Category Archives: Investment Real Estate

Greeley Investment Real Estate

Get Your First Deal Done

Watch this special video of a class we taught on how to get your first deal done.

Or, check out dozens of our other free real estate investing classes specifically taught for investors looking for rental properties in Greeley and surrounding cities.

Cash Flow in Greeley

Historically, of the cities in Northern Colorado we typically see better cash flow in Greeley. Exceptions to this rule abound, however. And, may I gently remind you about Weld County (which includes Greeley) led the state of Colorado in foreclosures during the 2008-2009 real estate crisis. Of course, since then the Greeley market recovered remarkably well.

Greeley Investment Property Searches

Use the following specialized property searches to find properties to purchase in our local MLS.

I’ve sorted the list into groups of links by the type of properties you’re looking at.

Distressed Greeley Investment Properties

If you’re interested in looking for properties that need work, that you can buy at a discount and sell for a profit then check out these specialized lists.

Actively for sale properties that meet this criteria are relatively uncommon (especially in our hot market). So, it is not unusual to see no matching properties when you look at the list. You got to keep coming back here and checking the list regularly… daily if not multiple times a day to be successful in finding deals like this. Then, when you do find something that looks interesting you need to contact me and Tammy right away to make an offer.

Fixer Uppers

One way to find “fixer uppers” in Greeley is to search the MLS for properties where the agent has said the property is a “fixer upper” or “needs some fix up” or “needs someone to fix it” or “fix and flip” or something like that.

Use this special search to quickly find Greeley properties that have the word “fix” in the description.

Show Greeley Fixer Uppers Property List

Motivated

Sellers become motivated for both positive and negative reasons. A seller may get married and no longer need two homes (with two mortgage payments) and be motivated to sell. Or, a seller could be motivated from a job loss. Regardless of the underlying reason, they decide selling—even at a discount—helps them.

To find Greeley properties where the agent has expressed the seller may be motivated, use the link below to search the MLS for the word “motivated”.

Show Greeley Motivated Property List

Greeley Properties Needing TLC

Agents may soften their language about properties that need work by describing them as needing “TLC”. So, here’s a list of Greeley properties that have the phrase “TLC” in their descriptions.

Show Greeley Properties Needing TLC List

Damaged Properties

Accidents happen. Properties catch fire. Destructive hail pelts properties.

Search Greeley properties with hail damage, fire damage, smoke damage, flood damage and other kinds of “damage” with the link below.

Show Greeley Damaged Properties List

Abandoned Greeley Properties

While not common, some sellers abandon properties. If we happen to have any for sale in the MLS, find them using the link searching for “abandon” below.

Show Greeley Abandoned Properties List

In Need of Repairs

Some agents describe properties needing work as needing “repairs”.

Be especially careful of false positives with this one as we may also see people say “X recently repaired” or “Y to be repaired prior to closing”.

Use this search to look for Greeley properties with the word “repair” in the MLS description.

Show Greeley Properties Needing Repairs List

Handyman Specials

Properties described as needing someone “handy” or as a “handyman special” or “bring your handyman” can be found by looking for the search term “handy” in the MLS. I got you boo… here’s the link to search the MLS for these.

Show Greeley Handyman Special Properties List

Greeley Meth Properties

Looking for a meth dealer? That’s not this list. These are properties where the agent is describing them with the term “meth”. These properties likely need to be remediated and that’s an opportunity for the right real estate investor (not my thing personally, but some folks like that sort of thing).

Here’s the list of properties with the phrase “meth” in the description.

Show Greeley Meth Properties List

Greeley Multi-Family Investment Real Estate

Unlike meth properties, this is more my speed. Investors looking for cash flow from rental income. Buying duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes.

Maybe you’re wanting to buy them with 25% down non-owner-occupant investor financing (multi-family usually require slightly higher down payments). Or, maybe you’re looking to use an FHA or VA loan and buy the unit so you can live in one unit (for at least a year). House hacking and Nomading™ are amazing strategies in the Northern Colorado real estate market.

The following are properties described with the word “plex” in the description to try to capture all the multi-family properties available for sale in Greeley.

Greeley “Plex” Property List

Or, try to find a specific type of plex in Greeley with these searches:

Cheap Greely Properties

I could soften my language, but let’s call a “billy goat” a “billy goat”… if you’re looking for “cheap” Greeley properties you can buy as an investment, I got lists for that too.

For these, you’ll still want to run the numbers using a deal analysis spreadsheet. You can download and use the one we teach classes with (shown below) to do this.

The World’s Greatest Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadsheet™

I break out the lists by number of bedrooms and sort by price, lowest to highest.

When You’re Ready

When you’re ready to invest in real estate, schedule a time to chat with James to discuss your investing plan and see how James and Tammy can help you buy, sell and invest in real estate in Northern Colorado.

Loveland Investment Real Estate

Loveland Investment Property Searches

Here are a few of the more common properties searches you may want to be using when looking for properties to invest in in the Loveland and surrounding areas broken out into two major categories (fixer uppers and then buy and holds).

Possible Loveland Fixer Uppers

Use the links below to search for investment properties in Loveland using the special search term:

Possible Loveland Cash Flow Rental Properties – Sort By Least Expensive

Now that you have some links to some of the more common searches that investors like to use to find great deals, let’s move on to sharing some tools you will need.

Getting Your First Deal Done in Loveland, Colorado

The first is a video on how to get your first deal done. In this class, my client and best friend, Brian will attempt to teach you everything you need to know to do your first deal in one 2-hour class.

I hope you enjoyed that video and are now much better prepared for buying Loveland investment real estate.

Deal Analysis Spreadsheet

I’ve had the privilege to have taught hundreds of local investors since 2003 and it doesn’t take a genius to know what most investors want when first starting to look at investment properties: an amazing deal analysis spreadsheet.

The World’s Greatest Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadsheet

And, we have what I consider to be The World’s Greatest Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadsheet™ (which you can download for free).

Plus, if you want, we also some have classes on how to analyze Loveland investment real estate deals with this very spreadsheet available as well.

Types of Real Estate Investors

There are several types of real estate investors in our local market. Here are some of the most common:

Fix and flippers – investors looking for deals they can buy below market value so they can fix it up (or otherwise add value) and resell the property for a quick profit. Flippers tend to be looking to generate income. Often we hear new investors say they want to flip so they can raise up money to buy long-term buy and hold rental properties. You don’t need to do fix and flips first to buy rentals… there are easier and better solutions.
Long-term buy and hold rental property landlords – investors that like to buy properties with the goal of generating positive cash flow. These investors tend to want to invest their money and get a good return on their money. This is a wealth building strategy.
House hackers – folks looking to buy a property where they will both live in the property and generate income from the property. The most common example are folks wanting to buy duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes to live in one of the units and rent the others out. In theory, you could get enough rent from the other units to highly subsidize your living costs or eliminate it completely. Variations on this also include getting roommates. Mathematically it is similar to getting a side hustle that brings in extra income.
Nomads – real estate investors that buy a house with little or nothing down as an owner-occupant, move into the property, live there for a year and then convert the property to a long-term buy and hold rental. This is arguably the best strategy in our local market. It allows folks to acquire a portfolio of rental properties with the least amount of money (little or nothing down conventional financing), with the best financing (very low owner-occupant rates) at a fast, steady rate.
Creative real estate entrepreneur – these are investors that want to go out and find deals, often with creative financing strategies like buying properties subject to or with lease options or owner financing. It tends to be a very active business enterprise.

When you’re ready, I hope you’ll consider plugging into the community of real estate investors that attend our free weekly real estate investing classes (usually a new, different class each week) held just north of Loveland in Fort Collins near Drake/Shields.

I’m looking forward to meeting you and hope I have the opportunity to serve you in your real estate investing search.

Fort Collins Investment Real Estate

Distressed Fort Collins Investment Real Estate

If you’re a fix and flip investor or handy and looking for a property that may be “distressed” or have a “motivated seller” then you may want to look at the Fort Collins properties listed for sale in another form entirely.

We can search inside the MLS to identify potentially discounted properties that we can purchase as investments. We do this by searching for a number of specific keywords to see if they appear in the MLS listing. The following are some custom searches to try to identify properties that might be deals for you. Properties often appear in more than one list of searched properties.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Sometimes these searches will not have any properties that match the specific search we are doing. In those cases, it will say “Sorry, no properties matching so far.” Bookmark this page and check back often to find ones as soon as they hit the market or contact James and Tammy to have us set up email alerts to notify you of these special investment opportunities.

Fixer Uppers

One type of potentially discounted property are properties that need work. The following properties are for sale, in Fort Collins and have the word “fixer” in the MLS description.

Show Fort Collins Fixer Uppers Property List

Motivated

Looking to find a motivated seller? These properties have the word “motivated” in the MLS description.

Show Fort Collins Motivated Property List

Tender Loving Care aka TLC Properties

When real estate agents describe properties that need some work, some say the property needs a little “TLC”. So, we can often identify these properties by searching for the abbreviation “TLC” in the MLS description. Here’s any properties currently listed for sale in Fort Collins with “TLC” in the description.

Show Fort Collins Properties Needing TLC List

Damaged Properties: Flood, Water, Fire, Smoke, Hail and Other Damaging Agents

Look for properties that have damage as another possible opportunity to find Fort Collins investment-grade real estate investments for fixing up. Maybe you want to buy a discounted property that has flood damage. Perhaps you’re OK with finding a property that has fire and/or smoke damage. Maybe, just hail damage. Regardless of the type of property you’re looking for, this search will show the properties in FoCo that have the word “damage” in the description to try to identify ones that might have flood, fire, smoke, hail or other damage to them so that you can buy them at a discount to fix them up and get a deal.

Show Fort Collins Damaged Properties List

Abandoned Fort Collins Properties

Occasionally… albeit rare… a property will be listed as having been “abandoned”. For that reason, we have the following search of properties with the word “abandon” in the MLS description. However, you’re more likely to find properties that use the word “abandon” in another way that will give us false positives for actual deals here. But, just in case, here’s the list of properties with the word “abandon” in the MLS description.

Show Fort Collins Abandoned Properties List

Properties Needing Repairs

Another word that identifies possible properties that need of repair: “repair” itself. The following are Fort Collins properties with “repair” in the MLS description.

Show Fort Collins Properties Needing Repairs List

Handyman Specials

These properties have the word “handy” in the MLS description to try to capture properties listed as “handyman specials”.

Show Fort Collins Handyman Special Properties List

Fort Collins Meth Properties

It takes a special type of real estate investor to want to deal with a full meth remediation on a property, but if you happen to be that type of investor up for the challenge this list is for you. The following list of properties has the word “meth” in the MLS description to try to identify possible properties that have been contaminated with “meth”.

Show Fort Collins Meth Properties List

Multi-Family Investment Real Estate in Fort Collins

Some investors are looking to buy duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes. Maybe because they want to “house hack” or maybe this is your first property as a Nomad™.

Owner-occupants wanting to buy duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes can even buy these multi-family properties with nothing down VA financing (if you’re a veteran) or with 3.5% down payment FHA financing if you’re willing to move into the property. If you not moving in, you’re likely looking at 25% down payments at a minimum for the multi-family property conventional financing.

The following are properties described with the word “plex” in the description to try to capture all the multi-family properties available for sale in Fort Collins.

Fort Collins “Plex” Property List

Or, search for a specific type of “plex” in Fort Collins with these special searches:

Least Expensive Investment Real Estate in Fort Collins

A down-and-dirty, easy way to look at properties that might make a good rental in Fort Collins is to quickly look at the least expensive properties for sale for each bedroom count. In other words: the least expensive 1 bedroom units, the least expensive 2 bedroom units and so on.

The idea is that rent is largely driven by the number of bedrooms, so finding the least expensive properties with a set number of bedrooms, you can see the ones that are likely to have the best cash on cash return on investment. You can use this as a first-pass search to identify possible good cash flowing rental properties. Of course, once you identify a possible rental, you should use a deal analysis spreadsheet like the one we provide to fully analyze the property.

The World’s Greatest Real Estate Deal Analysis Spreadsheet

Search Fort Collins Investment Real Estate by Cash on Cash Return On Investment

If you’re looking to discover deals that would make good long-term cash flowing rentals, then you’re very likely analyzing the properties for Cash on Cash Return On Investment when you do your analysis with the real estate deal analysis spreadsheet.

Don’t you wish there was an easy way for you to essentially analyze all the properties listed for sale and sort them by the ones that have the highest Cash on Cash Return On Investment? Well, there is, but it requires that I do some work on my end to set it up when a client needs it.

Search Fort Collins Investment Real Estate by Likely Discount

If you’re looking for discounted properties in Fort Collins that you can buy that are below their current fair market value, the question becomes how do you determine that?

One way is to compare the ratio of property taxes to the list price. Why does this work? Since property taxes are an estimate of what the property may be worth, we can look at the ratio of the taxes (one measure of property value) to the price (another measure of property value) and look at the properties that have favorably ratios.

No sure-fire, 100% accurate way exists to determine which properties are under-valued, but when I did a study of fix and flip deals, this turned out to be the best way to identify which deals were actual fix and flips.

Again, this method requires that I do manual work on my end, so I only do it for clients.

How to Get Your First Deal Done

I’ve been teaching real estate investing classes in Fort Collins since 2003 for the Northern Colorado Real Estate Investor Group. You can attend our live classes in Fort Collins for free.

Each week we teach a different class topic covering every area of investing from analyzing deals and asset protection to partnerships, property management and tenant screening and everything in between.

In the recording, “How to Get Your First Deal Done”, Brian tries to teach every class all in one two-hour class, but it gives you a really good overview of the investing process and what to expect trying to buy investment real estate in our local market.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We usually require that people register here on this website to view this and some of the other videos, but I wanted to make sure you had access to this one. There are well over 100 different class recordings like this.

Real Estate Investing Podcast

Most weeks we record the real estate investing class we hold in Fort Collins.

And, most weeks we publish the class recording to our Nomad™ Real Estate Investing Podcast (available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and all your favorite podcast websites).

We typically keep a sampling of some of the more important classes for beginning investors up all the time on the podcast.

Plus, we rotate the four most recent class recordings (which can be anything from very basic info to extremely advanced real estate investing content). Once we add a new one, we remove the 5th oldest and put it in the vault for clients of my real estate brokerage to access as a special perk for them buying and selling properties with us. There are well over 100 class recordings in the vault for clients at this point.

Check out a list of some of our real estate investing classes.