New Investor in Upstate South Carolina

[Juan Carlos Arellano]

Hello Everyone, I'm Carlos and after actively lurking on this website for the past year and a half combing through forums and discussions that piqued my interest, I feel I've attained considerable knowledge to take my first leap into real estate investing. Not only have I been an active reader on BP, I've also been an avid listener of the BP Podcast. To tell you a little bit about my situation, I'll be graduating in December from Clemson University with a BS in Management and I'll be going off to training for 6 months with the U.S. Army National Guard. I would like to buy my first investment property if possible before I leave for training at the end of January. I've got a 650+ credit score and I would have a couple of grand for a down payment. Other things to add just for credibilty would be that I'll have a good chunk of money coming back from training in July of 2020 and I've got a real estate license where I currently work as an agent under KW. I'm also currently in the process of becoming a member of Upstate CREIA and have been writing up a business plan for what I'm trying to accomplish. My one thing holding me back is the fact that I don't have 2 years of work history with W-2's that lenders look for when looking to preapprove a prospect. I've turned to looking for portfolio lending due to my situation. Or know of any unconvetional ways to obtain financing?

[Cole Oraham]

Hi @Juan Carlos Arellano, you may want to wait until after you get back from training before jumping in. With the extra cash available, you might be able to get a better deal. You could also look at a 1-4 unit with a VA when you get back and house hack or do a live in flip. It might also be difficult to have your first ~7 months of rental investing to be done from a distance. If you do partner with someone locally then that would of course change my opinion on it.

Also being in the Clemson market, I know first hand how hard it is right now to find a deal that makes sense. I have been looking more toward Anderson, Easley, Greenville, etc. for any buy and hold properties. The main thing with your first deal is that you don't know what you don't know. I couldn't imagine being in the military and far away from a property to learn some of the lessons that I have learned.

Best of luck!