All Forum Posts by: Ben Ashburn

 Great advice, Gareth- thanks very much.  I'm not too educated on this yet, but in what little I've learned so far I need to find great deals on properties to provide a cushion as you mentioned.  I live in Austin, TX and the market here seems to be strong, but definitely overpriced too.

Interesting idea about China.  I'll do some thinking on that one.

Thanks again

 Thank you Bjorn!  I am definitely considering keeping the house and renting it out.  That would be the safest and quickest way to get started.  I'm going to have to look into syndicators- not familiar with that term yet but because of good folks like you I'm already learning a lot.

Thanks again

@Account Closed This is excellent info- thanks very much.  My wife and I are actually planning a nice vacation for our family just like you mentioned.  I do want to take it slow and a 6 month pause sounds good, and I definitely don't want to get into any kind of partnerships, etc.  I have a 20 year construction background, so in addition to buying and holding properties, I am also very interested in the fix and flip.  Possibly flipping houses to create the revenue for down payments on rental properties.

This has turned out to be a great forum to become a sponge and learn from good folks like you.  Glad I ran across it.  Thanks again for your input!

@Tim Johnson yes, it will take a while to process all of this, and you're right about not doing anything fast and stupid.  That was the main reason I wanted to reach out to the good folks like you here willing to offer some advice.

I've actually been a landlord before, and although it has its headaches, I'm still convinced that it's a great way to ensure a solid retirement.

Thanks much

@Gretchen P., thanks for your reply. I have thought about renting out the house. It's definitely doable and only needs some minor repairs and cleaning/painting. The main issue is that it's in Missouri and I live in Austin, TX. However, I still have family in town there and I would also get a property management company to take care of it for me since the cash flow would be free and clear. Then I was thinking about doing a HELOC or something similar on that house to put 20% down on another rental here in Austin. I would then use the cash flow from both properties to pay off the HELOC asap and then keep doing it.

I recently ran across Biggerpockets and immediately became hooked. I’m writing because of a unique circumstance and I’m hoping to solicit some advice from more experienced folks on how to best deal with it.

Recently, within a three month period, both of my parents died of cancer. Although I wish the circumstances were different, due to my dad’s wisdom and hard work I will be inheriting about $100k in cash and also a house with no mortgage worth another $100k. I want to turn this money into passive income and also use it as leverage to make a career of investing in real estate. I’m 42 years old and hope to have many years ahead of me to build a portfolio to leave for my family someday.

In light of all that, I’m hoping for advice. If you were me, knowing what you know now, what would you do with this windfall to produce the best results?! Although I’d like to become a full time investor as soon as I can, I know this is best viewed as a long term plan. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I want to make my folks proud of what I do with it and grow it into something wonderful to leave my kids someday.

Thanks,

Ben

I recently ran across Biggerpockets and immediately became hooked. I’m writing because of a unique circumstance and I’m hoping to solicit some advice from more experienced folks on how to best deal with it.

Recently, within a three month period, both of my parents died of cancer. Although I wish the circumstances were different, due to my dad’s wisdom and hard work I will be inheriting about $100k in cash and also a house with no mortgage worth another $100k. I want to turn this money into passive income and also use it as leverage to make a career of investing in real estate. I’m 42 years old and hope to have many years ahead of me to build a portfolio to leave for my family someday.

In light of all that, I’m hoping for advice. If you were me, knowing what you know now, what would you do with this windfall to produce the best results?! Although I’d like to become a full time investor as soon as I can, I know this is best viewed as a long term plan. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I want to make my folks proud of what I do with it and grow it into something wonderful to leave my kids someday.

Thanks,

Ben

I recently ran across Biggerpockets and immediately became hooked. I’m writing because of a unique circumstance and I’m hoping to solicit some advice from more experienced folks on how to best deal with it.

Recently, within a three month period, both of my parents died of cancer. Although I wish the circumstances were different, due to my dad’s wisdom and hard work I will be inheriting about $100k in cash and also a house with no mortgage worth another $100k. I want to turn this money into passive income and also use it as leverage to make a career of investing in real estate. I’m 42 years old and hope to have many years ahead of me to build a portfolio to leave for my family someday.

In light of all that, I’m hoping for advice. If you were me, knowing what you know now, what would you do with this windfall to produce the best results?! Although I’d like to become a full time investor as soon as I can, I know this is best viewed as a long term plan. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I want to make my folks proud of what I do with it and grow it into something wonderful to leave my kids someday. 

Thanks,

Ben