All Forum Posts by: Anthony Greco

The rent rates absolutely cannot keep up with the constant increase in housing cost.

I am not an expert here but the idea of giving him a taste of what you can do with just a small portion of that money sounds like a grand slam idea.

Alexander is this based purely off your observation from MLS listings? If so you are spot on. Based on my personal experience, MLS listings do not leave enough room for cash flow. I feel the only real way to make it work is finding properties in distressed off market situations.

Thanks for the tips and insight everyone I really appreciate it. Ethan Summers I like that tactic being able to give a phone call and engage your target. I am not to familiar with skip trace. I will have to look into that.

Louis Davis I definitely agree with you 100%. I noticed that right away after I lost out on my first three opportunities. Since I work at night I see when new stuff gets posted because I'm always refreshing during breaks and seeing what is coming in filtering by newest properties. By time the next day rolls around (usually 5-6 hours from the new listening being posted during the middle of the night or early morning 11pm-3am) the agents at the time I was working with would inform me the property has been spoken for already by a cash buyer without the chance of me getting to see the property or even hearing back from my realtor in time before these instant offers are placed. If a great deal hits the MLS I think it is generally safe to say it's already too late.

Phillip Dwyer I have not purchased a place as I have planned on renting for a great while especially while I'm young so I'm not tied down to a single place. That would definitely be an option though. I have played with the idea in my head a couple of times. As petty as it may sound my only concern is living in a construction zone and stressing out my little boy (Persian kitten) he's like my kid haha. Ola Rask I have thought about AirBnB a while ago but due to the hotels and local laws and everything being an HOA in majority of places I have not considered that idea vacation rental wise as much. I guess the issue hasn't been so much just affordability being in rough places but the smaller MFR where I could get my feet wet easier are all located in rough areas. I know back home in Chicagoland area there are many MFR in the 4 unit range that are in nice areas but that is no longer local to me ofc. If I had the experience by my side I think I would gladly jump in on a large multi but generally all the MFR in nice areas are big 100+ units it seems.

Driving for dollars is a good tactic. Drive around neighborhoods that you potentially would like to target and look for distressed looking properties. Overgrown landscape/piles of newspapers or notices and tags at doorstep/damaged roof windows etc a place that looks vacant or not taken care of basically and send them a letter saying you want to buy their house. Stay consistent every month and you may get some bites and find great deals that way.

Hi BP! I have been listening to podcasts over the past year and reading and learning all I can about real estate investing. I moved about a year ago to Las Vegas from the Chicagoland area and quickly my interest in real estate was sparked when I decided to learn about the area and it's respective real estate. I decided now is the time to start to take action and that begins with trying to be active on the forums. My goal is to acquire a cash flowing multi family (duplex to 4 unit) property as my first investment but the areas that type of real estate is available seems to be only in the rougher areas of town. (Would like my first investment to be local if possible while I'm really learning the ropes to keep things simple.) When it comes to the SFR route the good deals don't last longer than 24 hours and usually involve cash buyers with multiple offers. I have really only been looking on MLS up to this point. Although SFR is not my ultimate goal I am eager to get started. I was hoping someone who has been in this market longer and is more experienced than I could give some insight on the current market climate here. Is my best bet to start trying to find deals from off market opportunities by driving for dollars and yellow letter type campaigns? I think learning how to rehab is a very important tool to investing to add value and generate larger amounts of cash flow, so maybe starting small with a SFR would be the way to go. That way I can learn starting small and then either have the opportunity to fix and flip to build quicker capital or hold for long term wealth. This also gives me more exit strategies to capitalize off of. Thoughts or advice? Looking forward to the journeys ahead.

Yea always have to do what works for you and your family! That sounds great, I have lots of family back in Naperville so I will definitely be in and out of the area. Let me know when the time comes how your experience goes always interested to talk real estate.

Roberto Santana I'm from Naperville originally so hello there neighbor. If I am understanding your scenario right I would really look into house hacking! You can definitely find a decent duplex in the suburbs that you can rent one side out to help pay for your expenses and live cheap. That will help you save up money really quick giving you more flexibility. When you move you can then rent out the unit you lived in and collect that sweet cash flow granted you made a good purchase. If you have not weighed out that option you should check it out.