All Forum Posts by: Ben Lin

Hi @Keelan Niemandt  
Taiwan is a great country to visit. Friendly people, great food and so much culture and history. Taiwan is definitely one of the most underrated tourist destinations in Asia. 

As for your question I am pretty sure you can do it with some lenders but you have to put like 40-60 percent down. With a big down payment the lender will not carry any risk because I don’t think housing prices in the US will drop 40 or more percents in the coming years. 

For smaller down payment I am not confident you can get a loan but may be someone in BP knows better than I do. 

You should research more where you want to invest. The US is a very big country. Maybe you can start looking at a city where you have visited the most? Maybe a city where you can find a good Taiwanese beef noodle and a good South African bobotie?

Good luck to you.

3% in KY is definitely a no for me. I may accept 3% in CA but definitely not in KY. I won't even accept 3% in CO and FL.

3% return in KY means the property is way too expensive. You should look harder or buy in another location with better return.

Good luck to you. 

Not going to be easy for you to find a partner with 0 experience and 0 income. You have to bring something to the table. If I were you I would learn everything about how to find good deals and how to correctly calculate the numbers. When you find the deals, you'll find your partners. 

Go get your RE license, start networking like there is no tomorrow, learn everything about creative financing and most importantly do not leave your paying job yet. You're still young thus you should be working 18 hours/ day for the next few years so you dont have to work 8-10 hours a day for the next 30 years.

Lastly live as frugal as possible and save every penny :-)

Good luck.

If they are good people, you should definitely consider it. At the end of the day, good people will be good tenants and they will respect your property.

@Jonathan Greene I second your opinion.

I think I didnt make myself clear. My bad. I was talking about 100K as a down payment, not a cash purchase at 100K. To get a nice duplex/ triplex that will cash flow you need to buy something around 400 or 500K. OFC I agree 100K homes are located in a very high risk area.

Hi @Xavier Burgos

Good that you're thinking about investing and house hacking when you're only 19. I wish I started investing in RE when I was in my 20's. With your mind set and hard work I am betting you will be a multi millionaire in the future. You're definitely not too young to invest into a rental property.

NYC is such a big market with so many sub markets. You have to find out where you want to invest and househack. Is it in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens or Bronx? Then there are so many different sub markets in those boroughs.

OFC the best is to save 20% of the purchase price. So if your purchase price is 1M, then you would need at least 200K. There are many other financing options for you. I would highly recommend you watch Biggerpockets youtube video where they interviewed Pace. He talked about creative financing and the info he gave in that episode was all gold, especially for young people like yourself.

For me personally NYC is the best market to buy in the US right now if you have the money. Why? Because prices have not increased and in some areas prices are even lower than 2016-2019 market, while the rest of the US are seeing 25-40% increase in prices. And with inflation at 20-25% you're basically buying NYC properties at 35% to 40% discount inflation adjusted if compared to 2016-2017 prices. 

Lastly this pandemic will end one day. We just dont know when, but it will end one day. Probably by the end of this year or mid way next year? And when that happens guess what? People will flock back to NYC because NYC is the greatest city on earth and it is also the capital of the world. Any NYC broker will tell you that people are already starting to move back to the city, that's why the rents are going up and selling prices are inching higher everyday. NYC is like Paris, London, Moscow and Shanghai mashed into one city LOL. Who doesn't want to live there? 8 out of 10 people want to give NYC a try. If you can make it in NYC you can make it anywhere - Jay Z LOL.

Good luck to you. Keep working on your credit score and income. Maybe add one or two income streams if you can. While you're young you should try to save every penny and live as frugal as possible so you'll have some money when opportunity knocks.

Hi @Antonia Hyman,

I would buy in Philadelphia. Philly is the 6th borough of NYC anyway, LOL.

You'd need a good agent to guide you in Philly because just like NYC one block can be a night and day situation. I would focus on gentrifying neighborhoods like University City area up to some parts of West Philly. University City area will surely keep gentrifying for the next few years because the area is anchored by two big universities (one of them is UPENN). UPENN also has a home buying program for their staff where they will pay closing costs and help them with a forgivable down payment loan.

In Philly your 100K can buy a nice duplex or triplex that will cash flow and appreciate nicely if you find the right property. I am not sure what other investors think of Philly but for me Philly market is one of the rarest markets in the US that can generate satisfactory cash flow and appreciation at the same time, if you buy in the right neighborhoods.

Lastly do what works best for you. You know your situations best. For example I dont feel comfortable buying in rural areas or in the burbs.  I just love cities. So that's where I will invest my money. Just make sure you crunch the numbers a thousand times before you commit to buying anything. 

Good luck to you. 

Now is the best time to sell. But it is also the worst time to buy in SoCal. Do you have to pay taxes on your capital gain? If not I would sell it, pocket the cash and keep looking for a new place. Who knows maybe inventory will go up next month as spring approaches. 

Being a landlord in LA and not cash flowing is not a good combo. But at the end of the day, do what's best for you. You know your situations best.

Good luck to you. 

Hi @DongHui Patel

Depending on your age. If youre still young, hey I think Long Beach is the only cheap coastal area in SoCal with almost 500,000 residents. The area will continue to gentrify and more and more people will move in to the city. Who knows in a few years it may even look like Venice Beach. And dont forget, the Olympics is coming to Long Beach (and LA) in 2028. So I am pretty sure the city will be so much nicer before 2028.

You need to find out if the property is rent controlled or not. Rent controlled buildings are pain in the butt I must say. LA Housing Department checks and inspects your building every 4 year and you have to pay yearly fees as well. During inspection they will find something for you to fix. Something is always not up to the code as the codes are always changing in CA. And if your tenants are not paying, well you're looking at 6 - 12 months to get them out if you have a good lawyer.

But if you're not so young, investing that 750K somewhere OOS would bring you a lot more cash flow each month. You can easily cash flow about $5000/ month or more if you find the right property OOS. And for me I dont really like multi families with more than 4 units. I rather buy several multi families than purchasing one multi with 2.4 million dollars. That's a lot of money. In the Mid West you can buy 20-30 units with that kind of money and generate 7-9 percent possibly more. You also spread your risks with smaller multi family.

At the end of the day, do what works for you best. Other people will give your their opinions but you know your situations best. Calculate the numbers very carefully and follow your heart. 

Good luck to you!