Best advice for first rental property

[Lamar Athill]

I am new to real estate and Im looking acquire some rental properties. What would be good advice on how to get started

[G. Brian Davis]

Hi @Lamar Athill, glad to hear you're getting into real estate investing!

I started my career with rentals. One thing I wish I'd known before buying any properties was how to accurately calculate cash flow. It's not "the rent minus the mortgage." In fact, the rule of thumb in the industry is called the 50% Rule: that 50% of the rent will go toward non-mortgage expenses (vacancy rate, repairs, maintenance, insurance, property taxes, management, accounting, etc.).

I also didn't realize how many different skills were required, from financing to managing contractors to permits to city inspections to managing tenants or property managers. And many others.

Personally, I no longer invest in rental properties. I found it too much work and not enough return. Nowadays I invest relatively small amounts in real estate syndications (passive group investments). I recently wrote about this for BiggerPockets: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/dollar-cost-average-real-....

Feel free to hit me up with a message any time!

Brian