All Forum Posts by: Steven Gillmer

 Thanks for asking James. I closed in March and had the top rented in June and the bottom rented at the beginning of this month. I did have two major unexpected costs: there was a major water leak that Cleveland Water did not notify my about and gas lines that needed to be replaced going to the furnaces. So, on paper the numbers look good as long as we don't have any more make issues.

Hello San Antonio investors! I will be moving to the area in the next couple of months from the Nashville area and am looking forward to learning everything I can about the market. I currently own one duplex in Cleveland and one condo in Memphis after selling two of my SFRs in Memphis. I am now ready to accelerate my portfolio and am looking forward to seeing what this great city has to offer.

Welcome Andy. You are definitely not too late, I am 49 and just starting to ramp up my portfolio. The plan is to replace my W-2 income within the next 6 years. You are going to learn a ton from this site, but don't think you need to know everything to start. You could start by buying a duplex and house hacking. Then, you could save the money you used to pay in rent/mortgage and use it for your next property.

Good luck.

If it is going to be an investment property and you are going with a conventional loan, you are most likely going to need 20% down. You may find a local bank willing to do 15%, but that would probably be as low as you could find. You could always go with a private lender and may be able to negotiate a lower DP, but you will pay for it with a higher interest rate.

I will validate that USAA will do investment property loans in any state. They will do both purchase of inhabitable properties and cashout refi. I am not sure about the seasoning period but I plan to use them to get my cash out of my duplex in Old Brooklyn next month. So, if you are lucky enough to be a member, or be eligible to be a member, check them out.

I want to start by saying that I have never purchased from a TK provider. 

I don't think you can just look at the purchase price. A TK provider should already have placed a tenant as well as completed the rehab so you save the initial month or two of vacancy as well as the placement fee. Also, you are most likely going to have to put some money into rehab initially unless it is a flip. So, if you are trying to buy rentals retail, you are probably better off buying from a reputable TK provider. Just my $.02.

If you are like me, you are probably on several email lists and receive all kinds of deals, good and bad, in your inbox every day. When you find one that interests you, who do you contact? Do you contact your Realtor, who is hopefully out there looking for deals? Do you contact your current property manager, who will most likely manage the property for you and is also a licenced agent? Or, do you contact the lead source directly, who is also a property management firm? 

On the one hand, I want someone that represents me to provide an unbiased perspective but I feel some sort of responsibly to the company sending the lead, especially if there are current tenants that I would switch to my property manager.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Great advice so far. I started in Cleveland by accident as I read several posts about the area and became interested.  I then joined a mailing list for deals by @Matt Motil and then searched BP to see if anyone had done business with him.  All of the reviews were postive so I gave him a call and asked a bunch of questions.  I felt comfortable with what I read and heard so I bought a duplex with his help.  He then recommended a mortgage broker, insurance agent and property manager.  I followed the same process; looked them up on BP, called and asked a bunch of questions, and then hired the insurance agent and property manager.  So far, everything is going very well and I never stepped foot in Cleveland.  Since it has gone well, I plan on visiting and assessing whether or not I want to expand in the market.

BP is a great resource for learning about REI as well as getting real feedback from actual investors that have done business with the people that you need to help you purchase out of state.

Good luck.

I started my investing when I lived in the Memphis area and I never visited my properties. I found a great full service property management firm I could trust and went on with my day. I currently have established the same process in Cleveland where I purchased a duplex while never setting foot in the city of Cleveland, let alone visiting the property. I don't want to be active as I have a career that I love so I have found people that can do it for me.

The great thing about BP is it is much easier to find and vet potential teams, reducing your chance of working with gypsies, tramps and thieves. 

The moral of the story is it is not your proximity to your properties that matters, it is the quality of your team.

Here are my thoughts. I think there as great reasons to invest in Cleveland. Yes, there may be a population decline, but the folks renting the homes in my budget are not going anywhere. As a relatively new investor trying to build cash flow while also preserving capital, Cleveland gives me the opportunity to do what I cannot here in my hometown of Nashville. I can afford to buy an BRRRR homes in Cleveland, which creates monthly income that I can combine with my current bankroll to be able to purchase larger deals in growing markets in the future. Since I have no plans to sell, appreciation is not a huge deal for me. I would be hesitant to refinance at a higher value anyway to avoid becoming over leveraged.

It just depends on your goals and strategy. I will let you know in a couple of years if it was the right strategy.