The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: patjk on October 23, 2018, 02:44:48 AM
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I'm looking at making my first investment into real estate, currently live outside the US but plan to buy a place in the US. I want to start looking at potential opportunities, primarily to understand more about prices and history, and in the event of a market correction I want to be ready to buy in. Where is the best place to look at potential properties? Also interested in foreclosure auctions, but not sure where to start.
Thanks.
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Where are you buying from? How many units are you going to acquire?
There is no best place to invest and long distance investing isn't for everyone.
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Where are you buying from? How many units are you going to acquire?
There is no best place to invest and long distance investing isn't for everyone.
I'm focusing specifically on listings in a particular state (Colorado), and looking to acquire 1, maybe 2 units, or a duplex/triplex. Where are the best places to look for properties and pricing history? What about finding info on foreclosures?
Thanks.
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There is a myth surrounding foreclosures. You are not going to get a property at 20 percent below market value that just needs paint and carpet in any high demand market today. The market is very efficient and you are competing with too many people. No one is going to vet the property and go to the foreclosure auction for you for a fee. These properties are almost always sold at fair market value in a competitive process.
If you want to learn about the residential market in a particular area, look at realtor.com and Zillow. Realtor.com has pricing history under Property History. It may or may not include off market transactions.
If you want to see what it takes to make money in residential real estate today, follow sammybiker's thread. Tl:dr It takes market knowledge, construction knowledge, a team of people and "boots on the ground" to create and extract value today.
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Than Merrill from A&E's hit show "Flip this House", says that Raleigh is the perfect market for his system of flipping houses using other people's money. Oddly enough, he says that Greenville/Spartenburg, Atlanta, Charlotte, Wilmington, NC and every other city I've ever listened to the radio in are perfect markets too. Maybe I just need to go to the free seminar to figure out the best markets to make money in real estate!
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Where are you buying from? How many units are you going to acquire?
There is no best place to invest and long distance investing isn't for everyone.
I'm focusing specifically on listings in a particular state (Colorado), and looking to acquire 1, maybe 2 units, or a duplex/triplex. Where are the best places to look for properties and pricing history? What about finding info on foreclosures?
Thanks.
You want to look for cities/towns with economic diversity, job growth and population growth. Then places were the median income/3 >= rent and that rent will cover all your expenses including vacancy, repairs, capex, management, PITIA and your profit goals. You can do this kind of preliminary research on realtor.com, zillow, trulia, deptofnumbers.com, rentometer and census data.
Foreclosure processes will vary county by county- some are online auction, some are courthouse steps. Foreclosures are not for the new investor. You need to be able to purchase in cash without knowing if all the copper has been stripped out, if the former owners poured concrete down all the sewer lines, if there is extensive water damage with mold, if the foundation is a mess, if squatters are living inside requiring a full length eviction process, if a contractor filed a six figure lien on the morning of the auction, etc.
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Thanks guys for the links and advice. If I want to find properties that are duplex or triplex units, what's the best way to find those?
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For foreclosure auctions in Colorado, you have to do research through each county's public trustee office. For very small counties the treasurer may also be the public trustee. I've looked at these recently and people are still buying at these auctions, so there must be some values available. You have to do additional research through the clerk and recorder's and treasurer's offices to make sure the foreclosing creditor is first in line, and drive-bys are advisable as well. For large counties all three offices should have searchable information available online. You have to have cash the day of the auction, however. Adams County, for instance, does not move on to the next property until you provide payment. Weld County give you two hours to bring payment to the office. During the height of foreclosures people would have millions of dollars (cashier's checks) on their body at these auctions.