Property identification & analysis
Candidates surfaced and screened against your criteria, with an honest read on condition, rentability, and what would have to be true for the deal to make sense, before you fall for the listing photos.
For investors
Buy Rental Property in Fort Wayne, With an Investor-Friendly Agent
I'm Andie Shepherd. I speak investor: acquisition analysis, rental comps, and cash-flow thinking, not just square footage and paint colors. Whether you're chasing your first rental or adding a door to a portfolio, you'll get an honest read on every property before you write an offer.
Small multifamily
One roof, two rent checks.
A duplex is one of the simplest ways into rental property. You buy once, maintain one roof and one lot, and collect from two units. Live on one side while the other helps cover the payment, or lease both and run it as a single asset with two income streams. It's a forgiving first deal, too: when one side turns over, the other side is still paying.
One purchase, two leases. A vacancy on one side never takes the whole property offline.
The full-circle service
Buy the rental with Andie. Hand the keys to Lilac.
Most agents wave goodbye at the closing table and leave you holding a vacant property. Here, closing is a handoff, not a goodbye: Andie helps you find, analyze, and negotiate the purchase. Then her sister company, Lilac Property Management, steps in to screen tenants, fill the vacancy, and run the day-to-day. One team, from analysis to tenants. No local competitor offers this pairing as cleanly.
- Acquisition analysis before you offer: how the property performs as a rental, not just how it shows as a listing
- A purchase negotiated with your criteria, and your exit, in mind
- A smooth handoff to management, so day one of ownership isn't day one of chaos
Sister company
Lilac Property Management
Residential property management in Fort Wayne: tenant screening, leasing, rent, and maintenance handled by a local team, not a national franchise. If you'd rather own the asset than manage the tenants, this is the other half of the circle.
Ask about property managementPrefer a warm introduction? Call Andie and she'll connect you directly.
Investor services
Everything you need before the tenants move in.
No two investors buy the same way. Here's what's on the menu. We'll use whatever your strategy calls for, and skip what it doesn't.
Rental market research
What comparable units actually rent for, which parts of town stay leased, and where demand is headed, grounded in on-the-ground Fort Wayne knowledge, not a national heat map.
Multi-unit expertise
Duplexes and larger multi-unit buildings come with their own diligence: existing leases, shared mechanicals, utility splits. Bring the questions; that's exactly what an investor-friendly agent is for.
1031 exchange guidance
Selling one investment property to buy the next? Andie helps you plan the search and the timeline, working alongside your qualified intermediary and tax professional so the exchange stays on track.
Property-management consultation
What managing a rental really involves, what it costs you in time or fees, and whether self-managing or handing it to Lilac fits your life. Straight answers either way. You're not obligated to use the sister company.
Not sure where to start?
Bring your goals, even fuzzy ones. A short call is enough to sketch a strategy and a sensible next step.
Call (260) 308-2204
How it works
From criteria to keys, in five steady steps.
Simple on purpose. You bring the goals; I bring the market knowledge, the discipline, and the handoff plan.
Talk criteria
We start with your goals: budget, appetite for projects, single-family or multi-unit, and what "a good deal" means to you.
Analyze
I bring you properties worth your time, with the honest story on each: condition, rentability, and the questions to ask first.
Offer & negotiate
We write offers with discipline. If a deal stops making sense, we walk. There's always another property.
Close
Inspections, appraisal, title. I quarterback the details so closing day is boring, in the best possible way.
Hand off to Lilac
Want management handled? Lilac Property Management picks up right where the closing ends: screening, leasing, day-to-day.
Why Andie · Why Fort Wayne
A hometown agent who gives you straight answers.
Andie Shepherd was born and raised in Fort Wayne and has spent 15+ years in real estate here as a REALTOR® with Mike Thomas Associates. That matters more for investors than for almost anyone else: knowing which streets stay rented, which "bargains" aren't, and which questions to ask before an offer is local knowledge you can't download.
You'll get the same thing every client gets: straight answers from the first conversation to the closing table. If a property doesn't work as a rental, she'll say so, even when saying so costs her a commission.
Andie also invests in real estate personally, so the analysis you get is the same thinking she applies to her own money.
Renting out the house you already own
Moving up, relocating, or downsizing? Keeping your current home as a rental instead of selling it can be the simplest way to become an investor. Andie will walk both paths with you: what it would likely rent for versus what it would sell for. No pressure toward either answer.
Andie has been a godsend through the home buying process… nobody beats her service, knowledge, and professionalism.
Real client review from Andie's Mike Thomas Associates profile.
Investor FAQ
Fair questions. Straight answers.
Can you help with multi-unit properties?
Yes. Multi-unit expertise is part of the service menu, from duplexes on up. Multi-unit deals carry extra diligence a single-family purchase doesn't: existing leases and tenants, utility arrangements, shared systems, and how the building has actually been operated. Andie walks through all of it with you before you commit.
Have a specific building in mind? Call (260) 308-2204 and talk it through before you offer.
Do you work with out-of-town investors?
Yes. Plenty of investors don't live where their rentals do, and that's exactly where a local agent earns their keep. Andie is your eyes on the ground through the search, the walkthroughs, and the closing, and the pairing with Lilac Property Management means the property doesn't need you in town after you own it, either.
Most out-of-town relationships start with a phone call about your criteria. Send a message or call to set one up.
What does Andie handle vs. Lilac?
Andie handles the purchase side: identifying and analyzing properties, negotiating the offer, and getting you to the closing table, and someday selling the property when you're ready. Lilac Property Management handles the operating side: screening tenants, filling vacancies, leasing, rent, and maintenance.
You can use either on its own. Together, they cover the full circle, which is the whole point.
Can I rent out my current home instead of selling it?
Often, yes. For a lot of people it's the easiest way into investing, because you already own the asset. The right answer depends on what the home would rent for, what it would sell for, and what you'd do with either outcome. Andie will walk both paths with you honestly: if renting wins, Lilac can manage it; if selling wins, she'll help you sell it well.
It's a one-conversation question. Call (260) 308-2204 and run it together.
Serving Fort Wayne & Allen County
Working the whole Fort Wayne metro.
Andie Shepherd Real Estate · Mike Thomas Associates, Inc. · 9601 Coldwater Road, Suite 107, Fort Wayne, IN 46825 · (260) 308-2204
No pressure. Ever.
Let's talk about your first (or next) Fort Wayne rental.
One conversation about your criteria is enough to know whether we're a fit. You'll reach Andie herself, not a call center.
No lists to join, no drip campaigns. Just a straight conversation about what you're trying to build.