All Forum Posts by: Sean Hudgins

@Reynaldo Ramirez, to meet your goals you can do a number of things.  We started out moving into slight fixers and renovating them up over time.  We turned the primary into a rental, and repeated that.  While my husband deployed, I wholesaled a number of houses, and used the money to buy long term holds...flip, flip, buy and hold. 

There still is a strategy for cash flow houses, and appreciation houses...but they aren't the same type of property.  We have 3/2 brick starter houses in a laterally trending market in Texas that work for cash flow, and we have houses in a vacation spot in Florida for appreciation.  We got to 39 houses in 22 years.

Aloha, 

I am getting ready to move to Virginia Beach (Within the next 6 months) and plan to purchase my first home. Im still deciding on whether to house hack or buy a property that needs some work, fix up over time (leaning more towards house hack strategy).  Im not very family with the area and am wondering if anyone can give me some insight (good neighborhoods to live. I've been looking into possibly buying Duplex, Tri, or Quad. Based on what Ive seen so far they only exist near or on the beach, going for over 1.5 million (way above my price range). Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as areas to look at for my first purchase, are there any 2-4 unit properties not on the beach? Im also looking to purchase before officially moving to Virginia, so im looking for an agent that can be my eyes and has many creative tools in thier tool belt. Im anxious and ready to start my real estate investing journey. Any advice is welcomed. 

As title, I am interested in following markets: (no particular order)

1. Raleigh NC

2.Wilmington, NC

3. Charlotte, NC

4.Richmond, VA

5.Virginia Beach, VA

6.Jasonville, FL

7.Tampa, FL

8.Knoxville, TN

9.Memphis, TN

Among those, Richmond/VA beach are closer to me. Yet I feel Raleigh and Charlotte NC would be better for appreciation.
As of FL, I am concerned with future insurance cost.

Any other ideas? Please share.

Timing wise, I feel we will get better idea at the end of 2023 or early 2024. Unless it is a great deal, no hurry for now.

@Brandon Weatherholtz

Even if someone give you a referral, don’t make the mistake of assuming that PMC will meet your expectations, just because they met the expectations of the referral source.

We also can’t believe how many owners hire the first PMC they speak with!

Then they complain their expectations aren’t being met!

In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.

It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator – and they often select the first PMC they call!

So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.

EXAMPLE: PMC states they will handle tenant screening – what does that specifically mean? What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.? You’d be shocked by how little actual screening many PMC’s do!

This also leads owners to ASSUME simpler is better when it comes to management contracts.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it!

We have a 14-page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord. Beyond the Monthly Management, Placement & Maintenance fees, all other fees in our contract are IF EVENT -> THEN fees.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processes

We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

P.S. If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general. Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊

Please send us any feedback via email, as we do not use the DM feature here.
Also, if you like our response, please don’t be shy about giving us a vote😊

I am going to be moving to the Norfolk area in the coming months and I want to invest in my first rental property. Does anybody have advice on great locations to buy at and who are reliable contractors and real estate agents in the area? I would love to talk to someone 1 on 1 that has experience in the area I'm trying to get a relative idea of what I can expect for general costs, utilities, etc. Thank you.