All Forum Posts by: Alyssa Paros

It truly depends on the property and your comfort level. First, the numbers needs to work for you and you need to understand ALL the numbers. Will the turn key company be managing? What are their fees? How do they handle repairs, etc?

You need to do extensive due diligence to make sure the turn key company is legitimate and a good business decision. Being a new investor, you can imagine that it may be more difficult to do this as you don't have as much experience as a seasoned investor. Not impossible, but more difficult.

Also, there is something to be said with getting your hands dirty and learning the ropes of investing. Personally, I want to learn the ins and outs and grow out of the position of being "on call." We're gaining more profit by self managing and growing quicker than if we did turn key.

However, there are plenty of people who make money and succeed buying turn key. So, again, it isn't good or bad. It's looking at what you want your margins to look like and what you want your portfolio to look like.

 We definitely had multiple midnight working sessions. Try prioritizing your work to be louder earlier or on the weekends and quieter in the evenings. For instance, cut tile earlier in the evening and separate into several evenings or do the whole floor on a weekend day. Save painting, fixture installation for later in the evening. Even plumbing for the evening.

I wouldn't necessarily check in with your tenants constantly about the renovations, just a conversation explaining that there could be loud noises, that you'll try to respect the clock, and you expect to be done by such and such date.

A little communication can go a long way with tenants.

I have been involved with an MLM for a little over a year now. I am mildly successful, bringing in about $300 a month with a monthly expense of $100. This is prior to taxes. To get to the next level, I'd really have to amp up the time I'm spending on it. I currently spend about 6 hours a week on it. But, we invest in real estate and it feels like it is just such a better vehicle for wealth. We've gained 8 units that all follow the 2% rule in the past 18 months. I have learned several invaluable skills like marketing, sales, and the power of social media by being involved, but I'm not sure it's worth my time, especially still working full time with a toddler and plans for #2 soon. Should I continue to pursue it as another avenue of wealth? Or should I not worry about it and focus solely on real estate? 

Has anyone used an MLM to springboard further into real estate?

I should add, it's a bit sticky as my up line is one of my best friends and I'm one of her largest legs.

What kind of renovations are you doing? We've renovated multiple times working full time with other tenants in the building. We save the loud stuff for during the day on the weekend or before, say, 8:00 PM on a weeknight. I would certainly let your tenants know what you're up to and what they can expect, your estimated completion date, etc. It would also be helpful to ask their schedule if they have small children. Not a requirement, but nice. You don't owe the tenant an explanation, but I'm sure they would appreciate it!

Under FHA, you need to live in the property for 1 year. Unless extenuating circumstances arise: you got a new job our of the area, you have a baby and the property no longer works for you, etc. No need to refinance, but there is a max number of FHA loans you can have. Not a super big issue with investors, but it's there.

If you're refinancing outside of FHA to a conventional loan, it doesn't matter if you live there or not. The loan is treated the same. Living on the property is a stipulation of FHA loans, not mortgages in general.

As far as the SFH and doing a vacation rental, I'm not sure if that is an issue as I'm not familiar with how the FHA loan reads. Most issues I see people have with vacation rentals arise from the area they live in, not the loan itself. Look at your locate laws regarding short term rentals.

You shouldn't have any issues with an in-law suite or guest house. According to FHA, this is still your primary residence, it's just which bedroom are you sleeping in.

And as long as you have no issues with your prior FHA, there should not be any issues moving into another quadplex later.

So as a wife, I can see where she's coming from. My husband (@Nicholas Paros) and I are both building our real estate portfolio while working full time W2 jobs. We are putting all of our profits back into the business, but plan to pull them out to live on when we need to contribute more time to property management or we can live completely on our rental income and still have money left over to invest into more real estate.

It sounds like your wife feels like she's not part of your plan. Like 'Yay, you get to live your dream and do real estate, but I'm here hating my life.' She feels like she's at the short end of the stick.

I work 4 days a week right now, my husband works 5. Would I love to work 3 days, 2, even be done? With a toddler, yes. Definitely. But that would be selfish. We're in this together and I'd much rather my husband be able to take a small step back before I stopped working. We're sharing the stress load, it's easier to bare that way.

I understand wanting to grow as quickly as possible, but you should know that your marriage is the most important thing. So much more important than money.

What if you paid yourself enough to cover your wife going part time? That way, she feels taken care of and you're going back to a place of an "us" plan. I will add that there is a difference between reinvesting your profits and allowing your lack of profits to be masked by "reinvesting in the company."

She needs to feel heard. She wants to be part of the team. Part of the plan.

It's not fair for you to have all the joy and for her to have all the burden. You're a team. Make her part of it.

I sounds like you need a partner. Start with your local REIA or any real estate investor connections you can think of.

@Jake Thompson how much are you paying on the debt now? Are you making minimum payments or overpaying? I wouldn't tackle the 0% first. If anything, you'd want to start with the highest interest loan first. And would this BRRRR be exclusively for rental income? Or is it a house hack?

My husband and I started with student debt and decided on a hybrid of paying off our debt and investing, but we started with a much higher amount of debt.

My gut says Group A, but use yours.

@Nicholas Paros, interesting thread here