE agent and you want to get real values without driving your agent crazy on every property you want to research. Redfin is great! They do not have all the functionality of the MLS in every market though.

I have also used Redfin agents to make offers and to sell properties. (). Redfin is kind of an assembly line with specific people doing different parts of the process but I've had good experiences and saved a bit on commissions too.

@Ray Lai

  Re:"Do you think we're in the late stages of the cycle in your market when you can start whole-tailing due to lack of contractors and HOT seller's market? :)"

It's always hard to predict market cycles but unless there's a war with N. Korea or a 9.0 earthquake in the heart of Salt Lake City or a zombie apocalypse, I feel pretty secure that values will hold and continue to climb in my area for another 2 years or so. We always have a seasonal slowdown in the late fall and into the holidays but Feb through September are usually great for sales and appreciation. I have lived in San Diego and also Hawaii and the cycles there (and the prices) are different than Utah. I think there's always opportunities for those who work hard and smart!

I hesitate to post this one because it's not the norm. It's also NOT the kind of thing that most brand new investors can do. That said, I think the story is repeatable and others can learn something.

In early March I got an email from a wholesaler about a very large home in a great neighborhood about 40 minutes north of me. The numbers looked great but a quick inspection revealed some significant issues with the property – hence a great price. The original home was in pretty solid shape but shoddy renovations and a poor-quality addition on the back of the home were real concerns. The Home had been vacant for over a year and there were frozen pipe issues with leaking water in the basement. Still, the math looked great so I tied it up with 5K EM within 24 hours of getting the email. The wholesaler had several other calls but he said he went with me because he "knew that I could close."

I estimated that a proper remodel would take three months and 80K, but could net 100K or more. I had just closed the week before on another large remodel project and subcontractors are always tough to nail down in the spring. I consulted with my retail RE agent @Jordy Clark and he suggested I just do a little cleanup and put it right back on the MLS, because the spring market "is so hot." He told me to put a price that made it "worthwhile NOT to go through the big renovation project."

My purchase price was 264K. I borrowed 100K of that at 1% origination and 11% APR (Pretty good terms for Hard Money). I funded in less than a week.

I quickly capped a couple leaking pipes and did some cleanup in and around the property. My agent had an MLS listing at 329K and a sign in the yard within three days of my purchase. My agent held an open house that first weekend and we had a few offers very quickly.

We accepted an offer at $322,500 and it closed in about 10 days. after commissions, concessions, title fees and the minimal repair costs, we had a true net of about 36K. Not bad for a couple weeks work. And just for the record, the wholesaler made 14K for his efforts.

This week I find myself in between projects so I'm a little sad I sold it, but I'm not gonna complain too much about an easy win.

I don't know if there is a Webster's definition for a "whole-tail" deal but I took my agent's advice to market a wholesale property on the retail MLS to see what response we would get, and it worked out pretty well.

Hi @Dylan Bushaw

You appear to be describing a typical house hack. That's a great plan. There are many investors who could give you their time and help but they are likely interested in an on-going, mutual relationship and not just finding you a single house. You would be better served by finding a good real estate agent for a traditional owner-occ purchase. And they will get paid through a commission to find you a house. Late fall tends to be the best time to find good values as well. 

I've seen a few wholesale deals in Roy and Clearfield and Centerville recently. There is instant equity of 10 - 20% but they need to close quickly with a cash buyer, and they usually need work. If you attend the the local meetups you can make some great contacts for good deals. You are likely to get a good value but again, you need cash (or hard money) and some handyman skills. I like the .

You are ready to contact a buyers agent or other investors/mentors if:

1. You know what kind of house (location, style, age, level of repair) you are ready to buy.

2. You have been approved for financing (or you have a suitcase of cash).

3. You have your wife's permission.

Hope that helps a bit. happy hunting!