All Forum Posts by: Adam C Harris

@Steven Griffith... HELOC and conventional mortgage interest rates are two different beasts. You can have a HELOC with a couple more points over the mortgage, pay the same amount monthly, and end up paying less long term with the HELOC. The amortization of the mortgage often results in more interest paid over the life of the loan compared to a HELOC since the HELOC only charges interest off the outstanding loan amount. This savings is compounded if the principle is paid down quicker on the HELOC, but that doesn't matter with the amortization schedule of the mortgage.

If you are still concerned with interest rates, HELOCs are easy to get intro rates well below conventional mortgage rates. When the intro runs out, a HELOC is super easy to get elsewhere and take advantage of a different intro rate. Many HELOCs can also offer interest only payments for a defined amount of time (up to 10 years in some cases). As long as you can bring in more cashflow than the interest, keep the equity working for you instead of it sitting idle and not resulting in additional cashflow. I would caution anyone from being a serial HELOC user though... theoretically a bank can call that loan whenever, and although that is extremely rare, extremely economic turbulence could be a trigger.

The one thing I wish I would have known or done is a toss up between starting sooner and preventing analysis paralysis for the first property. 

I'm sorry to hear about your situation @Gaby Liu. I have a friend who was in a very similar situation as you. He lives Seattle, decided to invest in the midwest, got some leads from members here on BP, and in the end was taken for 50k. I will send him a message and encourage him to share his story so others can also learn from it (as well as suggest reaching out to you personally). It's a hard story to hear and honestly, there weren't many red flags, but in the end, it was obvious these people were out to take advantage of him.

The best learning experiences in life are failures. Life's lows sprout life's highs. It's worth noting that he didn't give up. He bounced back with a vengeance. He didn't really have capital at this point, but he pursued the no-money down financing strategies perfectly. He now owns a portfolio of mostly MFAs cash flowing 5 digits monthly. I tell you this to instill confidence and urge you to not give up. Use this as a stepping stone while keeping your eyes on the prize. You may not think so now, but this may be the best thing that happened to you to push you in the right direction.  

Stay strong. 

Hi Heather. I sense a little skepticism. Robert Kiyosaki has some good advice:

"Just do what Colonel Sanders did. At the age of 66, he lost his business and began to live on his Social Security check. It wasn’t enough. He went around the country selling his recipe for fried chicken. He was turned down 1,009 times before someone said yes. And he went on to become a multimillionaire at an age when most people are quitting... He was a brave and tenacious man... So when you’re in doubt and feeling a little afraid, just do what Colonel Sanders did to his [skeptical] chicken. He fried it."

You got this!!

You can make money in real estate anywhere, but it's a matter of finding out how. House hacking works pretty much anywhere. If you already know your approach, it would be easier to narrow down possibilities. 

As for your number one interest of outdoor activities, you absolutely can't best Alaska. I live that life to the fullest here. As for REI, there are better markets if you are looking for tons of broad opportunity. I'm very narrow focused locally and do alot of long distance stuff.

Feel free to message me for more info. 

Shoot the lister a message and go check it out. Craigslist used to contain some hidden gems if you knew what to look for, and now Facebook has crept into that territory, especially with the added listing fees in craigslist (I know, they are minimal but a deterrent). You mentioned this listing is marketed which often equates to not being one of those hidden gems. 

A couple simple good rules of thumb for emails is 1) if it looks too good to be true, it probably is, 2) links can be disguised as a different URL then it displays, get in the habit of going directly to the site via your own bookmarked link or typing it manually, 3) it's very easy to change the sender name in emails and can display that it's from someone you trust, confirm it is, and 4) attachments are the enemy, make sure you absolutely trust the person sending before opening. 

@Christian Kama It sounds like you are new to this. Do you have a mentor yet? How versed is your landlord in the rental investment space? There is no better way to getting on someone's good side and receiving additional information from them than buying something of theirs. This may be a huge win for you. Figure out what he wants for the place, crunch some numbers to see if it fits your strategy, then consider asking your landlord to sit down and chat about it. If you have a good relationship as you state, be completely honest and let them know what you are thinking, why, and see if it fits inline with their goals. Then use that as a gateway to ask additional questions about RE and their opinion on related topics. This may flourish into something bigger than simply a house hacked property for you. 

The input from both extreme optimists and chicken littles is important to me. Thank you OP for your opinion and follow through of your stance. 

You could potentially swing a zero down, owner financed deal out of if you have a good history and relationship with the owner.