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Originally posted by "boywonder":

I'm going to have to agree with Rich. As a Bridgeport agent/resident, the town has a lot in the works. I'm expecting to see property values increase over the next few years.

I haven't been watching that carefully but I think they have already come up some with more growth very possible.

Whether or not you will enjoy it is something you need to decide. It will be very profitable if you go into it educated and make smart decisions. The biggest thing to look at is the price you're buying at versus the after repaired value. If you are buying at a low enough price you still shouldn't lose any money if you make a few mistakes along the way. The mistakes will just eat into your profits not into your pocket. Also, part of being educated is knowing what you don't know. I'm sure you are unable to properly quote a rehab job, you're not a contractor. If you have good contractor estimating your rehab costs you'll have a better picture of what the costs will be, add a little for buffer and buy low enough and you should still make money even with extra expenses or holding costs. The point is you shouldn't lose money if you pay close attention to what you're doing. You will be dedicating a lot of time to this, no doubt there, but only you can decide if that time should be spent.

I noticed a lot of "needs work" ads in the Waterbury area, tenants down there are probably rough on the units. Also, like the other poster said taxes there are no joke.....make sure you take them into account. The city is bankrupt and taxing the stuffing out of the residents. Bridgeport is going through kind of a renaissance now, might be a good place to look as noted above.

Originally posted by "pst":

Ryan, thanks for the info.
I'll keep kicking the tires a bit, but I sorta doubt I'll make the plunge...

What's stopping you from taking the plunge? If you go into it with knowledge and your eyes open you have nothing to lose.

Originally posted by "heath":

I haven't finished the book yet but I'm guessing it will be thru NOD listings and such.

You said:

I'm interested in knowing how you're currently searching to determine that there aren't many with positive cash flow. Realtor? Newspaper? Bandit signs? Having a realtor search the MLS isn't going to turn up cashcows (most of the time). You need to get aggressive and hunt down those deals. Forget about that ARM nonsense, forget about appreciation. Buy low from distressed sellers that just want OUT, deals that cashflow now. In CA its going to be harder to find these deals than it would be elsewhere but they are there, keep looking. If you're not finding the really good deals look at your method for finding them, maybe there is more you can do to find them faster. Have you tried networking at your local REI meeting?

What methods are you currently using to locate houses?

I think the average upswing from a low is longer than 5 yrs based on what I've heard of historical models. I think you'd be banking on a gamble with bad odds. Look for motivated sellers, distressed landlords that just want you to stop the pain. You make money at the time of purchase. Find something that cashflows with a regular mortgage, if it appreciates call it luck. Don't bet everything on a maybe and don't think option arms are the cureall for poor cashflow.

Most companies post every 30 days but as far as I know they do all of their updates the same day of the month for every account, say the 15th of the month. If you aquire a property on the 14th and they post the 15th it might be on there in 1 day or you might miss the cycle and have it not show up for a while. I think that's how they post, not really sure. Could be 30 days from the date the account opened.

Originally posted by "noobdog1":

what do you mean by "saturated"?

I think he's referring to heavy competition.

If the profit margin is so slim that you have to commit fraud to save yourself 1% +/- you need to reanalyze the deals you're looking at and find some better deals.