All Forum Posts by: Rob Sawyer

Greetings from the Land of Mother Nature April Fools! After some great temps and weather last week, we now have snow again.  Greeeaaat...

But we still have the opportunity to look for our next (or many times, first) deal.  The internet allows us to do so much research without having to worry about the weather.  Bigger Pockets is a perfect example, as is Google and various real estate websites

Our next meeting will be held on Tues, 4/2/19, at Aloft Syracuse Inner Harbor, as it seemed to work fine and is centrally located. For those who are newer members of our meetup, Aloft is where we held out meetings for the first year and worked pretty well for us. We meet in there Lobby Bar which has more casual seating spread around the lobby making it a little more difficult to hear conversations as a group but that just means more of a chance to network individually with each other.

The best part of this meetup is the continually changing mix of skills and knowledge everyone brings, even if only some solid tidbits from a BP Podcast or other industry best practices. If you are interested in attending our meetup, you are more than welcome, regardless of experience. Also, please feel free to send me a connection request as the whole point of our group is networking, not selling.

Our April meeting will be a great opportunity to keep building on the new year! So grab a beverage of choice and meet some solid contacts doing REI in CNY!

Greetings from the Land of the Eternal Winter!  I don't know about you but I'm hoping for the early spring Puxatawny Phil promised us!  Enough is enough!

On the other hand, it doesn't stop us from searching and analyzing properties that might be great investments!

Our next meeting will be held on Tues, 3/5/19 at, Aloft Syracuse Inner Harbor, as it seemed to work fine and is centrally located. For those who are newer members of our meetup, Aloft is where we held out meetings for the first year and worked pretty well for us. We meet in there Lobby Bar which has more casual seating spread around the lobby making it a little more difficult to hear conversations as a group but that just means more of a chance to network individually with each other.

I don't know about you but I have redoubled my efforts for the new year and I hope you have as well so you can create the freedom of lifestyle you desire most! The best part of this meetup is the continually changing mix of skills and knowledge everyone brings, even if only some solid tidbits from a BP Podcast or other industry best practices. If you are interested in attending our meetup, you are more than welcome, regardless of experience. Also, please feel free to send me a connection request as the whole point of our group is networking, not selling.

Our March meeting will be a great opportunity to keep building on the new year! So grab a beverage of choice and meet some solid contacts doing REI in CNY!

Greetings from the Great White North! Hope everyone enjoyed themselves over the last few chilly weeks!

Fortunately, the cold has eased up just a bit for a short while and looking at properties or even just "driving for dollars" is a lot more enjoyable. Hope you are getting out there and finding deals!

***Note change of location for February*** Our next meeting will be held on Tues, 2/5/19 in our old location, Aloft Syracuse Inner Harbor, as Kelley's has an event booked for our usual room. For those who are newer members of our meetup, Aloft is where we held out meetings for the first year and worked pretty well for us. We meet in there Lobby Bar which has more casual seating spread around the lobby making it a little more difficult to hear conversations as a group but that just means more of a chance to network individually with each other. 

I don't know about you but I have redoubled my efforts for the new year and I hope you have as well so you can create the freedom of lifestyle you desire most! The best part of this meetup is the continually changing mix of skills and knowledge everyone brings, even if only some solid tidbits from a BP Podcast or other industry best practices. If you are interested in attending our meetup, you are more than welcome, regardless of experience. Also, please feel free to send me a connection request as the whole point of our group is networking, not selling. 

Our Feb meeting will be a great opportunity to build on the new year so far! So grab a beverage of choice and meet some solid contacts doing REI in CNY!

@Angela Miller - This area has many properties that come up regularly but as @Ronald Starusnak mentioned, most need updating/rehab to be optimal rentals for the area.  B&H is a good play here as long as the numbers work including the rehab costs but appreciation is low and slow. 

It's an attractive area due to pricing and outside investors, such as yourself, add a lot of competition to the market, which is why you may find many properties have already been sold.  Also many around Syracuse University (SU) are bought/sold as part of a long-held portfolio and often the owner does not want to parcel them out. Additionally, many SU students from overseas have wealthy parents who sometimes purchase nearby properties for their children and friends to live in while they attend SU and then retain them.

As far as neighborhoods go, @Alexis Bliss is spot on in recommending someone with deep local knowledge and connections.  I hope she has been of help to you!

Regardless, I certainly wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!

Happy New Year Central New York BP Investors!

Hope everyone enjoyed themselves over the last few weeks!  With the busy holidays now almost behind us, we should all be looking to what we want to do in 2019! As I wrote last month, now is a great time to make offers on deals as the holidays are over and everyone is looking for a fresh start, including tired landlords who were SURE their property would have sold by now! Having failed that, the thought of still having to maintain and deal with a property through the rest of the long winter (especially if vacant) is enough to make weary people want to flex on their price, especially with favorable (meets their needs) terms. As an investor, it's also a great time to get some deferred interior work done as contractors are typically less busy and looking for work for their best crew members trying to keep them busy over the winter.

With that in mind, and allowing for people to celebrate New Year's Day with friends and family, we'll wait a week and hold our monthly meeting on Tues 1/8/19 and hope to share advice and knowledge on how to get these properties under contract as well as the best way to make offers that will have the best chance of being accepted. But as always, we'll spend time networking with each other and discuss whatever issues are forefront in your mind right now.  

Kelleys Bar and Restaurant (www.kelleysbarandrestaurant.com) on Velasko Rd near OCC/Onondaga Hill has kindly offered to host us once again in their upstairs banquet room that can hold 40 people so let's fill it up! I hope you'll spread the word. As many of our members have commented, Kelley's is a great location for us and allows us to move around freely and learn from each other!

We had a slightly smaller turnout at our last monthly CNY RE Investors Meetup that was held on 12/4 at Kelley's due to upcoming holiday and family responsibilities, which is the whole point of REI, creating the freedom of lifestyle you desire most! The best part of this meetup is the continually changing mix of skills and knowledge everyone brings, even if only some solid tidbits from a BP Podcast or other industry best practices.

Our Jan meeting will be a great opportunity to start the new year off right!  So grab a beverage, or enjoy some tasty Kelley's food and meet some solid contacts doing REI in CNY!

@Tavon Moore - Hi Tavon. As @Will Chamberlin (great guy with lots of experience) mentioned, I hold a free BP-style meetup the 1st Tues of each month at Kelley's on Velasko Rd. I've posted the event here on BP. Please join us next Tues at 7pm and network with other investors/realtors/contractors and bring whatever knowledge you have to share and learn from others. I look forward to meeting you there!

@Ned Carey - Good point Ned. I will def have an attorney advise me on the contract and hopefully ensure something addresses the clear title issue to protect me. Thanks very much for bringing that up!

@Justin Ward - Thanks Justin! Those are great questions and you thought of a few I hadn't so I appreciate your input. Hope to see you at our Dec meeting and thanks again!

Like many new investors, I am under funded and less than attractive to banks for financing. I have an opportunity to get into res multi properties via Lease to Own thru a group of partners who purchase tax lien properties and lease them. They do it on a one year, renewable as needed, basis. My intent would be to lease until my situation improves within 2-3 years. The numbers would cash flow but I'm seeking advice on the downside to an arrangement like this before I move forward with this process. Any help appreciated!

Hello Central New York BP Investors!

With the snow starting to fall as I type this, winter is quickly approaching. Now is a great time to make offers on deals. In fact, just the thought of having to maintain and deal with a property through the long winter (especially if vacant) is enough to make people want to flex on their price, especially with favorable (meets their needs) terms. As an investor, it's also a great time to get some deferred interior work done as contractors are typically less busy and looking for work for their best crew members trying to keep them busy over the winter.

With that in mind, we'll be holding our monthly meeting on Tues , 12/4, again at Kelley's and hope to share advice and knowledge on how to get these properties under contract as well as the best way to make offers that will have the best chance of being accepted. But as always, we'll spend time networking with each other and discuss whatever issues are forefront in your www.kelleysbarandrestaurant.com) on Velasko Rd near OCC/Onondaga Hill has kindly offered to host us in their upstairs banquet room that can hold 40 people so let's fill it up! I hope you'll spread the word.

As many of our members have commented, Kelley's is a great location for us and allows us to move around freely and learn from each other!

Although I had to miss our last monthly CNY RE Investors Meetup that was held on 11/6 at Kelley's, Esmir O and Mark Costa stepped in to help in several new members who attended in addition to some of our regular member attendees. The best part of this meetup is the continually changing mix of skills and knowledge everyone brings, even if only some solid tidbits from a BP Podcast or other industry best practices.

Our Dec meeting will be another great opportunity to grab a beverage, or enjoy some tasty Kelley's food and meet some solid contacts doing REI in CNY!

As always, there is no fee to attend other than a willingness to share what you know or have learned with other investors and learn from them what you may not know. Our intent is to make everyone more successful in the region and trading knowledge is vital so we all can do more deals!

Please join us and bring along any other investors with this same mindset. Also, please share any recent happenings for your REI journey, whether new deals, possibilities or goals in the next few months or year and include what you're looking for most at the present time, whether it be financing, a certain type of property or just a certain area in the region you'd like to know more about.

See ya there!

Rob Sawyer