All Forum Posts by: McKellar Newsom

Hi Keela,
When I started, I took investors to lunch. Everyone loves to be treated to lunch and you will learn tidbits from each investor.

Good luck. mck

I'm with Brian Levredge. Start small, make smaller mistakes and see if you like this business.

You can always get a property manager to help you with the day to day aspects but you have work those numbers into your returns. mck

Luis A. Thanks for your ideas.

I've been trying different bid techniques for awhile now and thought I'd write up a blog about it. I've also gotten a lot of ideas from this forum. I pmed a few of you to ask if I could quote you on a blog. Thanks. mck

Hi Scott,
You capitalized the YOU so I'll tell you what I would do but only you know the big picture of your finances.

If you are not planning to use the initial cash flow, I'd buy properties with at least 20K+ of equity in them and leverage your money with loans. Slightly nicer houses will allow you to get more depreciation and help with taxes. Make sure you talk to you accountant about owning rental property.

Find a area with excellent future job potential, cheaper housing and rising rents. Look for a state with good taxes and landlord laws. Good luck. mck

Ralph E.,
I lived in Bozeman in 2008. I ended up moving to Tennessee to get better deals. I never really looked in Missoula but worked Bozeman and Billings quite a bit. Butte had some deals but I (not sure if it was warranted) worried about the ground soil and even holes in the earth from all the tunnels.

Be careful about investing too rural of an area. I found some deals in rural areas but they make tough rentals.

You might at least consider Spokane. I never ended up buying there but prices were good from what I remember. You might be able to find some Spokane folks here. Also, I've heard some areas in Wyoming are great rental areas. Welcome to BP. mck

Rich Weese, Janet is gorgeous!

I like working in real estate full time, but it is also nice to have a husband bringing in some W-2 income. Banks are keen on the W-2s.

A strategy I like is to flip, take the earnings and put them into buy and hold rentals. It takes some will power (Will Barnard?) not to spend the income from the flips. If I ever land any type of windfall, I try to put the money into a long-term hold rental as soon as possible. That way, I won't be tempted to spend my dollar "soldiers."

For the past two years, I have focused solely on buy and holds and now am starting to look at flips again.

I love to delegate but you can't delegate firing a property manager. Good luck. mck

I'm the planning type. @Josh, have you decided on a date? I'm starting to add to my spring calendar. No pressure..... mck

My wholesaler friends like iFreedomsoft but I used it for a few days then stopped.

Freedomsoft will send out emails for you and you won't have control of the content. Also, I didn't like the way their "website" for you was set up. Good luck. mck

I just want to reiterate J's statement. If you don't close, you will lose your earnest money.

Rich Weese, bring the car, but don't forget your ping pong paddle.

I loved Denver but Vegas would be a great spot as well. Bring on the snow so I can ski next year... mck