All Forum Posts by: Trevor Ewen

@Ben Vandorn 

My brother lives in Anchorage. Been up there once to visit him. For my money, military towns are great, because you get that steady influx of renters. I just wish I knew more about them.

I'd be interested in speaking about what's coming down your pipeline. Since my brother is there, we have the ability to be somewhat active in the market. Although, I have never pulled him into a deal.

@Dennis Kelly 

Welcome. I live in Long Island City, Queens.

I have never done a flip, so I am not an expert on that. Since the NY, NJ, CT market is heavy on retail buyers, it seems like flips could potentially be profitable here. That being said, the regulatory and expense burden of selling a house makes the area unattractive to many. 

The only recommendations I can make is to keep your costs low, and estimate what a retail buyer wants in Long Beach. There are more who will tune in with better experience than me.

@Brandon Turner 

Thanks. The only reason I have even considered Buena Vista is because my father, a licensed general contractor, lives about 10 miles away. I think a connection is needed for slickers like me to even consider an area like that.

@Paul Ewing 

Interesting thoughts on the livestock. I have no idea where to start on something like that. My standard city thoughts err on the side of 'No animals.' Given the context, I completely understand how this can change, and lead to a profitable situation. I'd be interested to see the lease wording you use, in regards to livestock.

@Account Closed 

There are many on the forums with more experience than me in this matter. Since all of my investments are out of my immediate area, my main thing is to hear good testimonials and feedback.

- Crime.
- Local schools and ratings (key for properties targeted at families).
- Multiple sources of employment in the region, particularly for your target tenant (A's: White collar jobs, B's: Consistent working class, C's: Consistent working class/service sector).
- Homeownership rate (US Census has this for all cities, Fort Wayne for example)
- Check out local rent prices on Padmapper or Craigslist, just to see if your expectations for rent rate are real.
- You can check for market volatility using a variety of sources. A good simple example is NPR's: How Much House You Can Afford. Fort Wayne, for instance, is very flat... which is a market characteristic I like (no major surprises). 
- In the Northeast we put a huge emphasis on transportation availability. As an old friend used to say: "Your tenants only pay rent if they have jobs, they only go to work if they can get there, they only get there if they have transportation." This is less true for many markets, but people in NY, NJ, and CT live by this mantra.
- Political environment is important for estimating taxes. The Northeast is another great example of a place where the political (read: Tax) climate can ruin a completely good deal. There are devastated towns in New Jersey that attract no investors because of their ridiculous tax assessments.
- Could you live there if necessary? This is a question I ask myself towards the tail end of evaluating a market. There are obviously places I would prefer to live, but if I could 'never'  (in any case) see myself living somewhere, then I probably should not expect my tenant to do likewise.

@Jon Deavers 

Was just tuning in to recommend you. Glad to see you got to it first!

@Victor Eng He's the best I know, it's the least I can do.

@Richard Adjou 

Depends on your risk preference. I live and invest through a framework that keeps me comfortable and able to sleep at night. If I go outside of my own framework, I mine as well take my money to a casino. You have to measure your risk tolerance and decide how loosely you are able to know a market.

There are folks on the forums who have had great success just buying and holding in unfamiliar markets. I just think it takes a special type of person with a risk-on attitude, and the ability to add a diverse inventory, quickly.

@Joshua Dorkin 

The big thing we have changed is our household budget. We are really trying harder to monitor our spending and cost of living (as you know, it can get out of hand in NYC).

We focus our interests on our upcoming deals instead of spending and living costs. There's still never enough money for all the good deals, but that's a good problem to have.

@Aaron Hall 

Had this happen with a colleague a couple months back. I usually tailor it. At the time, he was looking for connections in the Ft. Lauderdale market. I don't know much about the market, but I found a good post requesting the same kind of info about Ft. Lauderdale (meeting people, realtors, etc.). I sent him a link.

Let the content do the talking, that's what it's there for. If he doesn't use it, he was never the person who was going to, anyway.

@Victor Eng 

Depending on your market, it can vary greatly. I would definitely talk with @Matt Faircloth as he has good experience with mixed-use multi-families in the Northeast. You may not be looking in the NE. Regardless, if you can cut it here, you can probably make it happen where taxes are lower and land is cheaper.