All Forum Posts by: Timothy W.

It's a common thing in the midwest. Take Chicago for example - about an hour outside of Chicago is the northwest Indiana area. It's known amongst Chicago investors and is popular as a great cashflow area. Same thing with Indianapolis - although the better cashflow outside of Indy is actually closer than an hour.

Hey Folks,
I have a question. Occasionally I come across an REO in my area that's available for an insanely low price (under $10,000) and while the thought of cash purchasing is there, I'd rather find a way to finance it. I did find a private firm that will do 10 year mortgages at pretty high rates and there's always HMLs and credit cards....just wondering if there's something I may be missing here. Any ideas or tips for me? Thank you in advance.

Tim

I've seen this topic on a few forums lately. Here's my philosophy on Flipping vs. Keeping.....

Richard Davis, owner of Trademark Properites, star of Flip that House and easily the most famous flipper in the country had this to say at the end of one of his shows where he rehabbed a multi-unit property (the big gray one) he owns. He said, "People think you have to flip, flip, flip, flip, flip...but the real money in real estate is in holding property."

Now if this Richard Davis says this about flipping vs. holding.....do you really need to hear much more? Personally, I'm with Richard on this one.

Tim

It's not that new - been around for a while. It shows "comps" based on what houses in a neighborhood have closed for. It doesn't really comp a house based upon the individual characteristics of a house. I have seen it severly over and severly underprice homes. I will say it does help to get a "feel" for a neighborhood though.

Tim

The question here is what's included in that 25%?

I've actually run across a property manager in one market that charged 25%. The thing is he does EVERYTHING for the property including repairs and evictions and it all falls under the 25% umbrella. Also, with the purchase vs. rents in this particular market - the properties still positively cashflowed. His services and the market bore that rate. Who can blame the guy?

Yeah - traditional mangement charges anywhere from 5-10% per month for management. However, I worked the inside of traditional management and this does not include attorneys fees, eviction costs, repairs and all the other little things that creep up. The true cost of management well exceeds the percentage that any managment company charges.

Tim

The 1% rule kinda works on some areas where taxes are low and you're doing 10-20% down. It used to be the basis of where I would begin taking the time to analyze deals. Honestly though, after having researched the opportunity out there more, you can do better than the 1%.

Real positive cashflow really isn't that hard to find if you simply go to where it is. Problem is most people are fishing for bass in a trout stream. You need a rental market if you want cashflow.

Tim

Hello Folks,
My name is Tim and I'm an investor in Indiana. Brief bio of me: I started in construction when I was 12, got my first job in real estate when I was 18 working as a property manager while in college. I waited 8 years too long and bought my first property when I was 26. I am addicted to real estate. You know you've got it bad when you look at realtor listings longer than FHM swimsuit issues.

Anyhow, my thing is positvely cashflowing residential rental property. I pretty much work in that field and that alone. Sure I'll birddog, wholesale and rehab in addition to holding - but I'm always birddogging, wholesaling and rehabbing residential rental property. It's just what I love and what I know. Looking forward to meeting other like-minded folks!

Tim

If I may - here's another hint. Look an hour's drive out from where you are. Most major cities have excellent cashflow about an hour outside city limits.

Tim