All Forum Posts by: Patrick Ruff

Hi I have been a big fan of Bigger Pockets for a long time and after waiting a long time my wife and I (who live in NY) decided to pull the trigger and we started investing in Milwaukee (mostly due to having visited the area a few times since family lives there). The properties cash flow but not very much (maybe 4% cash on cash return if you account for repairs) and so more recently my wife and I bought our first turn key property in Northwestern Indiana (cash on cash return of about 11%). 

We've been searching for a new market similar to the home we bought in Indiana and it just seems like inventory is really tight right now. We have looked at Cleveland Ohio and are on waiting lists for both the Northwestern Indiana market as well as Cleveland. We are looking for good suburban neighborhood turn key properties that cash flow. Is it unrealistic to be able to find a property for ~$100k that meets the 1% rule, is in a decent neighborhood, and has good property management? I will do more research but if anyone has had a good experience I'm just sort of burning out (I have a 5 month old and I work all day only to sleep very little each night so not much time to research markets). Thanks in advance!

So far I'm in the process of looking for either a (relatively) affordable single family rental home in a C neighborhood or better, thinking 50-60k with between 1%-2% in rent, or a mulifamily that is more expensive overall, but roughly the same (or better) as far as rent/value. Not sure if this is achievable, although I've seen it based on certain properties on the MLS. The issue seems to be that a good majority of these are in C-/D neighborhoods and there would probably be tenant issues. I'm going to reach out to a property manager soon (Jack Medford recommended Matt Maurice who I recently connected with).

As a complete noob, I'm still building out my team, but a property manager seems to be a pretty big deal so it's good to have more advice on that. I was also reading a post about how investing out of state is a crapshoot because unless you're doing the repairs and everything yourself, then you're missing out on why real estate is a good investment. I'm not sure I believe this. Anyway, I'll keep posting as my search continues, but to people looking into the Milwaukee area, I would recommend getting Dawn's book that describes several of the areas.

Sorry if this post seems rambly, I'll keep at it and hopefully the knowledge sharing quality increases with my own knowledge quantity.

-Pat

@Ernest Owusu I saw your post and I have family in Delaware. Can you elaborate on where or how you are investing?

Thanks!

@Jack Medford I'm looking for places in Milwaukee too and I've found a couple of properties in C neighborhoods around $50k but I'm not sure where to find a good property manager or other team members. Any pointers? Milwaukee seems like a great place and my cousin lives there.

Oh I just realize I didn't answer Adam on goals/price range. My goal is to buy 1-2 rental properties this year, with the expectation of low cost, cash flowing single family homes (or duplex-triplex if the math makes sense). I'm looking for long-term rental income and not property appreciation. Price range is a tougher question, but I've got at least $50k or so to use.

Doolan I'm in a similar boat as far as waiting goes, I'm in no rush. I think I will purchase prior to the election because I need to start learning more about being an owner, also interest rates are bound to be cut some more so waiting isn't the worst right now. My biggest issue seems to be finding deals. I don't know what is good and what isn't, or how fast people seem to jump on things. I'll keep working on strategy and will try to keep active in the forums.

Thanks again for the feedback Adam. As an update I checked out a handful of properties on my list of properties copied and pasted above, with a few extras. The D neighborhoods were definitely that, and in the end there were 2 prospects.

1126 Layton Blvd - This house seemed to need some work but the surrounding houses and neighborhood seemed nice. It's on a major road and close to a church. I saw people outside and friendly, seems to be a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. I think this could be on the list still.

110 E Clarence St - This was the Bayview foreclosure that honestly is the worst house in a GREAT neighborhood. My cousin lives in Bayview so I got to see a lot of it and I like it a lot (has a sort of Brooklyn vibe to it). I'm not sure what the interior looks like but I'm assuming that's the reason it's affordable.

So that's my update, I'm still on the lookout and I'm going to try to speak to some people on the forums. I'm still forming my "team" of real estate agent, CPA, property manager, etc. so these are still early days. Thanks everyone!

Very helpful comments Adam, thanks so much for the feedback! I think we are looking for more of a turnkey property. Your comments match what Dawn said in her book, aside from the Bay View property the rest were classified in C- to B (at best) neighborhoods based on zipcode. I'm going to check out the C- ones more while I'm here (the Ds are probably not good for us since we are new to real estate). Again thanks for your expertise on the area and I'll stay active on the forums in case others have similar questions.

Similar to other posters I'm looking into the area, have read Dawn's book and am curious to hear how things are going.

I've been watching and listening to Bigger Pockets YouTube videos for a while and am interested in the Milwaukee area. I'm visiting my cousin in the area for a few days and was wondering if I could meet up with a member in the area this Monday. I've bought Dawn's book on the city and am looking to buy in a C- to B neighborhood but beyond looking at listings I have no real estate agent, property manager, or other team members lined up. Does anyone know a good place to start? An example of some listings that I think look good are...

110 E Clarence St

748 S 21st St

Rents for $900

1126 Layton Blvd Unit A

1819 W Burnham St

2022 S 16th St

2059 W Vilter Ln