All Forum Posts by: Zachary H.

Welcome to Springfield @Shaquan Whitaker. This is a great market so I'm glad to hear you're getting your start here. Feel free to send me a message if you'd like to meet up and grab a coffee to discuss real estate or if you'd like to get familiar with the area.

In my humble opinion this is the reason that it is incredibly important to hire an Attorney and find a Good Real Estate Agent to represent you when you begin searching for property. Having an attorney draft a rock solid purchase agreement may be expensive up front, but it can save you thousands of dollars in the long run. Additionally a good REALTOR will do everything they can to assist you in your due diligence and help protect you on the front end so that you hopefully don't end up in a situation like this. Not to mention many times it doesn't cost a Buyer anything upfront to hire an agent to represent them.

However Hindsight is always 20/20, at this point it would probably be best to consult an attorney to see what your recourse is. It may be expensive, but in my experience a good attorney tends to pay for themselves many times over.

@Rob Davis a little late with the response, but welcome to BP! If you would like to grab lunch or coffee and discuss real estate and the current market I would be more than happy to accommodate. Let me know if I can do anything to help out.

Brent,

@Brent Davis Welcome to the biggerpockets community. Let me know if you'd like to grab lunch or coffee sometime to discuss real estate.

@Dan S. Same goes for you, I always appreciate the opportunity to meet with like minded individuals to discuss real estate.

Welcome to the 417, let me know if you need any recommendations on places to eat or things to do!

I am not familiar with your market, but I focus primarily on retail brokerage so I may be able to help. Our business is known for the saying "Location,  location, location!" because it is the only thing you can't change about real estate. With retail what surrounds you is everything. If you are aiming for the quality national credit tenants they typically want co-tenancy with other quality retailers. Is the area surrounded by similar retailers or are many of the adjacent buildings vacant? What do the demographics look like? If the area is not a true "retail corridor" your pool of potential tenants will be limited to mom & pop shops, which can no doubt be fantastic tenants, but are less desirable due to the associated risk.

If your budget only allows you to buy a property in an undesirable area it may be better to save up until you can afford a nicer area or look at alternative investments. Don't be in a rush and most importantly know your area like the back of your hand before buying so you know who your potential tenants are.

The cycle always repeats itself. I am currently sitting out for the time being as cap rates for MUH are at historic lows. Many markets are overbuilding multifamily housing and the looming rate hike point to a potential correction, so I am keeping my capital liquid until that happens.

I see so many people on here saying that you need to just jump in and get started, and while there is definitely merit to that I would not buy a bad deal just to get your investing career started. The market will probably go up more and it may seem like you're missing out, but it will also go down again and that's your opportunity to make money.

For what its worth I'm seeing that in a lot of markets these days. Many small MUH deals are very expensive and rents are being compressed by new construction due to the prolonged period of low interest & cap rates.

This is all speculation, but it appears as though the Multifamily sector is getting a little frothy and with the looming interest rate hike I can see cap rates decompressing in the next 1-2 years. I also believe some markets are getting overbuilt which may keep rental rates compressed for the near future.

I would definitely outsource for two main reasons.

1) Handwritten letters are a time drain

2) Typed letters are far more legible and professional looking

If you are concerned about the personal touch write a small hand-written memo at the bottom or personally sign the page. Keep the hand written letters to thank you notes and get well cards.

I started in the Real Estate industry at 20, which I thought was very young at the time. For what its worth keep your head up and don't get discouraged if people don't take you seriously at first. Keep working, stay true to your word and be persistent and with time you'll be taken seriously despite your age.

Great job on starting early though. Good Luck!