Remote Investing and Figuring Out Your Buy Box with Tommy Christy

I am excited to welcome Tommy Christy to the podcast today! Tommy is the founder of iLoveHouses.com and has 20 years of experience in the buying, fixing, and selling of foreclosure properties. Having lived and worked through one of the most tumultuous housing markets, he has a ton of experience that has enabled him to thrive in remote investing and buy box strategy. He is at his peak of buying three houses every month each year and operating across five different states, including California, Nevada, Florida, Montana, and Missouri.

We begin the episode with Tommy sharing what he was doing before remote investing and what led him to real estate. Tommy shares that this is his 20th year in real estate, but prior to that, he was selling coupons door to door, which taught him how to sell. Selling is all attitude-driven, and one of the best skills that he learned is the SEE factors (Smile, Eye contact, and Enthusiasm). According to him, when you combine the SEE factors with interest, you are positioning yourself to win. Doing sales was not his ultimate goal, and when Tommy wanted to do something different, he was determined to build his real estate portfolio. This led him to iLoveHouses.com, which is his body to buy, fix and sell, and iLoveRentals.com, which is his buy and hold company.

We then talk about Tommy’s focus on remote investing. He speaks a lot about how to figure out your buy box. Tommy also shares that the assets have to be of high quality and match someone who does his volume. With this kind of buy box, he usually gets properties such as manufactured and mobile homes that still have life in them and are financeable.

We then talk about Tommy's process of verifying deals in areas that he has never operated on before. According to him, it actually changes depending on your volume. When you drive by a house, you can only see it from the outside, so get it checked before closing the deal. It’s a matter of confidence and comfort. Tommy gets his deals from wholesalers, referrals, and established relationships and has to figure out what, where, and why he’s buying.

Lastly, we talk about how you can find deals if you are new to the real estate market and have no relationships yet. Tommy shares that there is a foundation for who you are and what you want inside your buy box that you can always rely on. If you can tell someone precisely what you are looking for, you can tell ten people specifically what you are looking for. You can also commit to calling six brokers a week and then following up. The quality of the relationship and the leads that come through will grow a lot. Tommy also recommends that you always be aware of your debt coverage ratio when approaching your local credit union.

Make sure you don’t miss another amazing episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with Tommy Christy and get valuable information on remote investing and how you can figure out your buy box investment strategy!

Notable Quotes:

“Your buy box is important, and knowing and understanding it shifts the quadrant on when to develop and buy rentals at different rates.”