All Forum Posts by: Terri Haley

@Christina Hall

Hi Christina! The market here has appreciated quite a bit over the past few years, however (as I am the utmost optomist), there ARE "deals" that pop up every so often. Life happens to all of us, and some folks need to sell their house. As investors, of course, we need to get the best deal, so sometimes the numbers work and sometimes they just don't. Corelogic is predicting a 7% decrease in value here in Vegas come next year. Nobody has a crystal ball... and I personally do not try to time the market. The rents here are about $1 per square foot (generally speaking), so buying below market here is a must.

@Jeff Short

Just adding more info about our tenant assistance program here in Southern Nevada.. there are currently $30M in funds available for about $200M in tenant arrears.

I'm currently dissecting a deal to buy, while figuring out what to do with my current primary residence. (I've been here over 2 years, so no capital gains tax if I sell). I'm mostly all about buy and hold , but do not want to get caught up in the tenant non-payment mess. There are more and more in arrears every week. Many people are selling and moving out of state because of lost service industry jobs. While... folks from CA, NY and FL are moving in.

@Jeff Short

Good info above ^ The cash for keys to entice the tenant to move out sounds like a great option (as long as the tenant agrees). Be sure to consider the moratorium in place right now. As agents, we cannot show for-sale rental properties at all if they are tenant-occupied. It's such a sticky situation right now as any investor running the numbers correctly will want a very deep discount to take on that liability.

You got a great deal in 2011, so it just comes down to what you want to deal with right now.

It's a seller's market right now, but I've been calling it a "cautious" seller's market. Some properties are over-priced and buyers aren't falling for that (mostly).

But, make the property move-in ready, priced correctly, and we've been seeing properties at the 330k price point sell rather quickly...as long as it passes due diligence.

You can find good info on www.clarkcountynv.gov

@Jay Eubank

I saw this post a bit too late, but would also like to get notified of the next one! I've been looking for a like-minded group here in Vegas ever since 2008. Can't wait to share stories and talk real estate! DM me please with info.

@Angeli Castrence

I have a good agent around Houston, Texas I can refer... if you're looking at that area. I owned 3 properties in TX: Texas City, Taylor and Houston. My experience with Texas was: good cash-flow, but high property tax, high home warranty expense, and high hazard insurance expense. The insurances were near double what I was paying for the properties in 3 other states, including Nevada. As for Las Vegas, there are deals here, you just need to look every single day. I have clients set up on automatic searches for properties, and they do pop up.

@Jenico Alexis De Guzman

Hi there! I owned 15 properties around 2003-2009. 11 of those properties were out of state and yeah, I managed them all myself, so it is possible! I just had to jump out of the comfort zone and figure it out. I was part of a good REIA at the time, so that helped, but the club was quite small. Now we have BP, which is amazing! For maintenance, I had a home warranty on every property. When something broke, I had it written into the lease that the tenant had to call the company and schedule repairs. They also had to cover the $75 deductible. For turn-overs, I rarely traveled to the properties. I hired handyman to check the places out, then do any work needed. I'd put a mechanical lockbox on, and gave prospective tenants call me when they got to the house, and then when they were locking up. Sounds nuts doesn't it? Well, it worked. For most evictions, I hired pros for that. Here in Nevada, I did the paperwork and served it. If you're not already working with a Realtor, I can help you search for properties in Vegas. It is possible with a good system in place. Feel free to ask me anything. I enjoy sharing stories and the process that I used.

@Account Closed

I just read through all of this thread, and hope I'm not too late to the game. I've been an investor for a while now and also live in Las Vegas. I scan the MLS every single day for listed deals. They are extremely rare, but if you continuously search (like thru auto-search), the deals do pop up occasionally. If you're not already working with a Realtor, I can just set up a search for you. It can be very detailed for what you want. Just DM me if you want. Also, because the deals are so few and far between, I still run the numbers on the ones that are just marginal.. just to keep my runnin the numbers chops up!

@Yonah Weiss

Great question! It's wonderful to read everybody's experiences.

I earned 3 degrees.. a BS in Nuclear Medicine, a BA in Music (Percussion Performance) and a Masters in Music (Perc Perf). The Nuc Med degree helped me build W2 income / savings and the music helps keep my soul alive. Funny thing is, I got into real estate investing back in 2003 because I just wanted to teach / play percussion. All 3 degrees made me have incredible self discipline and strong work ethic. I am now a Realtor and help my musician friends (and others) buy properties as well.

@Kaylee Pratt

I started playing percussion at 13 years old. I was actively involved with drum & bugle corps, and ended up being a member of one of the best in the world. Afterward, I worked diligently earning three university degrees (two bachelor's each in science and arts) and a master's degree in percussion performance. After the science degree, I worked as a certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist, but all I wanted to do was teach percussion. In 1996, I bought my first house. In 2001, I sold that one and used the profit to buy another one. In 2003, I learned about real estate investing in 2002. I obtained all the books, tapes, CD's, DVD's and read, watched, listened and even joined local and not-so-local Real Estate Investor Associations. In 2003, I refinanced my house with a HELOC, and bought another Owner-Occupied property. That one took a year to build and gained $80k in equity over the year. I moved into the new one, and rented the old one. After seeing and living the numbers, as opposed to just reading about them, I was hooked. Fast forward 13 properties later. I had a net worth of 4 million. Then...2008 happened. I lost all of them. But...not all was lost. I continued to work nuclear medicine and teaching percussion. I still believed in real estate. After putting over 50 offers on foreclosures and REO's, my Realtor and I finally had one accepted. I closed on a foreclosure. Irony at its best. I lived there and rehabbed it over a nine-year period. During this time, I not only rehabbed the house, but my finances too. I worked a budget, lived the budget, cleaned up my credit, and all the while continued to study real estate investing (and became a Realtor). I took out a HELOC, and bought another distressed property. I rehabbed that one and moved in. I sold the previous property with a 66% ROI.

The 9-year period in that REO property not only allowed me to reflect, heal, and learn, but also offered me the financial ability to move forward. My current property is valued at 44% higher than original purchase price. And yes, it has a HELOC and we're looking for the next deal.