All Forum Posts by: Tom Valichka

@Calene Lambert thanks for the kind words Calene. I know the Cumming area fairly well since we build homes just north of there. I would be interested in connecting for sure. Go ahead and message me your cell # and we can go for coffee next time i am in the area.

I have successfully completed my first buy and hold in the north atlanta area a couple month ago! I had the loan already set up and ready to go for when i found the right place. The area i looked in had huge need for single family rentals.  Just through Zillow and a local real estate agent i found a place that had only been listed for 1 day, and the family was unfortunately going through a divorce, and moving. The home was listed far below value in the area so i was able to offer full price, but negotiated some closing costs in.  The deal went through and within 2 weeks i had the place rented for a 9% cap with intentions of raising to 9.5% percent next year.

So far so good! I put the renters through a screening process and there have been minimal hiccups and no damage to the home whatsoever.  Now, i just have to figure out how to secure more financing for more deals. I have my some family member wanting to back me for future deals so that should help on the financing side.  Trying to to decide whether to stick with single family in the areas that make sense to or go to multi-family.

I would love to link up with folks in the Atlanta area who are doing this on a much larger scale than myself! Please, if you are in the Atlanta regions reach out to me. I am always up for meeting up, having a beer, and talking business/markets!

Tom

From a homebuilders perspective, definitely suggest using the SW Superpaint. Like someone stated above it's the best on the market right now. Yes, it may be a little more, but it will hold up better than the HD or Lowes brands! More money now may prevent adding more coats in the future.

@Matt Slakey @Jerry W. @Elizabeth Colegrove

All good advice! Thank you kindly.  Matt, good advice, I agree I need to not worry about failing and jump in at some point. Get my "Why" on track.

Jerry, you are indeed correct there is upswing, but this being a niche market there is a little less of that. New homes in this market are more attractive to buyers than flips. This being a second home market, most folks will just build what they want rather than buy. I do agree with your point on value. It's just the way the market is right now. Which almost makes me start thinking spec build.  My mentor has jumped into those more in the past year. The only thing with a new home is the 20% down.

Elizabeth, I am drawn to your approach most. Since this is such a niche market I have been looking at the ugly stuff. Lots of beat up homes that need complete overhauls.  There is certainly the most opportunity in the low dollar homes/trailers/etc.  I have not thought of commercial however, good idea.

Thank you all!

Hello all.  For the past 2-3 years or so I have been a member of biggerpockets, and basically listened to them since day one.  I have read many real estate investing books, and listened to numerous successful professionals such as Robert Kiyosaki, Grant Cardone, and Gary V.  The owner of the  company I work for is very successful as well and I consider him as my mentor. He has been building homes, buying commercial properties, developing, and rehabbing for over 10 years.  I feel as I am ready to jump in and buy a deal.  Gaining experience in the deal I feel is my next step.  The rehab portion if needed will not be hard because I work for a building company that can work quickly, and probably cheaper than most folks can find.  If I find a deal my boss will fund the rehab portion for me for a low interest rate.  I am prequaled for a 150k loan on residential at 95% which, in my area, is workable.  I am primarily looking single family residences just because the commercial market is pretty poor in this area. This is primarily a second home market, thus single familys are the best move.  I have another business on the side which, a couple buddies and I run, but that is not enough to satisfy me either.  I am looking for more.

The problem for me right now is finding the deal.  Foreclosures are eaten up.  If something is in my price range, it needs much more work and money than the deal will allow to even make a dime.  The market is heating up again and deals are hard to find.  If a deal does turn up, within days the home gets sold for much more than the original asking price making it impossible to even consider.  I am at a crossroad of waiting for the market to head south again or explore other deal options.  My boss keeps telling me to look into other options, but I am not really seeing anything.  Is my best bet just to wait, keep learning and studying, or are there different options out there I am not even considering.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tom

Hello Bp,

As my college graduation is coming up in a few weeks, I have dedicated the last 3 months to researching and trying to find someone in real estate investing to take me under their wing, or at least set me in the right direction.  I have met with two licensed agents, a spec builder, and a land developer.  None of them really have an opening except the agents....  Plus, all of them invest minimally on their own, they use their "jobs" as income.  So I'm at a dead end with trying to find investors like wholesalers, flippers, etc.  However, the two RE agents I met with did say that they would get me my license, and they would let me come on with their company to help them out.  Basically it seems like they are recruiting me to work under them and take the deals they may not have time for. What do you guys think? Is this a good way to learn the business and to start building capital? Then through networking hopefully find a wholesaler, flipper to learn from? Or should I just wait until I find the right people to learn from and do everything unlicensed with just straight up investors?

I'm open to all options. Haven't made my mind up yet. Shoot me straight.

Thanks BP,

Tom V.

@Fitzgerald Hall Thanks for your replies. Ve'Ron if you could accept my college request I could message you my information and we could talk about meeting up.  Thanks again. Tom

Thanks @Karen Margrave  ! @Ve'Ron Hall if you could accept me college request I could message you my information and we could talk about a time to meet up.  Thanks for the replies! Tom

Hello BP!

I will be graduating from college in North Georgia in December.  I am eagerly trying to get into real estate investing, spec building, wholesaling, buy and holds, etc.  I have done my research for the past 6 month through bigger pockets, Robert Kiyosaki, and numerous other books.  I have met with some agents here in the North Georgia area (Hiawasse, Young Harris, Blairesville, and Augusta).  The people I have met with have tried to hook me up with more agents and investors, however I have seem to hit a dead end.  I'm not getting any calls back or I'm finding they do not need help in what they or doing or do not want to teach me.  Also, after I graduate in December I could possibly be moving to ATL for my Geotechnical Engineering Firm.  Thus, if there is anyone in the ATL or North Georgia area that is looking for someone to help them out with their investing/real estate work, or just want to talk, it would be greatly appreciated if someone could point me in the right direction.  As of now I have run out of people to contact and I don't want to annoy them anymore than I already am.  

Thanks BP,

Tom V.

@Jordan Thibodeau  Thanks Jordan! I had a few of the same questions. Some of them I didn't have. Thanks for your input!