All Forum Posts by: Lam N.

 Trust me, the Indy market is also overly crowded with investors. Dominated by big time investors and the properties that are left you'd be lucky to get 11% out of it. 

Remember what I said before about going out to dinner. Everybody was trying to get into the cheesecake factory hence the crowd and long wait time. It was like there was a dinner seminar telling people the cheesecake factory is really hot right now so everybody crowds there hoping to win the lottery. We went across the street and got a table right away at maggianos. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing people's methods. I'm just saying we followed the conventional method being widely taught and we got stepped on by crowds of people. When we started looking at places that aren't pointed out by the wholesellers and the REI seminar people, we started getting great ROIs. That's all I'm saying. So, instead of trying to get into the cheesecake factory like everybody else because the REI seminar people are pointing the fingers at it, we instead went to a place across the street and still got a great dining experience.

And to answer someone else's question earlier, no maggianos is not Oz. Just because you did not get my point and did not make an effort to look across the street doesn't mean it doesn't exist. 

In fact, I'm convinced there are already investors taking advantage of where the crowds aren't. They just don't say anything to anyone. 

 Yes, Oz. Now everybody go to Oz and no where else. 

I don't think you understand my point. 

 Last night, my husband and I decided to go to the cheesecake factory. They told us it would be an hour wait for the 2 of us. We went across the street to magianos and got a table right away. 

My point is these areas are in plain sight right next to investor hot areas. RE workshops tell people to go to certain area and everybody crowds there. But no one pays attention to the area next to it in plain sight. 

 I guess we've been spoiled by what we've found so far. We are buying them at $10-20k and charging rent $800-1200/mo. The most profitable one so far for us is a $15k property. We put $500 worth of repairs and touchups into there. It's bringing almost $1200/mo right now. The thing is this almost move in ready property was just sitting there for half a year before we found it. Once we put it on for rent, we got half a dozen applications within minutes. 

We are starting to snoop around in other areas and we've found quite a few places with these nice properties laying around and high renting properties demand but almost devoid of investors. 

First of all, sorry if I step on anyone's toes.  I can be dense about that.

From our research before we started, 14% net ROI is suppose to be really really good. Also the 1% rule.

The thing is when we first started diving in we ran into the same problem that everybody faces when they wanted to go to a popular restaurant: WAIT IN LONG LINES!  There were always more experienced investors with money coming out of their ears stomping our small operation.  So, over time we started moving further and further away from the main markets.

We now only deal business in places that other investors are not. We specifically look for and at places that other investors are not. And the result is instead of 1% we are finding ourselves making 4-7%. Our net ROI has been consistently 30-40%.

I've had people contacting me telling me this place or that place will be a good investment area.  I get nervous when I get such a message because I used to get those messages and those places turned out to be absolute mayhems of investors stepping on each other overpaying for places to get a piece of the pie.

We now have 5 properties with tenants in there already replacing my income as an engineer.  All those places have net ROIs in the 35-40% area.  Just bought a 6th place of a move in ready house.  Needs some lite cleaning and a few touchups before we list it.  Working on a 7th place.  These 2 places will have net ROIs closer to 40%.

Anyone else have given up on crowded places and are moving into places where other investors aren't?

Can I ask how many units did you have before you were comfortable? 

We currently have 5 with tenants. Just bought our 6th and in process to acquire 6 more as a bundle.  So by the end of this year we could possibly have 12 rentals properties. 

Edit. 

So far, our net ROI with the 5 current rentals is about 30%. Trying to maintain it with the new properties.

I guess I'm surprised there isn't a name for it. Most of us were raised to believe that working for someone else is the only way to live. It is ingrained on us. We are suppose to go to school, get good grades, work for someone else, and get a gold watch when we retire. Surely, I'm not the only one feeling this type of anxiety straying from the norm? 

I recently lost my full time job. The thing is we have a business that's already thriving and already replaces my full time salary. So, we decided instead of me trying to find another full time job we should just go all out on our investment business. Aka self employment. 

The thing is we have both been conditioned to feel secured with a full time job. Now that neither one of us has a full time job, I feel really anxious. The math works out. Our rental income is enough now to replace a full time job. We have a lot of cash stashed up. We have the means to get lots and lots more rental properties. And yet we still feel really anxious that neither one of us has a full time job. 

Is there a name for this type of anxiety? 

 We started with $3k and now own 5 rental properties. So, $15k is a fortune to start with. 

We currently own 5 rental properties in the greater Indianapolis area. Does anyone know of a bank or institution in the Indy area that would give a HELOC on a rental property?