All Forum Posts by: Trevor Ewen

Richard -

Although most of my online presence exists in a different world, I have definitely learned a few tricks of brand building in the tech space:

• Social media does not matter without substance. The Twitter accounts I follow are people who are already subject matter experts in their fields, and have something to offer other than marketing.
• Marketing is fine, education text is better, videos are best. I made my first investment with a Memphis based company because I saw great videos of the founder explaining his philosophy. It's a bit of a cliche, but I invested in him, not necessarily the property.
• As someone who produces videos, screencast tutorials are a great way to offer something immediately useful to people, this will set you apart from the crowd of people asking for things.
• Don't post to a level to get annoying, but be frequent so whatever you are offering people will get used to. You can see how @Joshua Dorkin and the BP crew do this enough to be regular, but not overload with podcast material.
• Your personal network will always be your strongest. Nuff said.

If you're asking from a tax perspective, I would talk to an accountant.

If this is more from a theoretical perspective, then yes. I always look at a blighted property with the repair cost in mind as part of my 'Money Due Now.' The main reason is that it will not cash flow/be inhabitable till those repairs are in. Even if I can stretch them out over 4 months and not put them into my loan, it's still money paid before the investment makes money for itself.

Those closing costs don't seem to bad from my perspective. I imagine you have already looked, but I would check out something like: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/closing-...

For Texas it seems normal.

Property seems good. I like multis. The only thing I worry about with your numbers is repair costs. Have you estimate those at all? When you add those to the purchase price, are you still cash flowing?

Whether you decide to pay for repairs with cash or via a loan, it should still be part of the estimate.

@Account Closed 

Definitely familiar with the growth at Lynchburg. Ironically, for me, my interest in Buena Vista is solely based on my network in Lexington. Driving through the town, my impression is that prices are reasonable, but it also appears to be a bit of an older world of REI. So door to door is probably my best device.

I think you nailed the primary issues. Although I would always prefer partner on the ground, I am never expecting these folks to be easy to find. 

One thing I have been advocating: Head over to Facebook and search for Kansas City. If you click on the city profile, it will list everyone you know who current lives there, or has ever lived there. Although it's unlikely they are the exact folks you are looking for. If you know them well enough, they are likely to give a trustworthy referral.

Do the same with LinkedIn. Although I wouldn't expect weaker business contacts to do the same favor. The ones you actually know will be happy to help you.

@Account Closed is a good investor. He is doing some good work down there, and has very many happy investors. They're the best I have spoken to in Atlanta, although I have not bought anything through them yet.

Good morning Daniel. 

Richmond would be my pick of the close areas. Raleigh is very nice, but I do get the feeling it's a bit more of a retail housing market. 

Conventional wisdom says 2 hours is the max distance for self management. I don't manage any of our property, but I would stick by that if I did.

That's a great rate for a property of the price, well done.

Folks on the forum can have the Warren Buffet debate later, I only bring him up because I am a devotee of Benjamin Graham. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/eight-lessons-from-benjamin-graham-2013-2?op=1

There is a section in the article entitled: "Be willing to buy something no one else wants, cheaply." Graham was also a big fan of the mantra: "What everybody knows is not worth knowing." 

A lot of people know about Atlanta. People are learning more and more about multi-families. Maybe it's time to think of an edge you can provide that no one knows/cares about. Better yet, something that people often underestimate.

@Nicole Pettis 

 As someone in the tech field, I am often surprised how little interest I see in my real estate network for my skills. It's primarily surprising because most entrepreneurs look at software engineers like they are made out of candy. They can't wait to get a bite. Two thoughts on this note:

1) For me, tech makes me money, not usually real estate connections. I take my tech proceeds and try to put them right into investments. I am at a point where all my 1099 work goes right into my next deal (+ big cut for the tax man). These are solid skills, and despite the seeming lack of interest in this industry, there are other entrepreneurs who will arguably overpay for your skills.

2) You may also want to consider getting in on the RE software bandwagon. @Jay Hinrichs has great advice about getting your license. However, there may be a number of factors keeping that from being easy (time, money, usually). I learned a great deal about the commercial real estate market when my company did work for Honest Buildings, a startup in NYC. You could do the same with a company like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Realtor.com, or any number of private-placement-seeker software like Fundrise, Realty Mogul, Realty Shares.