Introduction Post - Darin from Rhode Island

[Darin Tripoli]

Thank you everybody for taking the time to quickly read over my post and thank you for being part of this really cool community making enough noise on the internet for me to stumble upon. 

My name is Darin. I am 38 years young and I am finally starting to take Real Estate seriously. I have bought 2 houses in my past and currently live in one after selling the first for a substantial profit. Currently I am looking to RE to further my investment portfolio and grow my wealth and financial freedom. I am reading every book I can download onto my kindle and just started the "UBG" offered on this forum. I am excited to say the least as I really believe this is an endeavor I have always needed but was too misinformed / uniformed to sink my teeth into. My current market is Rhode Island as I live here and want to understand a small state before venturing out across the country if ever at all. 

I am a business owner and have had some success in the past and have had some short comings recently, as my industry is constantly under scrutiny, that have me looking elsewhere for stability. I also work for the business 5 days a week but am very flexible to research and change my schedule around to fit into my new lifestyle as an investor. 

My current goal is BUY & HOLD multi families for rentals and long term income. I will be house hacking the first one that I am currently approved for a FHA loan at 3.5% down which frees up a lot of capital. Inventories in my area are very slim and have already lost a few really nice properties as I wasn't ready to pull the trigger or couldn't schedule a showing fast enough.

I have a lot to learn but take the approach of diving in head first on every project I involve myself in but this seems a little different. As I continue to read and educate myself I cannot help but think that throwing myself to the fire might just be the best bet or I may never end up pulling the trigger. Any well vetted members feel the same way? Anyone starting off like myself think otherwise or the same? 

I am really excited to be here and absorb as much information as possible. I take positive criticism really well and enjoy different perspectives and experiences as much as possible. 

Thank you for reading and if any Rhode Island ' ers  have any general advice or information on good REAs to join please feel free to send me a message. 

Appreciate you all!

[Anthony Thompson]

@Darin Tripoli yes, I definitely feel the same way. If I’d known all the difficulties and challenges I was going to face, I might never have started down this road. But I’m glad I didn’t know, because it was ultimately worth it 😊

For local REIAs I've been to, and recommend, two, the Rhode Island real estate investors group that meets monthly in Warwick (the next meeting is this week in fact), and Black Diamond REI in southern Mass that meets twice a month. Both are quality groups that are education focused (i.e., they don't try to sell you stuff).

Inventory is tight everywhere, and it’s hard to find properties that cash flow, or cash flow enough to be worth the aggravation. There comes a point in every market cycle when the buyers start paying prices that just don’t make sense, where you can tell that they’re going to end up with cash flow negative properties.

I don’t know that we’re there yet, but I would say be careful, do your numbers and don’t feel like you “have to” buy for the sake of buying. It’s better to buy nothing than buy a property that will be cash flow negative.

It can be harder to do that analysis if you’re going to live in one of the units (house hacking) but I’d say, someday you won’t live there, so analyze it as if you weren’t going to live in one of the units and see if it’s cash flow positive enough for you, even if you will temporarily live in one of the units in the near term.