All Forum Posts by: Peter Korty

Hi Menachem,

Welcome to real estate investing.  Are you looking to be an out of state investor from the start or something closer to where you live currently?

What are you looking to get out of sub $80k properties? These types of properties in Indiana are frequently found in class d neighborhoods. Indiana also isn't the best for equity investments other than in a few areas, nor is it the best for rent hikes.

If you're looking for stable rental income, then Indiana is a great place to invest in. Sub $80k neighborhoods will likely have a high turnover rate along with higher maintenance and repairs. Building materials in Indiana really aren't any cheaper here versus Florida either. One advantage over Florida though might be the labor costs?

Also, don't forget to consider the reason why neighborhoods are priced in the sub $80k range. A lot of the companies that provided employment to workers in these neighborhoods have left the area. 

These are just a few of the things I factor in when I'm looking at investment properties.

Good luck with your hunting! Let me know if I can provide you with more help. 

Hi Alan,

A lot of that stuff is public information. I do a ton of research using Beacon by Schneider. It's what a lot of counties use for tax data. Otherwise, if you go to the county websites you can usually find out the tax data from it.

I used it to find out what the most popular house type was in my area. It sometimes will even tell you how much a property recently sold for too.

Hi Joshua and Jaron,

House hacking can be as simple or difficult as you want it to be. Commonly it is where you buy a multifamily property and live in one unit and rent out the others. It could be as simple as buying a house and renting out the bedrooms to friends. The point of house hacking is to reduce your housing expense while building your net worth at the same time.

As far as finding these houses, they really are everywhere. Good and bad neighborhoods alike. Multifamily's frequently have multiple electric meters, even though it looks like a single house. I've noticed a lot of real estate agents don't advertise a house as a multifamily. Instead they will say things like 5 bed 3 bath. That's either a huge house or a perfect candidate to be a multifamily house.

Also, just a friendly piece of advice. A good deal is a good deal in any market. Don't get in a big hurry to just find something. Make sure to always run it through the BP calculators. If you're still new at using them, post the report and let more experienced investors help you analyze it.

Hey Dayton! Welcome to BP and real estate investing! In an earlier post you said you've been looking at Noblesville and Whitestown. Just so you know, those two towns are about a county and a half away from each other, or about a 45-50 minute drive from each other. 

Whitestown is really tiny and very rural. IMHO, you should probably mainly search Westfield, Noblesville, and Cicero areas. Anderson is also pretty close by and you can find some pretty good deals there too. That was a former GM manufacturing town. Now that GM left, it has kind of been declining.

That very well could be Bill. I only know enough to be dangerous as far as tax lien/sales go. That's why I don't bid! ; )

Thanks for the help! 

Thanks for the replys @Ned Carey and @Bruce Lynn! You've given me information to think about and chew on for a while.

For what it's worth, the property is in Clinton County Indiana. Tax sales are through a contracted agency and here in Indiana, the rules for tax sales vary by county.

I guess my thought for trying to buy another investor's lien was that if I offered them more than they would get if the property were redeemed, it would be in their best interest to sell the lien to me. Cash in the hand is more valuable to me than having it tied up in the hopes that the property is redeemed in the next 6 months. My views obviously don't reflect every other investor's views though.

In my opinion, this particular property is highly unlikely to be redeemed. I've already tried to contact the property owner, and I never received any response. A couple of other locals have told me that they've tried to purchase it too and never received a response either. Rumor has it that the woman that owns the property gifted it to her niece, but nothing in public records indicated that that ever happened.

Anyway, I think this has been a good thought exercise. It's good to hear that at least I'm not the only person to have ever thought about trying this. It sounds like it's unlikely to be fruitful, but a good exercise for me no less.

Thanks for the help!

Hi BP Community,

There is a SFR down the street from me that was recently sold in our local county tax lien sale. Has anyone ever tried to purchase the lien/note from the person that was the winning bidder in a tax lien sale before? The way that our county works is that after someone hasn't paid their property taxes for 1.5 years, it is sold at auction to the highest bidder, with the starting bid being the amount of taxes owed. After the auction, the winning bidder pays the property taxes and places a lien on the property for the remaining amount. The property owner has some time to redeem the property by paying back the property taxes and the interest on the lien. If they don't, the winning bidder has the right to foreclose on the property.

I know who the winning bidder is and how much they paid since that's public information, but I don't know how to even begin to approach them about me possibly purchasing their lien from them if that makes any sense. Any advice?

Thanks for the help!

Awesome! I'm going to take a look at an FSBO next week. Looks like it needs some structural repairs or foundation repairs, so we'll see if they are willing to come down on the price.

My goal is to push Mulberry into one of the top 10 places to live in Indiana. Ambitious right? 

@Alexis Ayala, I don't think it really matters as far as SFR vs small multi as long as it's a good deal. A good deal is a good deal no matter how it's sliced. You just have to get the REI machine started turning. Focus more on whichever type of property is best suited to you. If you're needing a place to live too, then maybe house hacking a small multi-family is the best route. If not, then maybe a SFR is the better way to go.

Since you're in Frankfort, IMHO, I wouldn't bother with the Lafayette market until you've done at least one deal in the Frankfort market. I look at the Clinton County market a lot and there are some pretty decent deals on the MLS even.

Happy hunting!

I'm currently working on my first SFR. It's a total remodel. It was gutted when I bought it, but it was a hoarder house, so 6 30yd dumpsters later I'm finally starting to fix things.