Nearly three years ago a real estate investor in Utah, Travis Peterson, was actively investing in several markets in his home state. Travis and his team started hearing about prime investment opportunities popping up in the suburbs of certain markets around the country. They began researching several of these distant markets, first using any available online information, then relying on local real estate agents in each area, and finally drilling down to other “local experts” to help them understand the dynamics of each market.
He honed his selections to areas that had not been as affected by the real estate "bubble," and so weren't as affected by its bust. Travis looked for certain key indicators, including:
Neighborhoods with the highest valued AND fastest selling homes. This is a vital correlation most investors miss. He looked for the specific areas where houses continue to spend a shorter time on the market, but maintain a high average value (within the area)
Highest percentage owner-occupied. He reasoned that the homes needed to be in established neighborhoods, with mostly owner-occupants showing strong pride of ownership. It stands to reason that these areas must also have...
The lowest percentages of rentals, and…
The lowest vacancy rates in the area. Why? Because that created more demand for nicely renovated rentals, meaning Travis could attract higher-quality tenants and demand more upfront as security.
After literally hundreds -- maybe thousands! -- of hours of intense due diligence, one market consistently ranked best in all categories: Detroit, Michigan.
It's the DEAL that matters!
Like most other Americans, Travis had no real image of Detroit other than the negative news stories he'd read and seen. But figures don't lie, and he knew that none of the media hype mattered if the deals were there. In fact, he knew the individual houses themselves were irrelevant if the numbers worked. Unlike so many people who "try" investing, Travis was already a seasoned investor… so he didn't waste a lot of time making his decision.
Travis immediately began making regular trips to Detroit, purchasing a few properties in different neighborhoods each time, getting a feel for each of the prime neighborhoods first-hand. He hired local agents, contractors and managers to handle the repairs, marketing and rentals, and ultimately sales of these investment properties. Like many, he found it was often difficult to find an honest contractor to complete the repairs and a competent property manager to pay attention to HIS properties, to rent them to good, qualified tenants.
After spending tens of tens of thousands of dollars on repairs, shuffling bad tenants in and out, feeling ripped off by multiple real estate service providers and traveling back and forth every week, Travis learned a very hard (and costly) lesson:
It is absolutely vital to have on-the-ground presence with someone who knows the area and can oversee the process.
It was obvious that the Detroit Suburbs were an EXCELLENT place to purchase investment property when done correctly. However, it was just as obvious how difficult it can be for an average out-of-area investor to safely buy and manage investment properties.
Then the bubble burst!
The national real estate "bubble" collapsed. Would the areas he had chosen collapse, too? Travis' research had paid off: homes in the neighborhoods he had selected had only negligible drops in value. In fact, the bust made his investing option easier: because he was now known to the area banks and financial institutions as an active "real" investor (not just a wannabe), and they started asking him to buy their real estate owned -- their foreclosed properties. Now he could buy literally for pennies on the dollar in large, bulk transactions, allowing him to do hundreds of properties each month.
Travis decided to move his entire team to Detroit in 2008 so they could be local and on the ground…driving he streets and looking at every house (especially the ones on the bulk lists!) … and handling every detail in person. We began building a customer-oriented real estate investment company able to include other investors from all over the world. Our current focus is on purchasing prime investment property in several Detroit suburbs and other key areas, while insulating our clients from the risks, hassles and hardships endured by most distant owners.
The Result: A Different Kind Of Real Estate “Program”
Our approach to the repair processes and property management systems are different from average investors. We don't cut corners on needed repairs, in fact, we fully warranty each and every house we sell for a full year. Likewise, we only put QUALITY tenants/owners into each property, and require thorough back ground and rental checks... far more than almost any average management company asks for.
"So what’s the catch? It seems too good to be true!?"
There is no catch. However, this concept was not built overnight. It took a great deal of time and effort to put together effective rehab crews (over 300 workers today), quality property managers (four today, after going through many others), and other key components including...
- Entire city analysis -- already done for you
- Personal inspection of each property -- done for you
- One year's rent in advance -- paid at closing (Cash Flow Program)
- One year’s management fees -- waived (Cash Flow Program)
- Two year Guaranteed Exit Strategy (Property Sold Program)
- One year warranty on the property -- if anything breaks, we fix it, not you
Our reputation is very important to us!
Our objective is to create true “turnkey” real estate investments that have immediate cash-flow, and in doing so, create "serial" social investors for our future properties.
Setting up and managing this program properly has allowed us to sell hundreds of outstanding, cash-flowing properties to extremely satisfied customers
In fact,
Feel free to give us a call to discuss our investment program and properties, we’re an open book.