All Forum Posts by: Hill A.

I just moved back into the area and am looking forward to meeting some local investors as well.  I have one rental in Jacksonville (that I'll be living in temporarily while we decide on building or buying our new primary residence between Holly Ridge and Hampstead). 

I've been learning as much as I can for the past few years while new children and a new job kept me from going full bore into SFH investing, most likely via BRRRR.

Our first rental was purchased as my primary residence before I began learning about REI, so I had to do a bit of work with a refi, a good insurance broker and solid property management to make it cash flow at all, but it ended up working out even though it wasn't purchased right for a rental property.

Now that it rents have gone up a bit and rates are down I am looking into another refi to make it cash flow better when we put tentants back in it.

All in all, I got lucky with great tenants on my first run that left it almost better than it was when they moved in - One of the benefits of renting houses that appeal to some of the more senior military personnel around.  I'll be sure not to expect that every time however! 

I tried to get into the game while in southern California, but unless you are established, bought more than 10 years ago, or part of a large investor group its nearly impossible to break in.  There, I ended up having to just find a market with good appreciation and hope it set me up well for when I came back to NC, and I got lucky again.

Anyways, I've only been back in NC 2 days and I'm still wading through a sea of boxes in my house, but I am eager to link up with some local investors and begin getting a feel for things out here.  Definitely reach out if you are interested in grabbing a coffee sometime.  I am also very handy regarding construction and repairs, and would be happy to help out on a rehab just for the cost of soaking up some knowledge, so if anyone needs some free labor, let me know!

Oops, my daughter got my phone mid sentence- not sure how to edit a post on my iPhone. Anyways, the TSP balance is my fault- they give you a quick class about it when your 18 years old telling you you'll make 10% interest tax free, so I signed up thinking that was all I ever had to do. What I didn't know is they sign you up in the g fund, contributing only 1 percent of base pay- until you change it. So about 5 years ago I changed my contribution to 10% but left my money in the g fund... lessons learned.

I'm not sure what a second tier VA loan is, I'll do some research but feel free to explain more- VA Info online is very vague and inaccurate at times As far as the TSP, yes, f

Hey everyone, First I'd like to say that though I don't post much, I'm always browsing and thank everyone for the wealth of knowledge on the site. I have a somewhat unique question that wasn't quite answered by anything I found in my search queries and I'm hoping you all can help. Here is my situation, as brief yet inclusive as I think it needs to be so you can see my situation. I own one rental property in NC (previous residence that wasn't bought to cash flow, but I shopped around and worked numbers to fudge 150$ cash flow out of it). I'm currently stationed in CA and after 7 months finally found a deal on a new personal residence that will also work as a long term hold rental when I move out... We close on this in two weeks. I've been studying this and saving for a few years, and 2017 was going to be my real jump into purchasing SFR's to work my way towards multi family. So I want to keep as much of my saving around for that as possible. My first residence is tying up my VA entitlement and I don't have the equity to refi so I'm using a 5% conv, buyer paid MI on this new residence. With the exception of my earnest money I'm still going to need about 20k for down payment and closing costs. I've got 50k in a money market account making .5% And 17k in a TSP (traditional) making about 1.6%. My endstate is to have as much money as possible available to begin buying SFR's next year so I am debating using a TSP residential loan to cover 10k (max allowed) of the down payment that I need. This will keep much more money in my money market available to use on non owner occupied properties... Additionally -the way I understand it, I pay interest back to myself at the g fund rate (which I'm invested in solely). Replacing my current TSP contribution with the loan repayment I would pay this back in 2.5yrs. I invested in the TSP solely because I was young and didn't know about better alternatives (thus why I've been invested in the g fund solely for 9 years- yes I will move my funds around next time the market dips hard but for now I don't want to buy into the other funds)... Anyway, after 9 years and ten percent of base pay I'm only looking at 17k in this account so I figure I can put that money to better use elsewhere. Am I missing something here? It seems cut and dry to me that using my TSP will keep more of my actual cash in hand to use on much higher returning investments, but I want to hear the input of the professionals who have more than my one measly unit!

Hello All - looking for an agent/broker in San Diego to San Clemente, CA area.

I introduced myself a few months back and haven’t been very active since because I was in the midst of a cross country move to CA and getting my old house rented out. I plan to start buy and hold rental investments in NC with my partner soon, but before I get tied up with more properties out there I need to find a place in CA and am looking for a good broker who understands the investor mentality and can work hard with my wife and I to find a home that fits our needs.

First off, I know what I am looking for may be a challenge to find but I have time as we are staying with family and willing to search for 6 or so months if necessary. I am looking for an agent who can help find us properties both on and off MLS, including REO that will be a good home for me to buy below market and fix up as we live in it. I'm not looking to buy a gutted property and do a full flip, but I am trying to find something that needs minor repairs, updates, etc up to 30k or so that will add significant value to the property when I either sell or rent (if the numbers work), when I move back to the east coast in 4-5 years.

I bought my first house all wrong, and now am only cashflowing 100$/mo on a 200k house, and that is after tons of working with PM’s to get an 8% rate and calling 15 different insurance companies to find the best deal - but we learned our lessons there.

I work on the northern end of Camp Pendleton (off the Las Pulgas exit) and am looking for a commute of 30-45 min, 1 hour MAX and that is a huge consideration unless we find an absolute steal a bit further away. Closer to the ocean is better, but again, show me what you have. Looking for at least a 3/2, and not terribly interested in condos and townhomes, again, unless they are a steal. I will contact my loan guy and get pre-approved here shortly, but even though I'll be good up to 420k, I'm not buying over 385k as that is the absolute top of my budget, and my ideal situation would be finding an REO property that needs a good deal of repairs and upgrades around for 300k.

I am fully aware that I will not find the 4/3 2300sqft house on 3 acres for 200k out here like the one I own in NC, but I am determined to find a property that is a good investment for my family and something that I can sell my wife on (once the repairs are done). I spoiled her with our NC house! Oops!

Potential agents please shoot me a message and I will get you my cell number so we can talk more!

Hello Matthew! When I read your post I almost thought that the keyword alert had keyed me on to my own thread! Back in 2012 I was sitting in the Med and my Platoon Commander gave me a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad, and within a few days I had read his Kiyosaki's first few books! I have been studying real estate since (haven't had much time or capital) and I've recently found a partner who is interested in starting REI in Jacksonville. I'm in the middle of a cross country move right now but my partner is staying local, shoot me a message, I'd love to chat! (Also, don't be offended if my replies are slow for the next week, I'm trying to get my current house ready for tenants and get on the road!)

Thanks for the advice. Do you have any tips on finding duplex and triplex properties? I can't seem to find anything more than one condo in a duplex for sale at any given time... We have the capital to afford one of these but I haven't found a single multi unit property yet

Hello all, I'm searching for my first buy and hold properties in the Jacksonville and Wilmington areas of North Carolina. My partner and I have found two kinds of properties we are interested in and would like some advice. We have found quite a few REO properties as well as motivated sellers who are offering 3/2's below 50k that may or may not need work in these areas. Working the numbers on these with an excel spreadsheet my mentor helped me make (not a pro member yet!) I'm finding between 15-30% ROI and they cash flow between 200-300$/mo. On the other hand, we are finding lots of condos in the Wilmington area that on paper seem like a dream, for the same down payments and much less work these appear to cash flow 350-500$ per month (including HOA fee). Below is what I THINK the major drawbacks of condos are, but I would like input as to what the pros in this area think- as if they were such a dream I feel like they would be getting snatched up and not staying on the market for as long as they've been. 1- tenant turnover in college areas 2- much less appreciation 3- HOA/possible management issues 4- tenant quality, reading reviews of one of the condo complexes I see lots of complaints about the quality of people living there. Please give me some insight as to why these seemingly profitable properties are not getting picked up quickly and help me determine my best choice between them... We have saved the funds to buy 3-5 properties under 50k this year. Obviously since we're new that won't happen all at once, but we'd like to buy our first property in the next few months and would like to have some input so we can either shut down the idea of condos and focus on rehabbing SFH's, or consider both!

Awesome, I'll be on my way to California by the time that next meet comes around but I will try to have my partner attend it as he's staying local to the area

Hey brother I too am in a similar situation as yours, but let me start by saying I have only been studying REI for 3 years and saving, and have not bought my first true REI property yet (though I plan to in the next few months). I can tell you from what I've experienced with my current home, you are still ahead of the power curve by thinking about this before you jump in to your first VA purchase. Similar to the other story- I bought new construction in 2011 for around 200k and put 20k in upgrades into it, thinking I would net the same value or more in upgrades on the sale of the home... Due to Jacksonville's current overbuilt market, the top end of what 3 different realtors think we could get is 204k, and we owe around 185k, so after all the fees, not very profitable if at all... The VA loan is a fantastic option for home ownership but you have to buy right for it to work... A year after I bought the house, the market was still being overbuilt and builders had to begin adding the things I had to pay extra for including granite, tile, hardwood, etc as standard, for the same price I paid for mine... Long story short, not knowing anything we paid asking price plus 20k in upgrades and 5 years later couldn't make a dime on the sale of the house. Additionally, when I go to rent in a month, I will cash flow only 75$/mo IF we can put a tenant in here for our asking price of 1250$. So, though I don't have true REI experience I have learned from my mistake and hope I can pass the knowledge on. If I were you I would definitely look into foreclosures and any other deals where you can buy at or below 70 percent value, because with no down payment those high monthly payments will kill cash flow. My buddy just purchased a 100k home with a VA loan, and after minor repairs had it assessed at 135k so it's absolutely doable in this area. After talking to him since he's single I recommended house hacking and he found two good friends who are now paying his mortgage for him! Finally, the only way I made my house slightly positive in cash flow was to call and call until I found better deals on insurance, property management, etc... I waited too long to refinance because you must live in it for 6 month minimum with a VA, but consider that as well after a few years of ownership. If you pm me I will give you the contact info for the insurance guy I found who offered me nearly half the annual premium as my current company, as well as my PM who agreed on 9%. These two factors took me from being -150$ a month to +75$