All Forum Posts by: Marc Rice

I have a goal to buy my first investment real estate property in 2025. I live in CA and own my primary residence. I am not interested house-hacking. Primary goal for investing in real estate to grow my wealth (not to replace my W2 job).

As the first investment, I want a safer investment with a goal to break even in 12 months and focus on learning & long-term cashflow/appreciation. My budget for the first property is $50k ~ $100k. With this budget and my goals, I ruled out CA and looking out of state. With my budget and goals, I am looking at SFR in Indianapolis and Michigan (Detroit area, Lansing). Any suggestions on how to get started, some risks to be aware of?

I am reading BiggerPockets forum and I get a lot of information, with somewhat divergent recommendations. Some specific questions I have:

1. What should be the number first step after picking a market? I am looking at listings online, running my numbers. Many of them barely hit the "1% rule".

2. Assuming I purchased a property, how do I find renters? Do I lean 100% on the property manager to find renters? How do I know the vacancy rate / how long it took to find renters for comparable properties? This would be one of the most important inputs for "running your numbers".

3. Many suggest to "build a team" for out of state investor (e.g. realor, PM, handyman, etc). How do I go about doing this? Who is the most important member/first I should focus on?

Any other generic recommendation / tips are appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone, I'm Danish Mohamed. I am new to BiggerPockets, and I'm also new to real estate investing in the United States of America. I came to the United States from my old country, Vietnam, around four years ago, and I am blessed to have some extra funds to invest in the BRRRR strategy of real estate in the Seattle and its surrounding markets.

At first, I initially looked at the Cleveland market as well, but the anxiety built up in me because of the fact that I'm out of state, and obviously, Washington and Ohio are not really close. And especially for my first deal in the United States, it made me anxious.

(I would love to hear some professionals give me unbiased perspective between Seattle and Cleveland market)

So I decided, you know what, I will try to stick to the Seattle market where I am staying to see how it goes.

I would love to build a team or network with real estate professionals in the Seattle area, like a real estate agent who knows a lot about investment properties and the nuances of the Seattle market.

Even though I have done my homework for the past two years, I also want to connect with a property manager who specializes in Section 8 rentals because I'm planning to rent it out to Section 8 after I rehab the property.

Additionally, I would love to connect with some hard money lenders in the area or those who have a footprint in Seattle, Washington, that are investor and beginner-friendly.

Although this is my first time doing deals in the US, when I was in Vietnam, I did something quite similar to the BRRRR strategy, but in my home country. And that's also where I get the fund from, liquidating the one in Vietnam :)

Obviously, the market nuances are different, and everything is different, but I would say that I do have some indirect experience, and I just want to get my first deal done in the United States.

Most Importantly, I also want to connect with a general contractor who specializes in rehabbing.

So yeah, I would love to connect with people in those professions. Feel free to reach out to me directly instead of posting if you would love to network.

Thanks, all.

I am a new pro member. My plan is to buy something in the next 90 days to a year that I can cash flow at least $100 a month after all expenses are accounted for; i.e. property management, taxes, insurance, cap expendetures etc. What are some of the best markets to get started in?  colombus/springfield OH seems at least somewhat promising to me. 

Anyone have experience with multi family section 8?

Hi,

I'm looking for recommendations for agents you've worked with who specialize in finding STR (or MTR) properties. So they're not just a realtor, but they have a track record in identifying markets (they know the regs) and properties.

I’m especially interested in connecting with anyone with experience in:

-California, Ohio, Alabama, Texas, Washington DC.

Thanks!
Kwanza 

Hello BP team, 

          How are you all? Hope all is well. I am looking to invest outside of California for the first time. I am looking to rent and hold (purchase a rental income property). Any recommendations for which cities and dates to look into as a starter? Would appreciate the insure. 

Hey! I have a pretty large capital ready to step into this game,

I am in big conflicts either choosing Ohio(Cincinnati/Dayton) or Texas(Houston) for BRRRR method,

I read a lot about Ohio, only positive stuff. But I am sure I can make it even in Texas. How big impact is that? For BRRRR, or flips in general.

Tlooking also to have sort of lifestyle and not living in cold 1/4 of the year with snow.


the question, is there is big differences between markets? 
should I consider heavily Ohio or you can make it pretty much any place, or Texas in general

Thanks!!!

I need advice on how to handle the transition my long-term rentals to a new property manager when my current one won't return calls, emails, or texts. 

After a year+ of unreliable management, I finally decided to switch to a new company. The current PM had delayed two months of rent payments with all kinds of excuses (that is when he did reply, which was rare). Per our signed agreement, I gave him 30 days notice of termination of his services via email and asked him to remit all outstanding payments and documentation (he hasn't delivered an owner's statement since June of '24) and assist with the transition to the new PM company.

He responded to one text a couple weeks ago when I asked for an update on the transition saying he hadn't received notice from me or heard from the new PM. The new PM has repeatedly tried to contact him with no response. He's also contacted the tenants with notice of management change, but they say they won't work with him without notice from the current PM to confirm it's legitimate. 

I only have the lease and contact info for one of my two properties. The PM never sent me the other, despite numerous promises to do so, so I don't know the name or contact info of that tenant. 

I'm an out-of-state owner. The properties are in Columbus, Ohio. 

The 30 days of notice ends on Feb 27. I need to get this existing company out of my life. 

Open to all suggestions.

I'm new to the whole scene. I have a lot of drive. I understand that nothing in life is free. I'm looking for somebody to correspond with. About my ideas and general questions. I'm willing to help this person in any way I can. Whether it be cleaning their properties or doing manual labor. I am an electrician. Or if the person is not in my area I am willing to compensate. Thank you to anybody who responds.

Hi there! As a first time investor looking to make the first purchase on a multifamily home in and around the city of Columbus, OH, within the next 2-3 months, I wanted to ensure I have all the information I need to be able to quickly and efficiently analyze and decide on a property worth investing into. Here are some hard numbers from my end:

• 40k — 60k down payment
• 6% minimum CAP rate
• Multifamily — 2 to 4 units
• Columbus, OH

Some of the questions I have revolve around the actionable steps I can take as well as the hard numbers I should be on the lookout for when analyzing a property as being a good deal or not.

I would be more than happy to schedule a call at your earliest convenience to discuss the details. Thanks again for your time!