Newish investor from Arkansas

[Kevin C.]

Hello everyone, from Arkansas. We are a small family who are still a bit new to property investing. We purchased our first home in 2010 and rented it out a couple of years later due to a job change. Since then, we have been extremely interested in buy and hold investing. After all, there isn't much better than someone else paying your mortgage :). We purchased our second home in 2015 as a primary residence. Fixed it up and moved, again, due to work. It is also rented out. My wife has been a stay at home mom for the past 6 years and is now heading back into the job market. We've decided to keep living on my income and to start using her income to invest in properties as aggressively as possible. This should give us about $20k/year to work with in the beginning and up to $40k/year in the next 2 years. 

We live in a pretty hot real estate market and deals are impossible to find on the MLS. I'm here to learn from you more experienced guys how to find good deals at times when most for sale properties are way overvalued.

I'm looking forward to learning all sorts of new things here!

[Michael Lee]

Hello and welcome to BP!  I am from Texas and have lived in or near Dallas for 59 years and I have never heard of that city but I have a daughter that is getting ready to start her third year at The University of Arkansas but I have never heard of that town.  I do not know the size of that town but you might need some help with an Agent that can help find buyers if they are experienced in what you do.  Try to find a couple people that can help you with selling leads and selling a property that you own.  You are better off doing that so you can focus on income production things

From what I have experienced in Arkansas you might need some help helping to find good deals.  You did not mention that you have any money or will require some financing.  Get something lined up so you can give something to the seller to prove when you can close.  The inventory is kind of low right now and it is leaning towards a seller's market which does not help you.  Cash buyers are getting more deals because they can typically have a pretty quick closing.  Most seller's are attracted by that.

You need to form some type of a corporation or an LLC to minimize any personal liability. You should talk to an experienced lawyer or CPA to help you with advice. Find/Get an experienced and local Team of members that will help you make the right decisions. The main primary Team members are Attornies, real estate Agents, CPA's (or accountants) , Inspectors, General Contractors, and Handeymen.

You say we a bunch, does that mean you have a spouse or a partner?  Buy and Hold investing can earn you a bunch.  Can you raise the rent or cut the expenses, those will help you make more money.  The less you have to do will help you if it allready kicks off a positive cash flow of a couple hundred dollars.  Not to mention any increase in equity.

I went to college too, not that it s mandatory, and I got a business degree that emphasized real estate.  Since I was in Texas and planned on staying there I found out that I qualified to take a test and become a real estate broker so I took the test and got that broker license but I never did that full time.  I kept that license active for about 30 years including those college years.  I did close a few deals for other people and have only done one investment deal for myself.

Regardless of what I had I felt more comfortable with the construction business.  I have been in the construction-related business since I was 17  including those college years.  My father has been into real estate buys and sells business for about 40 years and he has taught me a little bit.  If you think I could help you with anything please contact me through BP at any time. Good luck to you!