All Forum Posts by: Andrew Powers

@Michael Barger I agree with the above posts. 

The main thing I thought of when reading your post is "be patient". You have time (and money) to cover yourself. Don't put the arbitrary pressure of "I need to figure this out now". I understand you are choosing classes and you want to do things as efficiently as possible, but be patient and know that life things time and trial & error! If you need more time to think or dabble in real estate, you can either sign up for classes and think over the next semester (you have money to do this), or take a semester break. 

From a macro perspective, 4 years in college isn't alot of time, you can get great experiences / knowledge, and your degree is applicable to real estate itself. BUT most things are available online to learn, unless there's some new emerging field that only can be learned in college.

Being your age, you have the luxury of time to figure out and hone in on what you want to do. Be a sponge to learn as much as possible and make sure you give things an honest chance to determine if you like it or not. Every path has it's difficulty, it's just choosing what difficulty you can and want to go through. Write it out on paper to keep things clear in your mind.

@Alexandra Hagerman Welcome to BP! You are in the right place to learn REI. Search around the forums, go to the bookstore tab above, listen to BP Podcast and Real Estate Rookie Podcast. My immediate book suggestion would be to read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

While you are in the pre house purchase phase: network, learn as much as you can, and pay off your debt! These things worked well for me, though I had some student loan debt (paid off now) when I first purchased my house.

As you get closer to buying your first house, seriously consider house hacking (live in the house while renting out rooms and/or the other unit(s) in the property. This will reduce or eliminate your living expenses and you can often get better financing options as a primary residence.

Let me know if you have any Real Estate or local topics you want to discuss!

Welcome to BP. Make sure you look at local laws for residing in a basement (i.e. if allowed, egress), and for ADU's (i.e. if allowed, zoning, costs to build), and renting rooms (i.e. max number of occupants).

I suggest joining local REI FB groups to gain more market knowledge and confirm demand of room renting / Airbnb / long term tenant.

Covid may not be around forever(?), but it could impact your strategy temporarily. Just consider it as you target a niche.

I agree with Gavin, get to know your target markets by studying properties for sale and for rent. Drive and walk neighborhoods your interested at different times of the day and week / weekend. That's how I got familiar with the town my house hack is in.

I like how earlier BP podcasts summed it up... in partnerships you can have Hustle, Money, or Knowledge. If you have little money, "hustle" is a good bet... be the partner who is finds the deals, or rehabs the property, or property manages. Put in "sweat equity" while your partner(s) put in the money.

There's also creative ways of financing that can get you into a deal with little or no money. I suggest searching the forums for this.

IF you are looking to cashflow immediately, have you looked into alternative ways of finding deals? Like through wholesalers or finding off market properties yourself? Might be an option if immediate cashflow is important to you. 

Congrats! How did you get no pmi? Didn't know that was a thing under 20%! I did the same first time home buyer loan at 3% for my house hack, it was very nice for conserving cash.

Welcome to BP, see bookstore and listen to the podcasts. At the end of each episode, guests recommend real estate and business books to read.

What is the goal with buying your next properties? Is the thought of selling just to have extra cash on hand? You could make it win-win by keeping the property / using the equity to get a HELOC to be used toward the next property.

Was the appraisal low during refinance process?

@Michael Donnadio Welcome to BP! I recommend to educate yourself as much as possible. Listen to the BP podcasts, read suggested books, search the forums, etc. Take notes and make lists for yourself for how to wholesale, tips and tricks, financing options, etc. Taking in the information and putting it into a usable format will help you become ready to make creative deals!