All Forum Posts by: Zach Grigg

I'm looking at creative strategies to build my portfolio. One of those strategies is acquiring SF and MF properties through seller financing options. My first question is, are there any REIs who have scaled their portfolio using seller financing to acquire more properties quicker or even larger units than they could with traditional financing methods? My second question - has anyone ever had luck calling landlords or other REIs to see if they have any properties in their portfolio they would be willing to part ways with using this method? In what I have seen, this is a good option for early investors who don't particularly have the capital to go in on deals with cash as long as it is structured appropriately. There's some deeper knowledge that goes behind seller financing, but I'm curious to pick the BP community and what your thoughts/experience are with this strategy and how you come to acquire properties using seller financing. 

I agree with @Gorden Lopes. The HSV market has great opportunity for future growth. The cash-flow opportunity is there, you just have to search for it, but the appreciation value of homes has been increasing at a great rate over the last couple years.

Honestly, if you're good with excel and numbers, you could break down some of the spreadsheets out there for analyzing properties and build your own (I recommend this just as a double check to any other source you may use to analyze properties). There's a BP file download here: Real Estate Files | BiggerPockets FilePlace . You can find some spreadsheets here that can be a good start. A book that I found helpful if you like reading is 'What Every Real Estate Investor Should Know About Cash Flow' by Frank Gallinelli. Obviously, the BP pro offers their calculators and investing tools.

As far as groups go, I've seen a few show up on forums here and there, but I started thinking this morning that a local BP-HSV (AL/TN) Facebook group might be good for connecting and sharing stories. I connected with Gorden recently, and there's a lot of out-of-state investors, as well, that are great connections both locally and domestically - but this was just a thought.

@Alexandra Feig if you're talking about Huntsville, AL, there's definitely an attraction to the housing market for both SF and MF homes. We have seen an increase in value and demand in the HSV area (Madison County) and surrounding counties. I actually live just over state line in TN and even we have been affected positively as far as appreciation and equity growth. Cash Flow is definitely possible depending on your goals and what type of property you're looking to purchase, but it's primarily an appreciation market. I believe the market will start becoming more cash-flow friendly once the market starts to balance out - which could be a few months to a few years, I wish I had a crystal ball to predict this change. There's a lot of reason why we are seeing our market go through this upswing, but things are looking good for the future of HSV and the surrounding areas. 

There's also some interesting markets in TN. Everyone's shooting to Nashville right now, but TN is becoming a go-to place for many people because of the cost of living and taxes. Just something to think about!

For sure! I wasn't able to find him, but if you can contact him, send him my way and we can definitely connect. Thanks Russell!

Thanks for the response! I agree with you on the potential of Huntsville and Greater Madison County area. I've lived in the area for 20 years and have seen HSV explode countless times and I don't see it stopping anytime soon. There's more large-scale businesses moving to HSV than ever before. It'll be exciting to see how things turn out in the area.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a must. Other books you may enjoy would be 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (a must read), The Richest Man in Babylon - Original Edition, Ken McElroy's ABCs books (there's a few), What Every Real Estate Investor Should Know About Cash Flow by Frank Gallinelli, The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris, Tax Free Wealth by Tom Wheelwright and you can't go wrong with any of the books in the Bigger Pockets Bookstore - some get a little redundant but are very good. Atomic Habits and Traction I have heard are great reads and currently on my list of books for this year.

Just echoing what most people have already said. Depending on what article you read or youtube channel you watch, the crash could be coming anytime in the next day to 10 years. If you study what caused the market crash in 2008 and compare it to what is going on now, there's similarities, but also differences. These differences are what seem to be stimulating the economy on all different levels but doesn't necessarily mean a crash is imminent. In my local market, housing prices jumped 20%+ in the last two years, with people offering 30%+ over market value because the demand was so high and the supply was so low. What we are seeing here is the balancing of the local economy due to increase in population and business development - plus the cost of living here is ridiculously cheap. 

I say all this is to point out that you should always rely on the fundamentals of real estate analysis and surround yourself with a great team. Follow the L.A.P.S. procedure: Leads, Analysis, Pursue, and Success. If you have a solid foundation of the ABC's of real estate investing (pun referencing Ken McElroy's book) and have invested in your education, you will find success. Always have multiple exit strategies and focus on developing a plan of action. The first property is always the scariest, but if you've noticed, real estate investors all over the country continue to buy properties in all sorts of markets. If the numbers work, pull the trigger.

My wife and I have turned saving money into a game throughout the year. One of the things we do is 'The Savings Game'. The game is simple: We have two ziploc bags, one is labeled 1-50 and the second one is labeled 51-100. Every Sunday one of us draws the high bag, and the other draws from the low bag - then we split the total sum in half and move that amount to our general savings account. It's a simple and fun way to save $5,000; plus it gets you thinking about your savings/finances every weekend. For us, this stimulated new savings techniques for paying off our vehicle or other lines of credit by using things like the 1/12 rule.

Another thing we do that we have found super helpful is getting a credit card that accrues points every swipe, and immediately moving that money into our 'credit card payment' checkings account that covers that expense plus a little extra (basically rounding up to the nearest $5-$10). So now we accrue points for traveling for free, always pay off our monthly balance on time, and sometimes easily save a few hundred bucks a month just doing this. It may seem mindless at first, but it adds up after gas, groceries, and misc expenses. I mean, who doesn't want to fly to Cancun or Italy for free!

As a structural engineer, I could bore you with all the design guides we use for residential or commercial construction, but if you really wanted to get some good sleep, you could look into the Residential Building Code for a deep dive into codes and standards for the construction of homes. I agree with Bruce though, experience is the most practical way to learn these types of things. Contact local pest control experts, contractors, home inspectors, etc. and ask the questions you want to know more about - this is what I have done. There's podcasts and books out there on home inspecting that can give you a broad idea of what to look for in newer and older homes, but nothing teaches you like experience. One piece of advice would be to make sure to find professionals that don't mind if you tag along and ask questions while they do their job. When I had a pest control expert come out to look under my primary residence, I crawled under there with him to look for fungus/mold, termites/ants, and water issues - I learned more doing that and listening to him than I ever have watching Youtube videos or reading forums.

If you have structural specific questions regarding conventional residential framing, wood/masonry/brick/concrete construction, or just general questions regarding the integrity of a property, shoot me a direct message. I can try to help in the areas I have suitable knowledge and experience. Full disclosure, I'm a structural engineer by trade, but I am not a licensed contractor or inspector, so always consult a professional before making any financial de

Hello BP Community!

I'm a rookie investor looking to connect with experienced investors and fellow rookie investors in the AL/TN area. I feel like this is a good opportunity to find other like-minded individuals who are passionate about real-estate and learn together, or even mentor people like me who are still in the beginning stages of their real-estate journey. So if there's anyone in the area that would be interested in chatting, or even forming a group to tackle today's hot topics (multi-family, single family, flipping, financing strategies, rehabbing, property management, etc.) or share experiences, comment here and hopefully we can all help each other out!

Happy New Year!