All Forum Posts by: Alexander Ball

I focus on 10% CoC. I'm buying in C class areas right now and I know I'm in for a ride. Why? I want to focus on real estate full time ASAP. I like my job but I love real estate. If it doesn't work out in C class long term, no problem I'll sell, learn my lesson and change my strategy. Cash flow gives me income to live off of.

I use income  - (10% management, 5% vacancy, $100 per door per month for repairs, +1500 for other expenses + mortgage/insurance/taxes).  

@Dennis M.

Hey Dennis, could you explain why it sucks? I haven't done a lot of BRRRR and or flipping so I'm curious about why the numbers are bad here. Thanks

Unless your home is actually a live in flip I honestly don’t see it being a good deal.  If this worked investors would upgrade their properties all the time as opposed to buying new ones.  In general it seems to me like you guys justified spending that money on yourselves as a way to improve your lives and “invest.”  What I really don’t understand is why you didn’t do the work yourself and invest this money in another property.  Don’t spend that 8k on your property, that’s my very honest opinion.  I’d take that and invest it in another’s property.  The one main upside is you’ve probably gotten experience and some idea of the cost of home improvements.  Hopefully the at keeping knowledge isn’t useful going forward.

I say go for it, worst case scenario is you change your mind and go to school.  At least this way you won't have on foot in the door and one foot out.  Just my opinion, but a lot of life is trying things out and learning whether or not it works.  Either it works out or you learn it's not for you and choose something else that does work for you.

@Lindsey Vargas I think your intuition on this one is right.  Best case scenario you don't have to mow your lawn, worst case scenario is a tenant nightmare who sues you as you evict them because they want you to pay for all the times they mowed your lawn... Or they don't want rent to increase because mowing your lawn is worth X.  Or they want x,y,z updated because they mowed your lawn.  Yeah, just not worth it.

@Frank Patalano

So, would you recommend buying something even if it isn't a great deal?  I did buy my first house hack back in November and I learned a lot from that already.  I'm just reluctant to buy something where I could just be breaking even for a while when I could keep looking for a bit longer to see if I can get a deal I'm happy with.  If I take a year then that's obviously not ideal, but if I take a few more months I don't feel I have much to lose.  Any thoughts?

Right now, it's find a deal where the numbers work. Too many of them would immediately be bad deals with even a minor downturn in the market. My plan is to look at every potential property near me, make offers where the numbers make sense. If that doesn't work, I'll start looking into potentially going after foreclosures and doing a BRRRR. Or, I'll just be patient and save more. I think it's easier to get good deals on the more expensive properties since there's a bigger barrier entry. Or I'll look into partnering. We shall see.

What's to say he won't commit another felony... At your property.  That sounds like a huge potential mess and a huge risk.  I'd also add that once you accept one felon then there's this slippery slope of having to decide if you accept more felons in the future.  Eventually one of them is going to make your life hell.  This is a definite no from me, dawg.  

@Tchaka Owen

I'm from Reston, but I don't actively invest in the area because it's pretty expensive.  I'm looking at this property specifically: https://www.hubzu.com/property/87915726934-419-LIN...

I don't have enough to purchase it, but at some point I will be able to purchase properties like this one.

@James Wise

Ahaha, yes I fully plan to avoid that.  It's sounding like going straight up to a property unannounced is definitely not a good idea