All Forum Posts by: Zachary Akey

@Patrick Hogan I am looking to buy more also. I would entertain partnering up if you want to chat sometime

@Patrick Hogan

In Titusville, the impending “boom” has been “about to come” for a decade. Sadly, there will be no boom. Titusville has close proximity to the Space Center, but has never been the home of choice for most upper echelon space workers, Merritt Island has.

But wait, don’t run away yet. To me, Titusville represents a unique opportunity, of which Space Center proximity is a major component, but still only one. Titusville also boasts proximity not only to Orlando, and Cocoa Beach but also PORT CANAVERAL. The Port represents steadily growing tourist and LOGISTICS activity. It has been sustainably growing since the Great Recession. To that end, Titusville has a new logistics hub to support that activity. Logistics = jobs; jobs = housing demand. This is all coupled with some renewed commercial real estate investment and a low cost of entry.

Finally, and to your point there are space jobs. Don’t expect SpaceX or Blue Origin executives to call Titusville home any time soon. That said, Boeing has moved its Space division HEADQUARTERS to Titusville. If the relocated executives have recognized Titusville as a value for their company, they may make it a home for themselves and their employees will follow suit.

I live in Titusville 15 years ago and have been invested in the market for four years. I love the town and want to see it succeed. If what I described is appealing to you, please join me in investing in this wonderful community. If you think there are short term holds with huge returns lurking just around the corner, look elsewhere.

I hope this perspective (my opinion only) helps.

-Zachary Akey

I did, but I fear that they posted here simply to get their BP post numbers up. As short as your reply is Antoine, it has more meaningful content than the others. I know this is not indicative of all BP members, but not a great start.

I am signing on this morning to look for a buyers agent in Brevard County, FL. I drove down here last night. My purpose for this trip is look at property and hopefully meet an agent. To be honest, I was a bit dismayed by the replies so I just drove the twelve hours to show up in person...

Unfortunately there are certain generations of people whom I believe see the internet as a marketing tool "to get there name out there" and not a business tool. What they fail to realize is that most millennials like me make no such distinction. Specifically if someone acts a certain way online, I have no choice but to assume they conduct business in person that same way.

 Thanks Jodan

I hate to come off as rude, but is there anybody on these forums anymore who doesn't spew canned boilerplate platitudes? 

Hi David. I'm new too and I wanted to be the first to respond with some comments to your post. Firstly, your the man. Secondly your plan sounds great. Thirdly, BP seems like the place to build your team.

I hope you don't get a bunch of adverts replying to your post. Unfortunately that is all I received on my first post. Well, I guess they also added platitudes and a contrarian perspective that wasn't helpful (except to their posting statistics).

I guess we need to seek others out who seem to have a common thread. While I am new myself, i'd still like to say "welcome".

I didn't say it was too expensive to invest in, I said it was expensive. And it is. By almost any measure. Perhaps you should be happy with this perception.

Thank-you for the anecdotal evidence. Did you close on a 2% rule property for $60k in 2016? Which zipcode was that in? How many tenants have you evicted in MD & DC? What was the average time you went without rents between non paying evictees and vacancy? I can close on a 3%-4% property in other markets today in neighborhoods that do not require a police escort, and further in States where I can evict for non-payment without the nanny state telling me to wait for months on end.

I'll note a few things about my political fluctuations comment:

1) I am not arguing for YOU to not invest here - I do not care what YOU do. I am saying why I won't invest here as a startup RE investor. My dollar simply goes further in other places. My first post wasn't meant to be a platform for Russell Brazil to defend his investment choices, it was meant to be about introducing what I am trying to do. 

2) The fluctuation I am referring to is the job market. While you can ONLY see the upside of having the Federal Jobs market heavily invest in the area, I have noted that when these Federal Agencies choose their new communities, they make the chosen one and break the others. 

Good luck Russell, and a piece of advice: don't hijack other people's threads to be a contrarian. Investing in DC is not for me right now and your thread did nothing to change that.

Thanks for the reply and sharing your story Michael! To address some of what you said: as the title says, I've been on BP for quite some time, I just never spoke up. At this point, I think I need to get started before I learn enough :-P

What I mean by that is I have looked at properties, read a ton of literature, and listened to hundreds of podcasts, for about two years. I have decided to follow the advice of almost everyone who answers Brandon's final question on the podcasts ("what do you think seperates successful real estate investors from those who give up, fail, or never get started?"). Almost invariably, those individuals say the one's who get it done are those who "jumped in", "grew a pair", or "pulled the trigger". Of course, the caveats always are "the numbers have to work", and "you make your money upon the purchase of the property".

Again I appreciate the insight, especially about the team. I know that this aspect is critical, and it is one area I am most unsure about..

 Thanks for the reply Dawn. My interest stems from different factors; I'll try to expound, and I apologize that it may be a bit verbose (this is where you can be happy to NOT be in my head ;-). Let me preface by saying that I reside and work a full-time J-O-B in the Washington DC MSA. This market is expensive, very competitive (sharks swim here) and completely subject to political fluctuations which could crush a fledgling noob like me. Because of these factors, I have little interest (or the stomach) in starting out "close to home". That only leaves "somewhere else".

That said (and I hope I don't sound like a stock market flunkie) I see both Houston and Raleigh as a growth market. Both offer the political landscape businesses want. Both are currently seeing a sustained job growth. Admittedly, I know the least about these markets.

I like Raleigh because it has become something of a "new silicon valley". My generation (millennials-largely the demo moving to NC) prefer to rent on the whole. I would prefer to buy and would love to rent to these successful techies in Raleigh.

I like Houston because it is a massive logistics hub. I imagine that during this lull in the oil market, I may be able to capitalize on both a value proposition and growth here. 

I believe Fort Myers, Florida and Brevard County, FL. to be value propositions. On top of this the second largest demographic in America is retiring Baby Boomers. Many in this generation will be relegated to relying almost exclusively on Social Security income alone. I believe that this could generate a whole new class of reliable renter in the warmer climate that Florida offers (in addition to its already many retiree-centric policies and amenities).

For Brevard, I have a personal interest. I used to live there and my brother still does. Trustworthy eyes and ears are always helpful. Also, labor is inexpensive (if somewhat less reliable than a larger MSA), and I recently reviewed the 20-year plan for Kennedy Space Center which I believe shows some very promising possibilities for private investment in the aerospace business. At one time there were more PHD's in tiny Brevard County than anywhere except Silicon Valley (unsure if this is still true, but I know many are still there).

Fort Myers is unique in that it is one of the top five growth markets in the United States, AND deals can still be found on the inexpensive end. One of Florida's main attractions is its diverse water activity portfolio, and Fort Myers has an absolutely massive array of "canal-front" properties, of which many lead to the Gulf.

So there it is. Maybe I have no idea what I am talking about, but it made sense when I thought it through, and that is why I am interested in these geographically different markets.

-----

How am I financing...great question. In fact I wish I could tell you the answer. I have ~$50k in cash, a 710 FICO and the drive to figure it out (I know its not much, but I also know that its better than nothing). I suppose the answer will depend on what I am financing before I can answer how. My interest kind of lies on the cusp on residential vs low-end commercial: 2-10 units for my first deal.

Thanks for reading my profile.

My name is Zachary and I am a prospecting RE investor. I am interested in cash-flowing smaller (<10 unit) multi-family rentals. Markets of focus include Space Coast, FL., and am looking at Fort Myers, FL., Raleigh, NC, and Houston, TX.