New Guy In Syracuse

[John Kaftan]

Hi Everyone:

I'm new to all of this.  My goal is to build passive income to help should I one day retire.  I am fainted by real estate and have done extensive remodeling on my homes.  I can do pretty much anything and have lots of tools.  I have 4 kids and a big time job and my wife works too.  We don't have much time and I don't want to blow it and miss my kids growing up.

So straight away I am thinking the following:

Look for a wholesaler to get houses from.  Yeah it's not as good for me but I'm not likely to ever pull the trigger if I have to go scrounging for deals due to my time constraints.  Then again I really don't have extra money so I may not have a choice.

I am not sure it is worth buying in my town because appreciation is horrible (Syracuse).  Is there a way to find out average appreciation in our area and is there ever a number when you just say no?  Or do folks invest anyway even when appreciation is pretty much nul?  When I think of going from no investments to buying in another town it really feels overwhelming.

Anyway, I really appreciate all of the info and I am studying like crazy to get up to speed.

Thanks

John 

[John Kaftan]

I've been talking to people and doors are opening.  Someone at church volunteered to mentor me.  My piano tuner said she would meet with me to discuss a neighborhood that I am thinking about investing in that she has lived in for 30 years.  @Brian Barfoot offered to meet for lunch next week to talk about what he knows.  I've been soaking up @Brandon Turner No money down book.  And I believe in it now.  Even though appreciation in Syr is low houses are cheap.  So I can buy a duplex for $50 and rent it out for 5 years and own it.  It still may only be worth $50k when I am done but that is $50K more than I had 3 years prior + I am collecting income.  Yeah I am not making big bucks on appreciation but I make up for it in cash flow and volume because fairly quickly I should be able to scale it out.

My biggest obstacle now is the little Mrs.  Any advise on swinging over the spousal unit would be appreciated.  I guess I have to do that just like I would with a banker or hard money lender.  In a way it's good that she is being a hard nose about this.  If I can sell her I can sell anyone.  Ha ha.

John