All Forum Posts by: Marvin Michel

Pretty good huh?  I like to travel in big chunks. Last time I did something like this, I road tripped from Vancouver to Tijuana, but back then it was all leisure. Now I'm incorporating business into it. I'd love for my life to turn into being something like a traveling RE investor. 

Hello,

This is an update to my previous post on https://www.biggerpockets.com/.... I've decided to hit the road and hit 13 cities in the span of 34 days. I will be visiting Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Lansing, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland and finally Allentown basically making a circle through the eastern Midwest. I'll be spending 3 nights in the larger cities and 2 nights in the smaller ones. My trip is essentially a vacation, but other than enjoying the unique touristy things each city has to offer, I really want to use the bulk of my time to explore markets and dip my toe in the water of investing, exploring different neighborhoods, looking at properties, talking to agents, investors, and whomever else can provide valuable insight on what I'd be venturing into when I'm eventually ready to buy.

My intention with this post isn't really to turn this into a sort of journal with periodic updates, but mostly I was hoping that this post, and perhaps others in the future, could help me connect with some of you more experienced folks out there who may be willing to lend a helpful hand in anything at all real estate related. If you live, or do business in, or know people in any of the above mentioned cities, I would love to just get to pick your brains about what these markets are like and to help a newbie investor get his bearings straight for when I finally pull the trigger. 

Feel free to ask me anything and shoot me messages! Looking forward to meeting whomever I can wherever I can!

Marvin

 Who is it that I want to serve? I'm not sure exactly. My aim would be to buy cheaper properties that can be fixed up and cash flow, and for my budget I was exploring the option of sec8 residents as one potential route, with the goal of cash out refinancing. Depending on the city, and if my budget allows, I might also explore the option of just renting to regular residents, again with the aim of positive cash flow so that I may cash out refinance. 

 Ah ok, so there's such a thing as investor tours that property managers conduct for people like me? I didn't know that. Should that be something I ask around for in the places I visit? Detroit is one of the places I would visit, so I would be interested in learning more.

What am I hoping to learn specifically by touring properties and getting bids? I want to figure out if the overall costs of a potential buy and rehab could be recuperated in rent and equity added. How would one go about  figuring out these numbers all remotely?  

Thanks for your response.

M

Hello,

I'm a newbie investor and I'm zeroing in on some cities in the Midwest that I'd like to make my first purchase in. As I'm not comfortable making a first-time purchase out of state without visiting the area, I decided to make a road trip out of it and to visit a handful of cities spread across a few states to get a physical feel of the markets I've got my eye on. 

The thing is though is that I don't really have a concrete plan of action once I arrive at these destinations. For one, I'm only planning to be in a city 2 to 3 days at a time, and I don't know if that'll allow me enough time to scout properties in an effective way. For example, if I wanted to visit a property that was a fixer upper, how would I be able to estimate how much work a property needs unless I also coordinated with having a contractor or someone who works in property management to come with me? And how would I do THAT with someone who would know that I was just in town for 2 or 3 days and may never even end up buying and wasting their time? How about setting up showing times with real estate agents? Will I be able to see properties on demand or will I have to schedule days in advance? Again with timing and coordination being a sensitive issue for my timeline. 

Now supposing these kinks can be worked out, the next big question is what sort of information should I be trying to get out of every place I visit, and what sort of information should I have in advance before even visiting a place? In my mind, I'm imagining that I'd just simply ask about what the expenses of a property would be and what rental income the property could generate. Then I'd add in the estimate of the work the contractor/PM would tell me the house needs and determine from that if I'm looking at a potential deal. I don't know what I don't know so I'm asking here if you think I'm missing anything.

All in all I want to make the best of my fact finding mission, but it's hard to know where or how to start or how to know if I'm doing the right steps. Thank you for reading and taking the time to answer.

Marvin


  

I'm new to all this and I'm interested to see how you do. Question: how are you finding contractors to vet? Do you just go on Yelp? How many are planning to interview and what makes a "good" interview?   

I'm a real estate agent in Brooklyn working primarily in rentals. With Biden potentially cancelling student debt next year, I am finally ready to seriously begin dipping my feet in investing. My plan is to buy 30-60k all cash, and another 30k rehab, and to either Flip or BRRRR. My question is about finding deals. I can't afford anything in Brooklyn, so my only go-to is using Zillow to scout markets near and far. I haven't been very successful getting anywhere thus far; most of the agents I reach out to either don't respond, or they tell me the property is no longer available, and when I ask them to keep a look out for me, they flat out refuse saying the commission they'd earn would be too low to be worth their time. They also seem to get a little stand-offish when they learn I'm a RE agent myself.

What do I do to really get serious about finding deals? What resources are available to me? If it helps, I was looking in South Jersey or Philly area, Baltimore, or further west into PA or OH.

- M