All Forum Posts by: Alexander Zurn

@Michael Pereira it sometimes sounds like that but I bet they are saying REI - Real Estate Investing/Investor Meetups or Groups

Look one up in your area - try googling Real Estate Investing group in Rockville MD - I'm sure there is one down or around there.

Good luck!

@Chris Chesser I would save as much money as you possible can right now. Having a number to reach can be helpful but I found having a % to save each paycheck much better. To answer the question directly though, I think having DP, Closing Costs, 3-4 months PITI, & 2-4k in reserves you'd feel pretty confident.

Don't forget though to be saving for other expenses in your life (i.e. car payment, insurance, debt payments, etc.). I found it best to save x% for a house, x% towards car payment, x% towards debt payment, x% towards personal, x% daily expenses. I always pay myself x% for the my house savings and depending on that number you'll have saved a lot in a little amount of time.

Frugality is a lifestyle!

@Cole Johnson search the document section of this site! Smart do that, be careful of because sometimes the sellers can be very picky but always make sure you are covered (i.e. inspection, appraisal contingency, etc.). They may say you don't need those but always protect yourself.

Keep diligent logs of any correspondence as well.

Good luck!

@Laura Gianiotis those two markets are good from what I've read but continue to search online for articles on top RE markets in 2017. They will give you the names of cities and then you can go verify the demographics of those cities (i.e. population, jobs, future jobs, etc.). I know Tennessee has a lot of cities doing well, Philadelphia is doing better. They change often but it's important to understand WHY, HOW, and WHEN they will become "hot".

As far as being sold something, I would imagine people have told you to take advantage of the BP books, forums, podcasts, webinars, and blogs? If this is the case, listen! I can promise you we have all done it and that is how we grow our knowledge on these topics. If you are being sold on other things (again, not sure what), then you just have to filter in the good and out the bad, this site has much more good than bad (if any from my experience to be honest).

For instance, start with the Real Estate Investing Beginners Guide - it is a free ebook provided by BP. This is a quick 40 page read that outlines all the areas of real estate and will help guide you in the process of learning what you want to accomplish through Real Estate Investing and how to do it. More importantly, it will tell you what NOT to spend your money and time on and how to avoid "guru"-esq showcases.

Listen to a podcast too! The more you utilize the materials on this site, the more you will learn about REI.

Good luck!

@Tommy Barone I am in Newport and am in a similar situation. Prices are high, it's a sellers market and prime buying season. It took me almost a year and a half to find this property I am about to close on (MF, downtown Newport) - once rented it will pay for itself with some cash flow but until I move out I will be house hacking, I think this is the safest way to play it in this market, especially for my 1st rental.

The 4 benefits of rental properties are cash flow, equity, tax benefits, and loan paydown - with this deal I will be hitting 2 right off the bat (3 & 4) with the first two coming later, which is ok. You want to stay away from negative cash flow though... keep watching the market. In fact, watch that house - see when it goes off market. I wouldn't be surprised if the price drops before it is sold.

@Alexander Forrester completely agree with @Andrew Johnson - it is subjective to the property and investor. How do you define a Real Estate Empire? By having many commercial proeprties?

If that is the case, 1031-ing into 1 big property will leave you with 1 big commercial property. Refi-ing multiple properties will leave you with a few properties you have equity in that you can take out to invest in a commercial property. Then maybe down the road sell them and invest those in another commercial property. So now you have 2 commercial properties.

Obviously, the Empire is a long term play but based on what I think you mean, buying multiple properties (at great deals) might be better in building an "Empire" down the road as you will have multiple properties, a lot of equity in each of them and assets for way down the road to sell (and perhaps 1031 then) to get you another Commercial property to go with the one you purchase with your equity.

@Tony Reynolds what is your relationship with the long term tenant? Do you have a personal relationship where you can call and question this - if so, I'd suggest doing just that. If the long term tenants confirms or you have suspicions of him/her not being honest, consider warning said Tenant and inform disgruntled Tenant that you have issued a warning. I think transparency and communication will help greatly; with the disgruntled Tenant to give them peace of mind and that you have their back and with the long term tenant, that they know you are hearing bad things about them.

With that said, you do not want to exfoliate a hostile environment so if the disgruntled Tenant still wants to leave, I suppose it would come down to the verbiage in the lease and how comfortable you feel getting the place rented as quickly as possible.

@Stephen Wiater there are ways to avoid PMI, however, those ways typically include jacking up the rate to cover the loss of PMI.

Many lenders will offer a Lender Paid PMI and in order to cover their payment of it the rate will go from 4.25% to 5.25% (for example, not exactly that). If commited to going FHA, you'll have to pay for the PMI in some way shape or form.

Other options: you could try going conventional. Might I also suggest looking into New Jerseys First Time Homebuyer program. I believe they offer some type of down payment assistance that will help you keep the reserves you have saved up.

Look into here:  NJ State First Time Homebuyer - look for the Smart Start program

Good luck!

@Anthony Barbato I think you being there for the tenant to move in furniture would be the smart thing to do.

1. You can confirm this is what she is doing

2. You can offer a hand and get your landlord-tenant relationship started on the right foot

This will also allow you to keep an eye on everything coming in to the place and possibly give you peace of mind by seeing how organized/unorganized, clean/dirty the tenant might be based on her planning and furniture.

Maybe confirm with the Tenant that you will be there to unlock and lend a hand but I only see good coming from it

Good luck!

@Marc Belisle I've been watching rents for a while and I use these sites as well as the likes of Trulia & Zillow to keep tabs on everything. In searching for more sites I came across a HUD User site that determines this years rents based on a study done in 2015 (I believe). It calculates in inflation and elaborates on that calculations used. It's pretty good but not sure it's fully caught up. Give it a look!

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmrs/FY2017_code/2017summary.odn