Next step as a Investor

[Dustin O.]

I have been a Active duty Soldier for 17 years and I am coming up on retirement quickly. Just turned 35 a few months ago and can not imagine starting a new career after 20+ years of service.

So I invested over $3,000 of my Tuition Assistance and enrolled in a years worth of Real Estate college course.

Shortly after I purchased my first home using my VA loan with no money down. At the time it was a new construction single detached on a acre of land.

My second home is a short sell, also a single family detached home on about .25 acres. In a great location. (Conventional loan 40% down)

Sorry for the long intro, now to the questions.

1. What should be the next smart investment after 2 conventional loans? (I have no second mortgages or loans against any house).

2. My mortgage broker has asked me to wait 6 months before my next purchase. Anyone know why? I did not want to show my lack of experiences :roll:

3. I plan to make my next move in 6-8 months during my deployment. Can I use my tax exemption status to gain any leverage.

Thank you for your time.

[Jeff N.]

Dustin, glad to hear your investing your military pay wisely. I'm a Vet also and have been also buying new construction as rentals. This type of investing does not pass the 3% formula you see mentioned here, but I'm a buy and hold investor and as long as I have good cashflow from day one after PITI, HOA and vacancies I'm happy. This usually means a hefty down payment. This strategy is long term and quite boring. If your looking for a career move after you retire from the military you may look more into the fix and flip. This will keep you busy and has the potential for much greater short term gains.

I'm not sure why your mortgage broker told you to wait 6 months. Your credit will take a slight hit for a few months after obtaining a mortgage and the bank your dealing with may have a restriction or grace period on purchasing investment property, especially if you are a green investor it may be a requirement to wait for some lenders. But you can always shop around and find out yourself.

You mentioned about tax advantages while deployed. Your pay may be income tax free, but I can't think of any other advantage this will give you for purchasing RE. BTW, how will you be able to purchase if you are deployed?

Good luck and welcome to BP.