All Forum Posts by: Martin L.

Hi Steve.  If you're interested in the 300k range, I can direct you to my realtor/PM in Vegas. I'm basically OOS, and she handles all the details for me. I personally love my experience in Vegas so far, but I've mostly stuck with A/B (hence the higher price range).

Sounds like someone has been spending way too much time on conspiracy theory websites. 

That said, what area of town is it in? If it's in the Southwest (Spring Valley, maybe?), I could have my PM go take a look at it and either I, or one of her other clients, might be interested in picking it up. Send me a PM with the MLS or info and I'll have her contact you if it's in her zone.

@Ernesto Hernandez I am definitely applying to that FB group! I've been wanting to diversify into Indianapolis and Cleveland, but needed to find reliable sources of info, and most importantly, reliable PMs.

@Account Closed you have done an amazing job. Keep this up, but don't forget one thing... the beginning is the hardest part, you need to continue with the hard work, sacrifice, and willpower for a while yet. Don't let down your guard.

@Ernesto Hernandez what are the prices like for B neighborhoods?

A couple years back I bought a lovely, brand new property from a respectable boutique developer. I would have loved to live in it myself, as I haven't even lived in a brand new house before. My PM informed me that every week she was getting dozens of Section 8 applicants and asked me if I wanted to take them. This is when I actually found out that you needed to qualify to Section 8 before you could even accept them, but I told her to go through the paperwork. Well, the property obviously qualified, but pretty much none of the applicants were able to pass our screening process except one... but then Section 8 didn't want to pay the rent, even though I was already willing to go $100 below market for the property, the "area" as a whole was lower. 

You don't need to "avoid" Section 8. I've done my research prior to qualifying, and although there are horror stories out there, the vast majority are fine and it's supposedly a highly reliable rent check. Frankly, I've had rent check problems with non-section 8 as well. I have one relatively high end property rented by a company GM.  His company used to cut the rent check, and they were late all the time. We now require him to pay it himself, and he gets reimbursed. Another B+ property I own, I have rented to the same family for 7 years, but they also make late payments or partial payments even though I'm renting to them for about 20% below market rental. At the end of the day, they're all "people" with their own foibles, and so am I. If you don't want  Section 8, all you have to do is not qualify for it. If you want the reliable rent check, then qualify and just make sure you do your due diligence when you're screening. 

@Sharon Tseung I'm essentially OOS (actually, more like OOC as I moved out of the country 6 years ago) but so far have been investing in my "home town" as it were. 4 doors, 3 of which are A-B and one C because I'm relatively risk averse. The problem with A-B is that while these have been good to me, I can't scale up very quickly when I need to drop 60k down (plus have reserves) each time. For me, the thing that keeps me out of other markets however, is really the lack of a team. I have a great team that I trust in Vegas, and that almost keeps my hands tied when it comes to starting up in a new market. I'm very interested in starting in Indy, Cleveland, and various cities in Texas but don't want to jump in blind.  I think that letting my emotions and desire get the best of me is possibly the worst thing I could do. I always say getting a good team is really the most important thing you need to do when investing OOS. A good PM is worth every penny.

I have an agent that I’ve used for years. It’s not easy, but your agent is literally key. My particular agent locates, purchases, and then manages for me. This is basically what you need. I typically make a trip back to look over the properties myself, but she could literally just send me the listings and I could pick one out. This is obviously more dangerous. Her husband typically gives a suggested rental value for the property as well. Find yourself an agent like this, or a separate agent and property manager in the location you’re interested in. A good team on the ground will either make-or-break the investment effort.

I believe the real ‘Bigger Pockets’ answer to this question should have been: Don’t lease or buy. Take the bus and save the money towards a down payment on another property deal. But seriously. I personally recommend 3 year old certified pre-owned. Having a brand new car is nice, but really unnecessary. A certified pre-owned usually has all the same warranty benefits of a brand new car, with a good chunk of depreciation already factored in. I’d say the older the better, but I believe most dealers don’t CPO vehicles that are more than 3 years old. That said, I haven’t had a car for 6 years now due to my proximity to work and shopping (I’m in an extremely high density urban area). I really do take the bus or walk. The freedom from a car payment, insurance payment, and paying for gas has been great (not to mention paying for a parking space around here) and I have saved a ton of money from that.

Bigger Pockets LOVE is awesome! Hah! I’m totally interested although my wife has told me I cannot. Darn it, that cash flow negative spouse ruins everything!