12 Takeaways from my Trip to Indy

​Temperature: HOT
Humidity: A LOT

Where was I Labor Day Weekend? Indianapolis, Indiana. Home of my investment properties. My previous trip out there was a little over a year ago when I checked out My First Property after renovations were complete.

Since that last trip in March of 2017, A LOT has happened.

​I sold My First Property, purchased and rented My Second Property, and acquired My Third Property (which is finishing up a light rehab right now). Suffice to say, I was super excited to get out there to see how the market has progressed, soak up the culture, actually see my new properties in person, drive neighborhoods, meet with my team, and shake hands with connections in the area!

So, what value did I get out of the trip? HOLY CRAP...A TON OF VALUE:

General Takeaways

• I now REALLY understand the importance and invaluable aspects of visiting your investment market. You'll have a HUGE advantage if you take the time to get your boots on the ground, meet connections face-to-face, drive through neighborhoods, and really understand the culture and direction of the city
• Real Estate Investing is a relationship business and meeting your team IN PERSON strengthens those relationships. Sitting down with your agent and property manager for a nice lunch goes a long way. Trust needs to be built if you're going to invest from afar, so get out there and understand your team on more of a personal level!
• Visiting your investing market will level your expectations REAL QUICK. Personally, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the weather is beautiful, amenities are a plenty, hip bars flood every neighborhood, and (not to brag at all) I live in a newly renovated condo. This is NOT REALITY for most of the United States. And you have to understand that. Just because your investment property doesn't have granite countertops and you wouldn't want to live there, doesn't mean someone else can't appreciate it as their HOME.
• Strategically plot out your schedule and pack as many meetings in as you can with local agents, property managers, investors, contractors, etc. Make sure you take advantage of every minute you have while you're there, especially if you don't plan to travel to your market very often.
• Organize your days around blocks of time to drive neighborhoods. Take notes while you drive so you can follow up on specific properties or target specific blocks that are intriguing.
• Stopping by a grocery store and striking up a conversation with a local about the city and neighborhoods is invaluable. Get their take on the city and the direction they see it going. This insight could create an unfair advantage for you.

Indianapolis Takeaways

• Indianapolis is literally a BLOCK-BY-BLOCK city. For example: there's a home in Holy Cross currently listed for $1.75 million. Two blocks away, sits a boarded up abandoned house. What? WHAT?? Yeah. Seriously. This is why it's SO IMPORTANT to have a trusted team on the ground to help you acquire properties.

• The Indianapolis International Airport is awesome.​ Super clean, fast and free Wifi, good food/drink options, it's consistently adding new routes (the latest being to Paris), it's seeing a record number of passengers, and it's very close to the center of town. Why is this significant from an investing standpoint? Because it shows what some of the city's priorities are: increasing tourism, increasing business travel, creating a great first impression, and they are meeting the demand of travel to and from Indianapolis.
• Indianapolis is very humid and damp throughout the year. This causes a lot of moisture in crawlspaces and basements, which to me is pretty alarming, but apparently, it's just kind of expected. Having a sump pump in the basement is a precaution you should take if you own property in Indy with a basement.
• Speaking of moisture in the basement, after talking with a local resident, apparently Emerson Heights (a neighborhood I like) gets a lot of flooding during the Winter and sewer lines back up frequently. On a positive note, the Emerson Heights/Irvington area seems very progressive with a lot of younger people moving to the area.
• Fountain Square (the HOT neighborhood where Good Bones is filmed) seems way too saturated for me to personally to invest in. Bates-Hendricks is also very similar in that regard. Theses areas are meant more for flipping, as buy-and-hold numbers don't really work out. Expect new builds sitting right next to boarded up shacks, which is pretty exciting. It's quite the sight!
• I really liked the neighborhoods of Garfield Park and Mapleton-Fall Creek for future investments. They're still relatively affordable, deals can still be found, and I'm seeing clear signs of growth.

If you can't tell by now, I HIGHLY recommend you visit your investment market. To be successful in this business, there are two major KEYS you need:

1. Strong relationships on the ground
2. An understanding of the market and its specific neighborhoods

How do you master those two keys? Get your butt out to the market and see it for yourself.​

Peace and Happy Investing Jump In Nation!
​-Tyler

I'm Ready to Jump In!