Jackson Hole Residential Real Estate Investment
Information & Questions
Overview by Broker : Ronald Miller
I am amazed at how many Real Estate agents and Brokers do not understand what a Real Estate Investment truly is. I would like to take this opportunity to share my personal view of what I believe a Real Estate Investment is by honestly answering some of the most frequently asked questions about investment properties in Jackson Hole. These are very good questions and I hope my answers will help and guide those looking at our marketplace.
1. Question: Are you personally an investor in the marketplace?
Answer - Yes - I am well diversified in properties including hotels, motels, lots, condominiums and homes . I own and manage 5 separate LLC’s that hold our investment properties as well as manage them in all areas of Real Estate.
2. Question: Am I too late to get in on good investments in Jackson Hole?
Answer - No!! I truly believe the best investments are yet to be realized in Jackson Hole. I had people tell me 20 years ago that I missed the boat. I heeded that message far too long and started buying investment properties since 9-11-01.
3. Question: Is this a marketplace only for super rich investors to buy?
Answer - No - My first major commercial investment in 2001was a no money down deal whereby the bank financed 75% and the owner carried a second mortgage of 25% down on a very nice lodging property in downtown Jackson Hole. I had 2 banks turn me down but the 3rd bank financed the deal as they saw the asset as a good one/ guess what– they were right!! I sold it 30 months later for a 500,000 gain.
4. Question: Surely there are no more deals like that, are there?
Answer - Since 2003 , I have found 4 more superior investment deals just like it and all properties are awesome cash flow investment vehicles. We do not buy for appreciation and carefully try to project what we can do with a particular property to increase cash flow on a daily basis. Appreciation is not a certainty so we want properties to perform well and have sufficient cash reserves to get us through any turbulent times. The good news is that our properties are appreciating rapidly as we increase the actual rental statistics and cash flow each year.
5 Question: Can you really cash flow these investments at the higher Real Estate prices?
Answer - Yes - The cash flow is sometimes tight but is the key to the seven lodging properties we currently own. Careful research using the income approach to buying has produced big results fast. We created a tight management system backed by a superior marketing company created in 1997 called Jackson Hole Reservations. Jacksonhole.net is our internet domain that brings us all the reservations we need to keep our properties at the highest occupancy level. The site does so well that we have also become the largest wholesaler of condominium and home rentals for all other property managers in Jackson Hole with over 3.5 million in rentals to date in 2004
5. Question:Do you compete with other investors in Jackson Hole?
Answer - No. There are so many potential deals out there that are both listed and not listed. We try to search them out for buyers. I often will buy a property that I am highly recommending to a client that does not act upon the property for whatever reason. I never bid against any client as we represent them as buyers in most cases. Last month I let a good cash flowing condominium go to one of our new clients. I had done all the research and legwork and through our own offers we knew exactly what the seller would take/ It saved our customer a tremendous amount of time and effort. We now manage the property for our new found friends and earned a nice commission as well!!
6. Question: A friend of mine bought a second home in Jackson Hole for a million dollars and sold it for 2 million a few years later. Can you find me an investment like that?
Answer - Your friend was fortunate to have appreciation but I do not see this as an investment property as it did not have active cash flow from rentals. In most cases the owner does not enjoy depreciation write-offs enjoyed by true investment property owners. If you want a nice home, ranch or condominium with pretty views and a large mortgage you will find thousands of those on our MLS search. Most Realtors will actually tell you they are all great investments for appreciation reasons, but I am not one of those agents. The truth is that these are probably the worst investments if things get tough. Many properties bought by dot-com buyers in the roaring 90's are now on the market and selling for less than what they paid. I believe this is also true of multi-million dollar spec homes.
The risk on my cash flowing lodging properties and risk on spec homes are completely opposite risks. One risk depends on one diamond studded lady with a new fur coat to step forward and write a big check. Our risk depends on whether 2.9 million visitors come to see Yellowstone and Grand Teton Park and need a short term nightly or weekly rental. The problem is that too many so called “investors” only see the rich lady and worse yet she often writes a few big checks to get all the Realtors excited. Trust me on this. I have sold many vacation homes and residences between 5-17 million dollars. I really do like these rich ladies// they help me to buy more investments!!
8. Question : How do I get started?
Answer - Call or e-mail me at ron@jacksonhole.net. I have 5 assistants on staff that are very knowledgeable and can also help you if I am not available for any reason. Please remember that I retired at age 48 and cut my hours back. We usually overnight you a package and follow up with a call to try to understand what level of investor you are and guide you through the process of selecting the right property to meet your needs. I try to personally meet as many of our clients as possible. Our website is presently providing us with 20-30 new customers daily at this time. Thanks for coming to our site and please give us your feedback so we can serve you even better in the future.
I hope these questions help you understand my personal investment philosophy. I recommend many books to our investors or those wanting to be. The Robert T. Kayasaki series “Rich Dad Poor Dad” has been a great inspiration to me as well as “The Real Warren Buffet”. Robert Kayasaki helped me to understand the cash flow quadrant while Warren Buffet’s story taught me how to buy a business and justify paying a higher price for one if it is managed well. Investment Real Estate is an awesome business with the right people in charge to run it. If you have found my website and actually read all of these questions and answers, perhaps I am the manager you are looking for to assist you with purchasing or perhaps partnering in an investment property in Jackson Hole.
Thank you
Ronald Miller
