@Russ Scheider
I will certainly reach out in the near future as you are so close. It always makes sense to have the conversation to see if we are a fit. Talk soon.
@Eddie T.
I think the backbone of the entire investing community was built on the mom and pop investor as well as the small investor w/ <20 homes. My response to your comments is that I have worked with hundreds of investor both large and small and have always found a way to help them succeed. I think that kind of thinking is small minded and self limiting. There is ALWAYS opportunity in real estate, whether values are high or low, whether the immediate area has small or large investors, etc. Specifically, here are my thoughts:
(a) If you are dependent on MLS opportunities, then you should expect tons of competition as it is available to everyone, big and small. I would suggest spending more time looking for off market opportunities. Outwork others. If I were back in Augusta still functioning as a buyers agent, I would outperform the fund on ROI for my investors by at least 5 points. The fact is, that in order to do volume most institutional buyers sacrifice some on the return. You and I can be much more picky.
(b) When prices are higher, it is a much better opportunity to flip than to buy and hold. Unless you like to attempt to take lower Cash on Cash return in exchange for possible upside on equity. I myself, do not, as this is speculative investing. You cannot control the market conditions, but you can successfully invest in any market condition.
(c) Lastly, as it relates to foreclosure properties, the mom and pop investors do not have the ability to move the needle by themselves. What I mean by that is foreclosure properties in disrepair (which are the vast majority) will not be approved by traditional lenders. This means that the vacant trashed homes in many neighborhoods will simply continue to sit there until an investor comes along to try to rehab and/or make money on it. Traditional homeowners are not a possibility. Unless the mom and pop/smaller investors are BOTH capitalized heavily AND motivated, many of these properties sit vacant to this day. Everywhere.
No one should know your backyard as well as you do. Especially those buyers that are not local. The opportunities for you and every local are there. You just have to find them.
@Jonathan Casillas
We are always looking for premarket REO in all of our markets. If you have access to these prior to listing on the MLS, I am extremely interested in having that conversation. Lets touch base in the next couple days offline. Is your contact info on your page? Please let me know and we can set up a time. I would appreciate it very much.
