All Forum Posts by: Anh Truong

I wouldn't jump the gun on this one.

Most people are intrigue by how i got started and what inspired me.. I started watching a tv show about a family who lived in NY, they would live in the condo they renovate and sell it to multi millionaires. They move from one condo to the next and made millions. 

Their was another T.V show about a REI company flipping houses through South Carolina and North Carolina. These tv shows inspired and motivated me to do real estate investing. Plus i was artistic so i had the vision. When the housing market collapse during 2011 (know there was before that), there was massive foreclosures everywhere. Houses were dirt cheap, most of these houses would compare to the value of great depression. I wanted to buy a house that i can afford. I bought a ranch house for 30k, i renovated it, and rent it out $1000 per month. Once the housing market gradually went back up, i sold it for 140k. Purchase more homes, did the same thing and grew my equity..... I believe real estate market is the same as buying stocks, you buy them low and sell them high.

Many people have unrealistic goals. The downfall of many real estate investment is bad evaluation and getting too attach with their REI. I seen many people who made bad purchases and pour tons of money into fixing the property. They don't analyze the comps in the neighborhood. They get overly too attach and customize the property with high finishes as if their going to move right in. Another thing is location, one guy i spoke to made a purchase in the ghetto because it was cheap neighborhood. He soon find out no one wanted to purchase or rent in that neighborhood. The thing that gets me most, is all these seminars. My friend signed me up for one, It sounded like a scam at first, but they did have a lot of valid points. I'm not trying to knock it down, but i didn't buy into it. I believe if you have that vision, then youre able to see the finish product. Most people dive in with no vision, steps to take, and only outlook on the money. . In short summary it' about analyzing the comps, forecasting the market, finding great people to work with, and not get too attach to something youre going to sell in a short amount of period. The list goes on... Their are people who watch from the sideline, and then theirs people who achieve their goals.

 Exactly, he won't make enough annual rental income due to the fact he still has a huge mortgage payment on it. From my other post i told him to invest in smaller properties as they make good cash flow. 

In 10 years if he /she continues to rent it, it will pay itself off, but do you really want to wait that long? or do you want to maximize your profit? 

Take me for example, in 2013 i bought a house for 95k, borrowed 60k, my monthly mortgage was $200-300 non fix rate (paying off most of my principle). It would take me 5 years to pay it off. I rented it out for $1200 per month for the next 2 years. I couldn't purchase any other property because all my cash was invested into this property. While i was missing out on many flipping opportunities, I decided to sell. It was sold on the market for 160k in 2015. I paid back the bank $40k (paying off most of my principle). Now, i have $100k leftover, bank told me i can borrow as much as i want from the 60k.. i bought two small house each one being $52k and 56k. Put 5-10k into renovating these houses, sold one for 120k and the other for 140k. Guess what? I'm not in debt, quadruple my income in 4 months. I have more money to invest, with those two houses it can create 4 more investment properties.  

I will explain to you why he should sell, as I was in his situation. If he plans on renting multiple properties, he should have a huge lump sum as to allot it out proportianately. While many other investors are taking advantage of the low interest rates and flipping opportunities, he is stuck on that property (probably paying a high mortgage rate)... 

-not having enough cash to invest in more properties

-If he does  decide on flipping and earning lump sum, he can purchase enough properties to rent. 

-  real estate market has gone up everywhere and that includes smaller properties. 

- that huge lump of sum can invest in smaller properties, they're worth a lot of money and will increase in value overtime.  

Take it off the market for two weeks..(If it stays on the market too long, buyers will know you're desperate to sell at a lower price) thus you need to dissapear to work on the house. 

Fix up the curb appeal, get rid of the patches. Research comps in the area in terms of sq ft. Don't limit yourself to redfin, it has to be on the MLS market. Mostly, what a lot of people has suggested in this thread.

As a land lord and property investor, i had some bad run in with property managers. I often travel to other cities and rent for a couple of months.  First they want a credit check, which i dont have credit because everything is paid with cash. My means of income is my rental, so there goes proof, they dont want any of that. It's already hard to rent jumping through hoops, once you sit at the other end of the side, you know what it feels like. it's tough. And offcourse their property were sitting on the market for more than 6 months. 

30k sounds like a lot, most realtors estimate the cost of fixing my property. One of my realtor came in and told me to put 30k into fixing it.  There was no kitchen, it needed paint everywhere, replace damage hard wood flooring, new heat pump, rewiring of electrical wires and an extra bedroom added onto the house.  I ended up spending 10k for the labor excluding the materials.. Ok call me frugal, but i made a profit of 60k on that property. 

I found some nice used kitchen cabinets for $400, instead of spending 5k-10k on cabinets. There were so many cabinets i had left overs. Tip: bought most of my materials from craigslist. :)

If I was in your position, i would buy up small real estate properties in a desirable neighborhood and below market price. I've never invested in apartments, so i dont know. I find them hard to sell. You should be able to hire a property managment company, if you decide to buy in bulk. It's a good passive income. Another great thing is if your city allows Airbnb you can double your expected income to 400k or more. 

I would not spend a huge lump sum  on an investment property.

In business there is always competition. My mindset is every investor whom i cross path with is a competitor.  I'm in it for myself, and i don't need a partner.