All Forum Posts by: Nolan O.

Wow, what a great community! 

@Tion Henley: Right on. I have family in Sac. I've always thought it would be a great investment market, but your right that some areas are a bit more run down. But there's definitely opportunity there.

@Derek Gendig, @Jeb Brilliant, @Aleks Gifford: Interesting to see that the Indy crowd responded to their keyword alert on this post where others didn't. Not sure what that means, if anything, but it's interesting.

@Matt Shamus: Awesome breakdown. I actually just spoke with someone else today who recently invested in Stockton. I may ping you in the future to pick your brain.

@Carl Fischer: Really interesting idea to lend and learn. That's honestly something I hadn't thought of. Really interesting... Is that something you've done before, or do you know others who've taken that approach?

I discovered the BP community about a month ago while looking for RE podcasts in iTunes, and now I'm totally hooked. My goal is to build a portfolio of investment properties, but I'm a 9-to-5er who's hasn't yet pulled the trigger on a first deal. At this point, I would love some guidance from the folks in this community. There's so much experience on these boards, and it's fantastic that everyone is so willing to share and help the newbies find their way. Some of the questions I'm working through right now:

• What's "the best way" to raise investment capital? I'm considering doing some direct mail marketing in search of seller finance and possibly wholesale opportunities, though I'm not interested in being one of the naughty wholesalers that the gray beards always hate on :P I've also considered pulling from my small nest egg to get started (HELOC or 401k loan), or to reach out to family for a loan, but I don't really like the idea of borrowing for a down payment to borrow. My gut/pride prefers that I earn or save the capital needed to get started.
• Should I invest close to home or go where the opportunity costs are lower? The issue I'm up against is that SFRs in my town list for $400,000 but only pull $2000/mo, whereas that $400k invested in other markets could pull $3k or $4k. I live just east of the San Francisco Bay Area, in San Joaquin County in the California Central Valley. My town, Tracy, is about 30 minutes from Livermore, Stockton and Modesto, and about two hours south of Sacramento and north of Fresno. I've considered investing very locally, in Tracy. I've also thought about Sac and Lemoore, near Fresno, and even turnkeys out of state in places like Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Indianapolis and Chicago. 

Anyways, enough keyword stuffing ;) It would be great to connect with anyone here who's dealt with some of the questions I'm facing. Please do reach out.

Newbie question: Why wholesale a property when you can list it as an agent? You'd get 6% as the listing agent, wouldn't you. Where I'm at, avg list price is around 400k, which would be a 24k comission. Isn't that better than most wholesale deals? If you're putting in the work to find motivated sellers before they list, I'd think it'd be preferred to represent them as an agent.... Unless they're in a position where they need cash this week. What am I missing?

I'm interested in learning more from folks who have experience wholesaling properties. 

• Do some real estate markets lend themselves to wholesaling more than others? (FYI, I live in the Cali Bay Area. Would someone here have a tougher go at it than someone working an area like Atlanta?)
• Does anyone out there choose to operate outside their immediate location? 
• If so, what do you look for in a market?

Good to know. I have some family in Hicksville. That's the area I've been looking into.

I think that's within the downtown district. I would touch base with Dino at TCCA (http://tracycitycenter.com/). He should be able to direct you to the right people, if he doesn't have the info himself. You could also look through the RE section of the chamber business directory (http://www.tracychamber.org/business-directory). If you're still not finding the info you need, let me know. I'm on the chamber board and am happy to ask around if needed. And if you talk with Dino, tell him Nolan from the Lab says hi :)

I hear you, @Rob Beland. Thanks for the reply. The concern I do have relates to eviction laws in NY. From what I've read online, evictions have to go through the court system, and the landlord can't designate a representative.

@Les Jesn-Pierre, what was your experience like in going through the eviction process? We're you required to be present?

I've read that New York is not a landlord-friendly state, but I'm curious how true that is. Does anyone here own rental properties in New York but live out of state? I would love to hear about your experience.