All Forum Posts by: Mark Vejnar

@Megan Moulton-Levy

Craddock is it's own thing. It's great because it's got decent turnover and only a few different home designs. Fortunately for you your 3/1 is a pretty common rehab. All your comps should only come from Craddock. Only look at 3/1 with the same style. Due to the nature of your neighborhood you will likely warrant a longer look back at comparable sold properties to find sold identical homes. An appraiser who knows Craddock will probably look back as far as 18 months and make a justifying comment in the addendum. The 1004mc should support both time period and comments. 

Good for you taking on a neighborhood in Portsmouth. As others have said, Portsmouth politicians could not care less about improving their city. It's good to at least see investors working to improve the community.  I hope you get it sold. 

@Roland Hefner

Nickerson wrote a great book. It's old but demonstrates leverage in a fun, readable book. How I turned $1,000... Google is your friend. 

You came to the right place. This site is awesome. Tons of free, high value content.  Read all the stickys, sign up for the webinars (they send you a replay of you miss the live event) and start downloading docs. 

Welcome!

@Greg Scott

While NOI and capex are common in MF isn't it a bit ironic that SFR places more weight on sales? Seems crazy to me. If the big boys are looking at income and expenses, why are the little guys just looking at what everybody else is doing? While it's undeniably useful (especially for flips), I hate the "me-too me-too!" sales comparison approach. Probably just me but it seems like a foolish way to value a long-term buy and hold income producing property, even if it is SFR.

$0.02

@Elizabeth Anderson

Craigslist 

Parks - call around. We occasionally had trailers we were swapping out.  

Dealers

Factories 

@Account Closed

I feel your pain. I got my start searching court and county records for individual and groups of investors. I also took photos and walked properties looking for obvious hurdles. I worked off a few different punch sheets. Ironically the most infuriating real estate professionals continue to be Realtors, and to a lesser extent, real estate agents; rare is the sales pro that truly understands the market. The most helpful professionals continue real estate appraisers. I learned that many of them HATE watching buyers get screwed by the informed. My experience working with appraisers led me to become one for a time. 

If you're going to spend money on courses, I suggest spending money on real estate sales licensing courses, real estate appraiser licensing courses, and CCIM curriculum. And perhaps the CFA curriculum. You may also find negotiation workshops and symposiums beneficial, and you might even enjoy toastmasters. 

For comps: 

What software shows closed sales in your market? Ask appraisers (SRA/MAI) what they use. Can you get this information directly from the county? It may be worth your time to start lurking the offices of your city/county government. Learn to use the GIS and how to quickly research neighborhoods for closed sales?

Rather than a W-2:

Are you purely focused on residential? Have you considered wholesaling commercial, development, and redevelopment opportunities? Who is giving bird-dog fees for that stuff? While it's true that the bigger guys have a good lock on that stuff, there are always inefficiencies. Connect with the builders in your REIA and bird dog some of those opportunities for them. You'll essentially get paid to learn the market while building a reputation with cash buyers.

Rise above the fray; never speak ill of any man - or woman :) 

Silence is perceived as confidence. When someone mocks you, ignore it. It's perceived by others as confidence, and often leaves the mocker feeling insecure and exposed.  

I wish you the best Oscar. Congratulations on making this career decision at your age. You'll do very well if you continue to get involved and hit it hard every day. 

@Anna Milligan

Are you looking at multifamily properties in your area? Perhaps something smaller where you can rehab one unit at a time? Also, new housing starts are up; could you use your skills and experience to buy infill lots and build [conforming] homes? This could be quite powerful if zoning on the lots permits development of multifamily. 

@Lisa Foreman

Are you meeting face to face with your prospects? Would it help to remove barriers? Perhaps bring your tablet/notebook and give them the opportunity to do the background check while looking at the property. Then you both know pretty quickly if it's going to work. 

I'm not sure lowering the rent is the answer. It would be unfortunate to lose prospects because it's priced to low. People value those things for which they pay dearly. If your rent is in line with matching comps then maybe there are some sales tactics that can help close the lease agreement. 

How is your follow-up? 

@Michael Strobel

Use caution when making upgrades purely for appraisal purposes. Rarely have I seen these provide a positive return on investment, and commonly have I seen the new investor experience forclosure as a result. I'm not talking about flips; I'm talking about buying retail and treating it like a flip by gutting the kitchen, replacing the roof, and making other significant structural changes. The expense of these "upgrades" can tempt the owner to cut corners or hire unskilled help, both of which will only increase the cost to cure down the road.  

Know your location. The most important contributor to value is location, followed by congruency with the neighborhood, followed by the improved structure and it's condition. I'm not using HGTV's definition of improvement (which is dubious at best). A piece of undeveloped land is unimproved. A parcel of developed land is improved. A house is considered an improvement. A new roof is considered an upgrade. A new wing on a house is considered additional improvement. 

Your best return is probably going to be properties that barely pass the appraisers VA inspection. Look for your multifamily home in gentrifying, up and coming areas. Like @Jeremy Pace implies, look for problem properties with worn out features and components. I know it seems obvious, but deferred maintenance is your friend. Let the owner defer all that maintenance to you. Just ensure they are held accountable for their poor decisions by drastically reducing your purchase price. 

@Gabriel Graham

Square footage only counts towards Gross Living Area (GLA) if it is permanently heated, and portables heaters don't count. The appraiser will probably give you credit for an enclosed finished porch, but it will not get the same $/sf as the living area. 

@Pat Goodyear

It looks like a scene from the walking dead. You might need this place when the zombies are trying to eat you during the coming zombie apocalypse. 

Thanks for the story, pictures, bidding details, and the mention of the arbitration in the contract. I learned something. Those auction sites always seem sketchy. It's helpful to learn they bid up their own listings, and the run for the hills when they are held to arbitration. Makes me think there is more going on that they don't want to come to light. Thank you for sharing your experience.