Hello everyone, newbie here.

[Scott Richards]

Hello everyone, my name is Scott and I'm from the Chicagoland area. I'm a combat veteran who would like to use the VA loan for a multiplex if I can find the right deal. I've joined BP recently, but figured now was the time to introduce myself. Because I'm new to real estate, I've been buying books and doing research on the local markets in my area.

I suppose renting properties would be my niche due to my affinity for monthly cash flow. I have a business partner who is doing this with me.

Any suggestions?

Scott

[Joel Owens]

I would say if you can to buy now while rates are lower and yield is better. Anything from a duplex to a quad interest rates will rise closer to summer and more buyers will be in the market. Some using FHA to live in one unit and rent out the rest and then regular investors going conventional.

[Paul Timmins]

@Scott Richards

Welcome. Thanks for your service. You might have already consumed below.

Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.

Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having 50 past ones to catch up on.

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses,The Book on Estimating ReHab Costshttp://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Consider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.

You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing works well in Chicago. Rents can be 2-4 times more. Remember you don't have to own a property to control it.

Good Luck

Paul

[Scott Richards]

I'm currently in the process of graduating college by June so my time is limited right now. I've done my best to start calculating the numbers for properties I'm looking at in my spare time, but I don't feel comfortable making a deal when so many deals appear to be bad on paper. I'm torn between buying a single home or jumping straight into a duplex/multifamily. Wholesaling does intrigue me though.

I heard from many people in the industry to find a mentor. I'm not sure where to look beyond local brokers.

[Alissa Sabbe]

Welcome Scott!

I don't have as much experience as many people on this site, but my husband did just what you are talking about. He is an army veteran and we used our VA loan for our 4 plex. It was the first piece of real estate we ever bought and it has done very well for us. We wanted to get the most bang for the buck out of our VA loan. We lived in one unit and rented out the other three while we were stationed at Fort Hood TX. We started doing the land lording ourselves while we lived there and then passed if off to professional property management when we moved, which was well worth the 10% they charge! In my humble opinion I would use your VA loan for the four plex and have property management run it for you, especially since we know how frequently our military gets moved around. I also wanted to let you know that you are able to use your VA loan more than once at a time, I think its called a second tier VA loan. Don't quote me on that but something like that. Hopefully the following link will help a bit. http://benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/documents/docs/2014_county_loan_limits.pdf

Best of luck to you and thank you for your service!

-Alissa

[Liam Goble]

@Scott Richards and use your loan for a small multi-unit. You will learn what it is like to landlord, while having your rent paid by your tenants.

If you've read anything on BP, you know the buy-and-hold method is not a get-rich-quick scheme. My wife and I have a goal to be financially free in five years (we're 1.5 years into it). Reaching that goal will be exceedingly difficult, but we're still working towards that goal. To hit that goal, I've had to expand my REI techniques; for example, I'm going to be starting my first flip on Monday. I plan to use any profits from the flip to add to a down payment on another buy-and-hold.

Lastly, remember: there are always two sides to your income and expense equation: Your Income and Your Expenses. Too many times people focus solely on the Income side of the equation: increase income to become financially free. Reducing expenses also helps significantly. My wife and I recently went through an expense reduction exercise. The only thing that changed slightly for us is our wireless provider (used to pay $140/month for Unlimited talk text data) w/ new provider, we pay $25/month for Unlimited talk text and data while on wifi. For us, it wasn't a big deal. By changing our expenses, we went from saving about $50/month to saving $700/month.

[Scott Richards]

Thanks for all the advice so far everyone. I've located a REIA in my area and that looks promising. I'm really glad to have found this site, so many helpful people especially for those of us without experience.

@Alissa I was also stationed at Fort Hood for awhile. I was part of 13th Coscom division. I lived in both Killeen and Harker Heights. Thanks for the confirmation about the VA loan. So far the only thing I knew about the loan is you had to live there for awhile to get the loan. Thanks for your advice.

@Liam I appreciate your honesty. I've been factoring in the expenses so far on all the properties I've examined online. I just watched a video on BP that showed how bad a water bill can ruin a deal. I also plan to diversify down the road with flips and wholesaling.

I was hoping to own 10 units with an average of 300 cash flow each unit. Pay off the debt(mortgage) and increase cash flow slowly. I figure once the debt of the loan is wiped out, expenses are much more manageable, including repairs that come out of nowhere. Is that realistic to you?

[Liam Goble]

@Scott Richards Your analysis looks more or less realistic. My number is approximately 20 units cash flowing at $200/unit. Currently, three of my five units meet this criteria. The other two units may never reach that level of profitability, but I bought that duplex before I found BP.

Because I've only been investing for about 18 months, I'm setting aside 10% of my gross monthly rent for those random repairs. I plan to do that until I have a large enough nest egg that I am comfortable not setting aside more money.

My ideal property is a multi-unit with all separate utilities. That way, I'm not paying for the tenants heat/electric/sewer/water, etc. If I ever look at a non-separated building, I am looking to see if it is possible to separate the utilities.

[Dmitriy Fomichenko]

@Scott Richards welcome to the BP community!

[Alissa Sabbe]

Hey @Scott Richards

[Henry Nguyen]

Welcome to Bigger pockets Scott!

There's tons of great information on the site. Invest in your education and then take action. Sounds like you're already taking the right steps. Best of luck!

[Ramon Jenkins]

Welcome

[Joe Fairless]

@Scott Richards - first off, thank you for your service. Sounds like you've got some good recs on here from people already. I like the initial approach and just know that it will continue to evolve as you get going. For example, you might end up doing a single family or duplex on your first one then scale up after you get you feet wet.

I'd be careful not to spread your focus across too many areas of real estate as well.

[Scott Richards]

Great advice everyone, I have a lot to go on now. It's good to know that my projections are somewhat accurate because that does make me feel better.

[Brandon Turner]

Hey @Scott Richards

Also - here's a couple articles you might enjoy:

The 21 Best Real Estate Investing Books Ever

How to Rent Your House: The Definitive Step by Step Guide

Oh - and don't forget to set up your Keyword Alerts!

See you around the site!