All Forum Posts by: Chris Martin

I have also used Investors Title Exchange Corp and second what @Sophia Griffies posted. I've done two 1031 exchanges with ITEC but have no interest in doing another in this (lack of) market. 

Quote from @Andrew S.:

Quote from @Kimberley Smith:

Quote from @Melanie P.:

I recommend narrowing your focus to just wholesaling for now. Rather than pay for a course I suggest identifying a wholesaler in your area that is advertising off-market homes for sale regularly (at least 5+ per month, more is better). Contact them, advise them that you are trying to get into wholesaling, that you are moving to Raleigh in a year and a half and have 15 hours a week that you can help them in exchange for tagging along. Tell them that you'd like to call through their oldest, worst leads to get comfortable talking with people - can I help with appointment setting? Can I help with lead generation? Can I make sure your car is stocked each day with everything you need in the field? Can I help run comps for appointments you have set up? Etc.

Wholesaling is not a glamourous profession. The skills you learn doing this will pay you actual money but also come in super handy anytime you negotiate with anyone, have to put effort into getting a tough deal to close, real estate terminology, contracts, and so on.

Good luck with your journey. 

 Excellent advice Melanie! I am a licensed wholesaler in the Raleigh area doing 30-40 deals per month so if you would like to ask any questions im happy to help

I wasn't aware that  "Licensed wholesaler" is a thing?  Or do you mean you are a licensed real estate agent who wholesales properties?  Just curious,

I thought the same thing. From a NCREC license lookup, seems like you nailed it Andrew... licensed agent doing wholesaling. Only one Kimberley Smith (note the spelling) licensed in NC, so I probably have the right one. 

"30-40 deals per month" would put you in the category of higher "closings" ("transactions" may be a better term) than any other broker in the triangle, so I suspect quite a bit of embellishment. I've sold seven properties with A Cole Realty and would expect I would have heard about a broker closing a deal a day by now. I'll inquire tomorrow... 

I assume this is a bank owned (REO) or government owned (e.g. HUD) property since you know appliances are missing. When you buy a (real) "foreclosure" at, for instance, a trustee sale the only requirement for the sale to go through is you need to pay the winning bid price in full. In general, it is more difficult to finance a foreclosure because of lender requirements.

If the PCR (Property Condition Report) identifies the property as IE (Insurable with Escrow) the, yes, a lender may allow you to fund an escrow account at closing. If the PCR shows the property as UI (UnInsurable) then many traditional lenders may turn you down. 

Reading between the lines, it looks like a seller financed transaction. Paying 2.4% for total closing costs (which include title search, title insurance, all attorney doc prep and recording fees) seems very reasonable given the relatively low $ purchase price. What's somewhat interesting to me is that there is not a line item for survey. Some title insurance policies require a current survey, but if this is a re-insurance policy (with the seller's title insurance company) then you saved yourself (potentially) a lot of money. From the above, I assume this is a lot in an established subdivision or a lot within a town's jurisdictional boundary. Just a guess from experience. 

Quote from @Bill Buzzell:

Hi everyone, I got an offer too good to refuse on my house by a developer who plans to build 3 story apartments on the land. Only downside is that buying a house now is so high it's almost not worth the effort it seems. I have a clause allowing 2 months rent free and $1000 a month rent for up to 4 additional months, thinking/hoping house prices will start to come down and buy then. 

Any ideas about what to expect from the market in the next 6 months? Is my strategy a good one? Should I maybe rent for a year or 6 more month to find my deal/dream home?

How would you approach this situation?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

  

Have you already committed to the terms? Is this your primary residence? Can you claim the Section 121 exemption on any gains? What does your tax advisor say? Lots of unknowns, but I tend to agree with @Doug Smith given that your town (Perry) is adding population. 

"Too good to refuse" usually means you are making the right choice. 

See https://library.municode.com/tx/killeen/codes/code_of_ordinances

Chapter 26 is known as "City of Killeen Subdivision and Property Development Regulations." There is no practical reason to talk to planning and zoning before reading and understanding this chapter in its entirety because you want to convey to the town official your plan and how it fits within the planning and zoning requirements. 

Chapter 31 is Zoning. There are a lot of zoning districts, and you didn't state how your parcel is zoned, so you'll have to figure it out from the 60-80 pages or so of zoning detail. 

Quote from @Andrew Rivera:

Hey Guys, my name is Andrew. I’m a licensed real estate agent in North Carolina as well as a contractor here in the triangle. I’m looking to start out and connect with others that are in my market as well as the surrounding smaller cities such as Sanford and rocky mount.

I’m looking to finally get some doors of my own as well as maybe do a couple flips.

If you’d like to connect let me know!  

You should post in the Starting Out (Real Estate Investing for Beginners) Forum to get more responses. There is also a Real Estate Contractor Forum. 

Wake County has statistical information available on their Data Files, Statistics and Reports page. As of 1/1/2023, Raleigh, with 125,421 single family residential units, had 37% of the Wake County total of 342,580. There were 9,253 single family Wake County houses added in 2022, so would expect about that number for 2023 as well. Price wise, houses in the area mostly follow (roughly) national inflation rates. A notable exception is the rapid appreciation in the last few years, summarized in the chart below. The blue line is inflation, red line is the Raleigh house price index. 

Quote from @Madhur Mehta:

Hello everyone, I have been grappling with the below question for the last few weeks.

We have a condo in downtown Chicago that we bought for $150k 10 years ago which generates ~$900 per month on Cash flow. The CoC is great and we don't have a mortgage on the condo, however the current market value of the condo is about ~200k, so very less appreciation in last 10 yrs.

Should I sell the condo and invest ~200k (minus fees) to buy an investment property with 30-40% down in an area (Durham, Raleigh) where I could expect greater appreciation down the road. With the current interest rates, I would be -ve cash flow 200 to 300 per month.

I am currently based out of Raleigh, NC.

Appreciate the help.

To me, I'd say stick with the Chicago condo. Unless there is something you aren't disclosing. Why? My two cents:

#1 - you give up $900/month POSITIVE cash flow for NEGATIVE $200-$300/month GREAT IDEA (Sarcasm)
#2 - see chart below. I contend you are buying at the top of the market. GREAT IDEA (Sarcasm)
#3 - there are tax consequences in ANY sale (even with 1031 exchange BECAUSE you HAVE TO BUY the replacement (otherwise what's the point of the exchange))
#4 - "buy an investment property with 30-40% down" ... "I would be -ve cash flow 200 to 300 per month" WTF! GREAT IDEA (Sarcasm)

As Gabe pointed out, with some saving discipline that positive cash flow can provide down payment when we get a softer market. In the short term, put that money into 5.5% treasury yield via TD and be patient. The WCMSA/RCMSA market is overvalued at present, but things can change in a hurry. We've seen it before, like 2008-1011.

Quote from @Josh Lyons:

I've rented two homes over the last few years, and I'm interested in slowly buying more single-family homes and keeping them long-term. I'm curious if experienced investors have a ballpark percentage they factor that rents will increase, on average, over the long-term (like 30 years)? Is it good to assume it will gradually outpace overall inflation like around 4-5%? That's the ballpark number I've gathered after some reading on it.

The "correct" answer short term (like last year) is 6.1%. In general, rent increases in Raleigh (and I assume Charlotte) have closely matched inflation. Over the next 30 years, I use 2.5% as a "middle of the cone" annual number. 

That 6.1% number is based on 4,089 Charlotte MSA Single Family properties held by a large SFR REIT. The average monthly realized rent per property in Charlotte for 2023 was $2,077.

Source: American Homes for Rent Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, page 27 (https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1562401/000156240124000021/amh-20231231.htm)