All Forum Posts by: Nader Hachem

I've been to a few properties but definitely not enough. I would agree that things differ from property to property or market to market... At what point do you run your numbers? What it seems like would make sense would be to run a nice conservative calculation, see if the property is worth visiting, visit the property which helps you fine tune your numbers and come back to decide if the property is worth it or not. There has to be a way to vet out the bad properties so you're not visiting every property you see. You could use the 1% rule but again, that's just a suggestion and you see that pretty often where i am

What is your approach of analyzing properties? I honestly got 25% from the following: 6% for vacancy which was pulled from the specific city data, 5% for capex and 5% for repairs (pulled from online searches) then 8-10% for property management.
 

The CoC returns are usually 9-13% which I'm fine with. I'm more focused on getting a property which helps me over the hump. I also know that 9-13% isn't a total Return, doesn't take in account appreciation, tax benefits or mortgage paydown. Some people may not pay attention to that but personally I think you should! The biggest benefit of real estate is that it provides 4 ways of income! Unlike stocks which is only appreciation + dividends (sometimes)

Okay okay the title might be a bit misleading. I'm currently a real estate investor in the midwest, more specifically Metro Detroit. I've read a few of the biggerpockets books and spent a lot of time watching the podcasts, reading forums, etc. One thing I hear often is that there aren't enough deals out there, blah blah… When I run my numbers i run them setting aside ~25% for expenses (vacancy, repairs, cap ex, Prop management - even though ill be managing the first one myself). With these numbers i find a good amount that meet my cash flow goals of $200 per door. 

What's the explanation? Is it just because I'm in the midwest ill be cashflowing often - but no appreciation. Am I running numbers right ( i have an agent who runs the reports with comps)

Thoughts?

I've been interested in everything real estate and I'm currently looking for my first rental property within the next year, but in the meantime I have some spare time and have been looking for some extra cash while saving for the rental.

I've thought of becoming a home inspector on the side, it'll help me with some extra cash all while learning about real estate - to an extent that some of the books can't teach you.

Anyone out there have experience in becoming a home inspector, thoughts?

Currently in Michigan.

@Joe Villeneuve yep I see that road, analyzed a few both south and north of that area. Will continue to do my research of Redford! Looks like a very promising area

 Thanks for sharing that Joe! When referring to "N and S" Redford, what would you say the dividing point between the two is, I-96? Is that market analysis something you're willing to share? (Understand if not). 

And where did NOVI come from!?

What kind of things do you guys look for when first checking out a rental property, aside from the obvious roof, windows, furnace, big ticket items. Are there things that you specifically like to check out when going to your first showing of the house?

For those who invest in the Redford area, what are your thoughts? I've been looking for my first rental property in Redford/Taylor areas and Redford seems like a good area as far as the numbers - cheaper single family houses (<150K) and higher rents. How is Redford outside the spreadsheet? Are there areas (west/ east of telegraph or north/south of 96) to avoid? Or areas that thrive? Good/Bad neighborhoods?

Let me know your thoughts!

 Definitely think each has their own advantages. Also, i believe real estate would have much better tax benefits over time!

@Justin Windham great point! I follow that same logic - retirement accounts/stock investment and real estate. It's not one or the other, it could be both. I know there's situations where you could use your Roth to purchase properties (don't know much about it). But it's great to diversity.

The only difficult part I see with doing both (as a beginner) is funding, the more you invest in your 401k and Roth IRA, the less you have for those down payments and ways of financing