All Forum Posts by: Aaron I.

I agree with @Anthony Susco on bringing a contractor with you. My current home I walked through not knowing what to expect/look for and am now more aware of what to be aware of. One thing that I have learned is to press your foot down around the base of the toilet, bathtub, or anywhere where water could leak out to feel for spongy or soggy subfloor. A few other basic things are: check water pressure on sinks, light-switches work, heaters work, problems of mold in bathrooms, and mold/water damage around windows and door openings (especially windows if they are not vinyl). These are a few basic things that I have learned to look for, now that I have had to put money into each of those areas....Good luck!

Sounds like a great plan! I recently bought a duplex as well with FHA financing. A few things that I was told by that FHA says are:

Must meet the minimum standards of safety, security, and soundness.

I found a link that goes into way more detail of what the requirements are for FHA loan:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-rea...

Hope this is helpful and you are able to locate a great property!

@Chris Mason:

I completely agree. We are trying to trim our budget where we can save more money for investments. We plan to try to acquire 3-4 properties in the next 6 years before we can buy our primary residence. I guess this is the time to force appreciation like you suggested and go the BRRRR strategy route in conjunction with our original plan. Thank you for your advice!

Hello BP community!

My wife and I recently bought a duplex in Sandy OR and are going to 'house-hack' for the next year until we can once again purchase another multi-family home. Currently, our duplex will not be cash-flowing, but will be cheaper than where we were originally renting in Oregon City. This is not the most ideal deal, but once we are able to move out, it will begin to cash-flow. Also, we purchased this with a FHA loan and since we will not be saving as much as we would like, use my VA loan 100% financing on our next property. The question I have for the community is:

What to do while waiting to buy another property?

I frequent real estate website listings, listen to podcasts, webinars, reading books off of Brandon Turner's book list and am ready to dive right back in! Knowing that I have to wait six months to a year to be able to buy our next property with my VA loan is driving me crazy!!!! What do other BP members do while 'in-between' deals?

Thank you for your advice!

Welcome to BP community! Always good to see a fellow Oregonian on the forums. I hope you find some deals out there, Portland prices are getting a bit crazy these days :-)

I have a very similar plan. Our strategy is a buy-hold, so cash-flow is king for my wife and I. We are currently house-hacking out in Sandy since the beginning of this month. From here, we plan on buying another multifamily again in 1-2 years. Currently, our goal is to acquire enough multifamily homes to cashflow 5k a month. This will not be something that we are looking to achieve within the next year or 2, but rather over the course of the next 4-8 years. It is a slower moving strategy, but what seems ideal for our situation. 

@Jeff Hodney 

Welcome to the BP community! I am also a newbie on this site and am located just north of you, in Oregon City! What type of properties are you looking for? Single family, Multi, or Commercial? Salem area looks like a great place to start, the prices are not quite as high as the Portland suburbs. Keep listening to podcasts, reading books from the BP reading list, and subscribe to the webinars! All of these have been essential in my expanding my REI knowledge. Good luck!

I was very inspired by the latest Webinar on the BRRRR strategy. I am curious as to if anyone has done this and found that undergoing a rehab in an offseason was detrimental? For example:

Purchasing a home in Sept. and then undergoing a 1 1/2 month renovation would put you into Nov. and potential renters might be in a limited demand.

Thanks!

@Mark Nolan: Thanks! I am currently reading 'Building wealth one house at a time.' I am always looking for new books to enhance my real estate knowledge if you have any suggestions. 

@Cody Cox: Thank you for reaching out! I am excited to always learn more from other BP members

@Daniel Hyman: Thank you for welcoming me to the BP community!

@kaz_miyazaki : Yes! I have been listening to BP podcasts and watched the most recent webinar regarding duplex, triplex, and quadplex! This website/community are indeed vital tools to help anyone grasp a better understanding of anything related to using real estate investing!