All Forum Posts by: Allison Karrels

related to the military question: Military gets paid a housing allowance called BAH - you can look up any zip code and rank to see how much your tenant gets for their allowance

http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm

I can't speak about the section 8 part, but I am military so it does help to know what the average military member might be looking for in rent.  If your gearing towards officers look at your zip for an O3-O4, if you want enlisted E3-5.  That will give you a general idea how much they can afford.

As to your first question - I like option 1- let the firemen burn it down and start fresh -it just sounds fun.  Second choice would be #3 to rehab it if there is enough to save.

2nd question - see what some similar properties have sold for of similar size and amenities and compare them to the price he is offering.  It might be a great deal or he might owe more than it is worth.

Good luck!

I guess it depends on how you invest in real estate.   

Are you a hands on house flipper - then more time might be best

Are you trying to buy rental properties - then more money might be best so you can buy properties quicker and get approved for financing easier

Does your job offer you the ability to leave early or work 4 days a week so you can do real estate more than your doing now.  If you like your current job and it has solid benefits you should find a way to balance both until your real estate can replace your job income or you find your ready to quit and do RE full time.

Good luck!

I think a combo of house hacking and getting a decent paying day job so you can qualify for mortgages is the safest way to go.  

For more advanced you can try fixing/flipping around Clemson if there are any areas near campus you could scoop up cheap and then rent out for a high amount/or sell to another investor.

I love college towns for rentals, so if you like Clemson you might just stay put for a few years

Yes I am financing the remaining with a traditional 30 year fixed loan.  Getting a personal loan just helped me with the down payment.

Sucks this happened, but like Dawn said - this has nothing to do with out of state turn key.  It is not like you could have prevented this from happening if it was a street over from your house.  Just bad luck that it happened and hopefully insurance covers all needed repairs.  Don't let it get you down and stop you from investing in another property later on.

The only thing I would worry about is the base itself.  If you are managing properties near a large base you should be ok but lots of smaller bases have shut down over the years from BRAC.

I am a military wife and I would love to buy some houses near a good base.

Sounds like you want to do a lease option.   

Set up your basic rental lease with your renter for a year.  Then set up a separate option agreement which gives your renter the option to buy the property at the end of the term at a set price and collect a fee for allowing them to lock in that purchase price (the fee can be whatever you want $1- $3000 depending maybe on the price of the house).  

If at the end of the year they choose not to purchase the property they can continue on with a new rental lease or move out and you can find a new renter.   They have the option and not the obligation to purchase with the option agreement.

And like you and others said do not count their rent towards the purchase price, that makes it way to complicated and has larger ramifications.

Not sure how to handle your other question of the renter bouncing out for 10 months and then coming back to purchase - I think if they do that they most likely have horrible finances and cannot qualify for a loan and actually follow through with the transaction.

Good Luck!

I listen to several real estate or financial related podcasts:

Epic Real Estate Investing, Planet Money, Freakonomics Radio, Money for the Rest of Us, Listen Money Matters, and of course both BP podcasts

I have purchased 4 single family homes using my own money but for my next rental property I am going to take out a private loan (5% loan over 7 years) from my mother in law for the 30K downpayment/closing costs and then finance the remainder.  I am excited that this will let us get another property quicker and help build up our portfolio.   

I didn't want to structure any complex partnerships or figure out how to split monthly cash flows or deal with complex tax situations so for me just getting a private loan was the best route.

Maybe in the future as I continue to learn and network I will get more advanced but for now, this is a great first step for me.