All Forum Posts by: Aaron B.

@Derrick Craigthanks for joining the conversation.  Your comments are much appreciated and add context to the discussion.  Happy New Year!

@Rollan Dizon congrats on the great year!  Thank you for sharing your experiences.  Best of luck to you in the future. 

@Jay Hinrichs, I really appreciate the follow-up. Your comments make a lot of sense. 

I think you also answered my follow-up question regarding comparing/contrasting an Indie market to the WDC/NOVA where I will likely move in circa 3 years. 

As an aside, I have gotten a lot of value out of "Turnkey Reviews."  I will also check out the POD casts, which I missed. 

Happy New Year. 

@Jay Hinrichs, I was really intrigued by your comment, "Much of the quote un Quote cash flow markets on the lower end are only appropriate for cash flow and for one to scale.. buying one or two does not make a lot of sense in my mind the risk reward just is not there. I think its much better to buy a prime west coast asset that you would hold for your entire lifetime until you wanted to cash out for retirement or whatever."

I will be moving to Indianapolis this Summer. I was going to focus on SFH cash flow properties in the 60 - 100k range. I am curious on more details regarding the price range definition of lower end. I don't want to assume my low end and another persons low end are the same. You also spoke about scaling. As a new investor I was planning on taking property acquisition slow to learn the ropes and allow me time to learn from mistakes. No fun repeating the same mistakes. Would one be better served to scale more rapidly as a new investor. Ultimately my goals are financial freedom.

@Jamar Mayweather Welcome to  Biggerpockets.  Glad to see another central PA investor using this site. Sounds like you have a great plan.  In the interim don't forget to explore the website.  The recommended reading list is a great place to get started. Best of luck. 

@Shashy B.,

I grew- up in and regularly visit Dauphin County (HBG). What I have witnessed over the past three/four years is a bit of an economic decline in Harrisburg city proper. I think you will be well served to visit HBG and drive street-by-street.  I was just back home, and my assessment was there wasn't an up and coming neighborhood.  You will be able to find properties in your price range but property management will be critical. Best of luck. 

Kyle, welcome to BP. I too am from Hershey/Hummelstown area. Glad to see another investor in the area. Best of luck.  

@Mark Caiazza thanks for the insights on the loan. I was looking to refi out of my FHA to Wells Fargo conventional. WF ultimately administers the loan. I will inquire about the program you mentioned.

@Russell thanks for the offer, I will pm you with the address. Any insights you are comfortable providing would be appreciated. 

I am a new investor and am looking to invest in buy and hold out of State (turnkey). My work keeps me out of area  so we rented our primary residence in Great Falls, no not the swank part of Great Falls. I felt fortunate to have rented to one tenant for six years who left in June 2015.

We are currently trying to sell the house but are having some trouble. It has been on the market 65 days. I have dropped the price from 515k to 465k. I am conflicted at this point. I could refinance the house to lower the mortgage payment but it still would not cash flow. The rent (2300 - 2400h would only cover the mortgage, not taxes 5k, vacancy, PM, maintenance, or capex.  That means, I would be gambling on the NOVA/WDC appreciating, but never a gartunee.  Also prior to sale, we would then have to make the house retail ready to get a higher price point.  The home does not have an open floor plan.  The kitchen and master bedroom/bathroom are small.  To open it up we would need to take down some walls. 

On the flip side, if we keep plugging away and sell the house we could then save the mortgage payment and roll it into the down payment for an out-of-state property, which cash flows but likely will not appreciate. 

Any thoughts or previous experiences would be great to hear.