All Forum Posts by: Srini Ramkumar

@Will Gates I am still exploring the various markets and trying to come up with a way to come up with the right numbers to evaluate a deal. Your formula(if I can call it that) looks good. However, I dint understand the leasing fee part. What is that? Is it a recurring cost? Also, what constitutes a CapEx? Sorry , I am a bit new to this and learning the tricks of the trade. From my knowledge from combing through bigger pockets I was planning to add up - 50%(expenditures + vacancies) + PM fees + EMI. to answer your question about, whether it is being strict - I think its always good to be on the conservative side rather than being on the aggressive side. Atleast I think for a beginner like me that suits.

@Ali Boone Turnkeys, definitely suit nicely for me. I am a first time investor and I want to concentrate more on getting the home and market right and do not want to worry about buying a property and work on it and rehab it. I have currently not zeroed in on any markets? Are there any list that you would recommend? Once I have chosen a market, I plan to look into turnkey companies in that market. Is this a reasonable/logical approach?

@James Wise That makes a lot of sense. It definitely helps to get the neighbor hood right. Will guarantee a good rent and less problems with tenants. I still have not zeroed in on the market that I want to venture into. I am open to looking at a bunch of markets. Some of the most common ones I have come across in biggerpockets are - Birmingham AL, Boise Id etc among other places. The biggest problem I face as an out of state investor is to zero in on the markets and getting the right zip codes. I assuming there is no easy way for this other than due diligence. Are there any metrics/characteristics that you look out for (one which helps filtering out locations better) ? What are the sources that are available that would help a novice (like me)?

I am starting to read up on real estate investment and quickly realized that investing close to where I stay(California) is not possible as 1% rule does not really apply here. So I have been reading up on out of state investments and turnkey comes up as a good way to achieve this. But the convenience of turnkeys sounds too good to be true - they buy rehab, find tenant and maintain the property. I wanted to get some information on turnkey investment and what are the things to watch out for. Are there any bad experiences out there and ways to overcome it? 

Location is something which will come up with enough research. Some of the things you might want to consider are things are state laws (How much in favor of the owner), taxes and economy of the place. With that said there are a few markets - Austin, Raleigh among other places. I am in a similar boat w r t requirements. hit me up if you wanna chat.

Hi, all!

I recently came across the Bigger Pockets community and got hooked onto real estate investing. I am in the process of listening to all the podcasts and I cannot wait to get started. 

We are currently looking at out of state SFH properties (In Austin, TX , Raleigh NC among other places) and I am looking at any and all the information that I can get. My aim is to get my feet wet in REI by the end of this year.

Looking forward to meeting all of you!

Srini