All Forum Posts by: Arthur Wang

@Ethan S.

I drive a Toyota Prius and have been for the last 5 years. At first it was a blow to the ego at the time of purchase because I was used to driving fun sporty-type cars and the mere thought of driving something "uncool" was hard to swallow. However I bought the car when gas was at an all-time high (think $5+/gallon), and the monthly gas expenses easily paid for the car payment at the time - it was a no brainer situation to switch cars for me. 

Fast forward a few years later, this has been my favorite and reliable car to date. It's comfortable, gets great mileage (50+ mpg), and is super easy on the wallet. At this point in my life, I'd rather go with a utilitarian vehicle that will get me from Point A to Point B. I have the freedom to drive as far as I want without worrying how much cash I'd have to shell out to get to and from. 

At the end of the day though, I think it depends on your goals and what you are actually needing the vehicle for. For me, I found myself needing to commute 100+ miles per day to get to work for a few years, and driving a sporty car that got me less than 20 MPG would have been horrible. Had I kept my old car, I would be further away financially from my investing goals. 

@Keith T.

I myself have looked into this option as a potential avenue to tap into. I have more specifically read into tapping my Roth IRA, which echoes the comments that have been shared already:

• Withdraw up to $10K (lifetime limit) towards home purchase 

• Must have account open for at least 5 years for distribution (if drawn under 5 years then tax + early withdraw penalty)

• Must be used within 120 days - Day 1 is when distribution is received

Resources:

http://www.rothira.com/blog/should-i-use-a-roth-to...

https://www.fool.com/retirement/iras/for-first-tim...

Survey completed.

@Lauren Hogan will you be sharing the results of the survey with BP? 

Hi @Account Closed - Here is something that I am currently reading through as I am finding my niche in REI as well.

J Scotts Starting Out FAQs

Best of luck to you!

@Eren Del Rico Welcome to BP! I'm also in the SD area. Hopefully we can meet at one of the REIA meetups soon.

@Lee V. I have dealt with this similar situation when I was leasing out apartments for my previous company out here in California. I'm not sure how Texas works as well but these would be some questions that I would

I think in this scenario there are a few things that should be considered:

• What is the likeliness of your home being rented out in 6 months?
• What is the current renters' market like?  
• What is your tolerance/limit for how long a unit might sit vacant? I think this is important if you own only this one unit or have several units in your portfolio.

Anyways, regardless if she's trying to lease for 6 months or 6 years I would still make sure that I perform my due diligence on her background and rental history, which it sounds like you already plan on doing. 

Additionally I would consider different exit strategies to this lease. For example, what if your renter decides that she wants to exit the lease early? Is there a penalty for lease break? What happens to the rent? Is it treated as a credit thus refunded after the difference (penalty) is taken off? Again the answers to these questions may differ as my previous experiences were with California renters.

Hope the above info helps. 

@Lou Ruggieri - 

I am also in the same boat as you and am curious about what criteria experienced investors are using when gauging potential areas.

Currently I have been doing my research with the variables that you have listed plus some of the following: 

•Education System - How desirable are the schools? 

•Crime Rate - What kind of crowd will I have to worry about?

• Current and Future Infrastructure (freeways, airports etc) - Is it easy to get around? What conveniences are available?

Hoping that that I have added a few variables that you may consider in your research. Following to see if more are added to this thread.

Thank you @Bruce May for the intro to Sharad! Just sent PM. 

Thanks @J Silva and @Anissa Hernandez. Appreciate the warm welcome.

@Tom Ott thanks for the link - will read through immediately.

@Paul Hitchings - That I am. Having lived in LA, OC and now SD, I know that 10 homes will look more like 10+ years, if anything. I am in the midst at looking out-of-state concurrently to anything local worthy of a house-hack.