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Rent or Flip? Beginner seeking advice
Hello! I'm a new real estate investor in the Northern Virginia area and looking to learn as much as I can here on BiggerPockets.
I'm personally really intrigued with house flipping, but hesitant to jump in due to my lack of experience and the current market here as the house prices are high. Because of this, I've been thinking to start with long term rental investments, but would appreciate some advice! As well as financing strategies that require less upfront cash!
@Ola Dantis - thank you, definitely enjoying my experience so far on this platform! I'm getting a lot of great advice :)
Yes, very pricey indeed so now trying to focus on a location that aligns with my goals and objectives. In the interim, I'll need to learn as much as I can about the local market and then as I grow, I could explore out-of-state opportunities.
Good luck on your recent move to Texas. I hear that's a great and growing market so I'm sure you'll be successful there.
I'll definitely check out the beginner's guide to learn more. Thanks again!
@Brandon DeVega - thanks, I appreciate the offer. I'll look to reach out to discuss some more.
@Jacob Kenneally - very great advice! I want to implement more cost saving measures this year so that I can increase my current cash cushion (e.g., eat out less, etc.). Funny you mention reading a book a month...I recently set a goal to read at least 3 by the end of the first quarter so that's in line with your tip. Regarding you high-yield savings tip, that's a good point and something I'm going to look into! My current savings account doesn't yield much :/
I understand that this isn't a get-rich quick strategy and that it takes goal-setting, plans, and action to steadily achieve success and I know patience is a virtue. What strategies did you use with when you got started?
@Vanessa Roca
My wife and I started been buying a new primary residence every 2 years and renting it when we leave. Saving while doing so let’s you grab other deals on the side too. But buying a primary residence, renovating it while we lived there, renting it, and buying another property really let us go slow enough on the first one to soak in all the information we could on each step. An additional bonus of this method for your very first house is that you can get into the first one for next to nothing (3.5%)
@Vanessa Roca, I would like to offer you a different perspective. I used to own some single-family rentals and now I only focus on multifamily or apartments. There are many reasons for my change that I discuss in a Youtube video. I am not familiar with the BP rules so I did not include a link. My YouTube page is on my profile if interested. I have a W2 job in Stafford VA and host a local meetup in Woodbridge VA. The meetup group has both single-family and multifamily investors and everyone is willing to share their wisdom. If you would like to meet some investors in Northern VA, we would welcome you to the group. If interested, you can go to https://www.meetup.com/Woodbri...
Really depends what you want. Flipping can help you build equity faster, but you will miss out on appreciation of the property and depreciation to net against your taxes.
Flips are also subject to transaction costs (brokers, lawyers, etc.) and short term capital gains tax.
@Vanessa Roca
Try a duplex as your first property and your tenant pays most or all of your mortgage. If the other side is vacant, you just pay your payment as you would anywhere else. I personally wouldn’t let the tenant know that I was the owner just in case things went wrong.
The Virginia Beach, or Hampton Roads market is great for a BRRRR. I am working on 2 BRRRR's in Chesapeake, VA right now.