New to BP with License

[Eric Jan]

Hi  everyone, I just got started on the BP podcast about 2 weeks ago and got hooked on learning more about rental properties. My full time job as an eye doctor takes up most of my day but I obtained my real estate license in Maryland to help out family members with their home purchases. 

I'm an avid Dave Ramsey follower but learning that his strategy in building wealth is too slow. His philosophy of a house being a liability vs an asset didn't sit well with me.

My hope is that I can build relationships with other BPers where we can bounce ideas off each other as we make strides to whatever our goal may be. 

[Brian Pendergraft]

Welcome to BP!  Glad to see another Marylander.

[Malcolm Lawson]

Hey Eric,  Welcome to BP it's a great community.  I also have my real estate license and honestly I got it largely just so I can learn more about investing.    What are your investing goals? Flips? Buy and holds?

[Eric Jan]

Thanks @Brian Pendergraft. Looking forward to dialoguing with you. Do you recommend using my current LLC (not real estate associated) when it comes to purchasing rental property?

[Eric Jan]

Thanks @Malcolm Lawson. Good to see all these Marylanders on the site. I'm in the same boat as you, I wanted to learn more about investing in RE with the goal of buying and holding townhomes or multifamily complexes every 12-18 months. I've dealt primarily with Montgomery County but the rental laws are heavily favored toward the tenant from what I've witnessed. How has having your RE license helped you find good properties? What type of goals are you setting?

[Brian Pendergraft]

@Eric Jan as far as legal liability is concerned it's a good idea for each investment property to have its own holding company.  Separating the investment properties from each other and from you to avoid calamity is smart.  By calamity, I mean all of your personal and all of your businesses assets being subject to a judgment from an incident that happened at one property.

Having multiple LLC's can be expensive though, and as an overly paranoid lawyer, I always recommend the strategies for the most protection (and even then, they are not guaranteed). Ultimately it's up to each investor to determine how much risk they are willing to take.

[Lakshay G.]

Welcome to BP. What are you thoughts regarding buy and hold strategy. What excited you the most about RE?

[Eric Jan]

@Brian Pendergraft Thanks for the advice. Listening to Dave Ramsey on RE, he has an individual LLC for every 1.5 million dollars worth of properties just in case. Probably mixing up RE with my business LLC is not a great idea.

[Eric Jan]

Thanks @Lakshay G. 

I like the idea of small steady streams of cashflow from multiple properties that removes you from the financial hamster wheel. The fact that a tenant will be paying off the mortgages and the possible appreciation over time offers a much better option than a 529 Savings plan as a way to put my kids through college. As a small business owner yourself, how are you pursing your goals of buying and holding while managing your day job?

[Malcolm Lawson]

@Eric Jan So I own one rental property rite now and I am currently not in the market for another investment property so I have been acting as an agent for other investors and helping them find and analyze deals. This has been a great learning experience for me because I get to see how other investors look at properties and work there deals.  This also forces me to quickly evaluate probably thousands of homes at this point to determine what has potential and what does not.  My long term goal is to accumulate 10 rentals, I currently have one.  My short term goal is to buy one more rental property by the end of the year.

[Lakshay G.]

@Eric Jan  good question. I've adjusted my schedule in a way where I can go to work earlier in the morning and leaving early for a meeting or go later and leave late as well. I've managed to take at least 1 business day off which may force me to work on saturdays but that's okay, I'm thinking long term now.

I'm currently looking for a duplex triplex in Baltimore county, not having too much luck though. Working on funding as well simultaneously. 

[Dmitriy Fomichenko]

@Eric Jan

Welcome to the BP family! Good to have you here! Here are some recommendations for you:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet
Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts
Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Wishing you the best!