All Forum Posts by: Adam L.

@Brandon Shortsleeves I would love to get into the FRGs and AFRCs I am near and discuss some of this stuff. No one teaches anything about the risks of VA loans but I hear people constantly saying they are losing money on the house from their last assignment. I would gladly go teach something like this and help people get through the nuances of buying a house with a VA loan.

Hello, @Collette Douglas. My partners and I run a company called Active Duty Passive Income and we work hard with a lot of our folks on working through problems like this. We even wrote a book called Military House Hacking which can tell you almost everything you need to know about what you are asking.

That being said, yes, you must be honest with the VA loan and not screw around with that. It seems you understand that, but just know that the wording is really that you "intend" to live in the house for a year. So when you are in RI you can get the plex and rent out all but yours and be good to go. I would HIGHLY recommend underwriting it so you can ensure you will cash-flow well with property management. You mentioned managing yourself and I would not recommend that while you are building your portfolio. Get someone to manage your property, even the one you are living in (and never tell the tenants you are the owner), and get rid of that headache. Investing is not changing toilets!

As for the house somewhere else, you can certainly use a traditional loan on those, but some banks will give you a hard time if you do not have much experience in that. I would suggest talking to a local bank in that area. Build the relationship and move the account for that property to that bank as well as getting the loan there. They will be more apt to help you with your needs when you have more than one service with them. Don't be afraid of getting multiple project running but certain make sure you have a strong team in place to take care of the problems when they arise! 

Anyways, I hope that helps and I would love to help further if I can. Let me know!!!

Hey, @Josh Edelman! My partners and I run a company called Active Duty Passive Income and we love having conversations like this. Let me start by saying, it is always a good time to buy an investment property! Notice I said investment property and not home. I am sure you get that and that is why you are here but I want start by saying that.

Many of the comments on here were spot on in so much that you should focus on making sure you are buying the RIGHT property and not just buying to buy. We wrote an Amazon best selling book called Military House Hacking so I think you can probably assume I am for the house hacking side of this. I say you use your VA loan to find a nice multi-plex property and rent out the units you are not living in. When you are deployed, take down ALLLL of the personal items in your house (or just never really put much up) and Air B&B your side while you are gone. You can control when the house is available and you can hire a property manager who specialized in this while you are gone. You can REALLY make some good money on a 6 month deployment (ask @Mike Foster). 

After you PCS, do this AGAIN AND AGAIN until you get out and never ever sell these babies. Keep the passive income coming in and enjoy life. 

Then when you are ready to buy apartments (you are now, you just may not know it yet) then come talk to me about that as well! Good luck and stay safe out there!

As @Eric Upchurch mentioned, our sole purpose is to educate military members, veterans, and their families to help build passive income and financial freedom! So thank you to @Greg Scully and @John Murphy for the mention!

I will say this, I have seen MANY military members struggle with exactly what you are talking about and it all stemmed from a lack of understanding and education. There is NOTHING wrong with using your VA loan while on Active Duty so long as you are using it as an INVESTMENT tool not a "I am really tired of paying rent" tool. That is a sure fire way of disaster. With the proper understanding of how one should use their VA loan, one would make better decisions and then not be in the world of hurt signing a check for $12k+. OUCH!

I also love the way @Anthony R. stated the Joes should have a good financial understanding before they invest. This is SO true. A lot of military members are much happier coming back from the box ready to buy a new Corvette than they are investing in their financial future. Helping them understand why that is a bad idea is just the beginning. 

Anyways, please come on over to our Facebook group, #startthespark group, and website for some awesome information. We are always looking to help and we are excited to do it!

I completely get the need for the emergency fund. I have one as well and I agree with them but there is a thought process that not having one as a military member (or at least having a smaller one) is quite ok. I understand that as well.

And actually, my partner @Eric Upchurch is invested in KC and we are always looking for more deals out there. Please hit us up! We are all about helping people as much as we can.

@Gwendolyn Cummings, welcome and congrats on starting the RE journey! I love looking at the VA loan for RE investing and I think it is a great way to start. We teach this all the time and I will always recommend it when done correctly. Atlanta is a good market as well so that is a plus.

So if you are going to use a VA loan you will have a hard time doing it with a distressed property. I would recommend doing a plex of sorts and rent out the other units. Get a PM and tell no one it is your property. Enjoy the income received by putting nothing down with the VA loan and keep doing it everywhere you go. By the time you leave you can refinance into a traditional loan since you should have paid down enough to have the equity there and get your whole VA benefit back for the next PCS.

Feel free to hit me up or check out the company site below for more info. Thank you for your service and I hope to hear back from you.

Welcome, @Oscar Contreras! I love what you are thinking. My business partners and I over at Active Duty Passive Income are all about helping military members and their families invest in real estate. Using your VA loan to house hack is an amazing opportunity that will both help pay your mortgage but likely also pay you in the process. We love teaching folks how to do this. For me, the smartest investment as a military member (I wish I would have known years ago when I joined) is to buy a plex of sorts with your VA loan and house hack the heck out of it! Keep it forever and buy a new one at the next duty station.

 @Kerry Baird had some great tips there! I would say, though, in the case of the military member you may need less of an emergency fund and more of a reserves for your properties. I say this knowing it is a bit controversial but I say it because the military (for the most part) is very stable. You're unlikely to get fired or laid off so the concern of needing 6 months of bills money saved up is a bit less of a concern. I would certainly want some reserves set up for the properties, though.

Anyways, please let me know what I can do to help and check us out if you would like. I love real estate and I love helping folks so hit me up!

There is some possibility here; however, a rehab with a VA loan is difficult to pull off as the VA is very strict with their requirement to have a livable space. You usually (some cases you can) can't buy a house that requires any significant amount of rehab. You can actually combine VA lonas with another person as well to get larger properties, but I do not think that will work in this situation considering you will not be in the area.

My business partners and I over at Active Duty Passive Income are always trying to help military members invest in RE so please let us know if we can help. Feel free to check us out and hit me up if you need anything!

@Jose Chavez, @Carter Crowley is correct in saying you have to live in the property for 1 year after purchase. I would recommend looking at house hacking with the VA loan as you can buy up to a 4 unit property. You can then live in one and rent out the others. My partners and I have a company dedicated to helping military members get into real estate. Let me know if you are interested! Good luck, Jose!

@Anthony Nguyen, congrats on the beginning of you real estate adventure! I think you have a couple different opportunities which is always a good position to be in. How much equity do you have in your current residence? Do you have enough to refinance into a traditional loan and get your full VA eligibility back? If you do then why not do that and buy the du/tri/quadplex with the VA loan? That could prove to be an amazing opportunity for you!

You could also look into a FHA loan which can be pretty helpful and has a very low down payment. I would lean towards getting the VA loan again if you have the equity in the house. Even if you have to pay out of pocket some to get the equity up you have a great opportunity with the next VA loan to maximize the zero down. Do some calculations and see what your ROI would be if you did it.

Also, @Mike Foster is in your neck of the woods and could be a great resource for you!!! He is having a meetup for military folks in a couple weeks. Shoot him a message and he could help you out a lot!