All Forum Posts by: Ben Lin

Is this your first deal? If yes I would suggest you start with an investment close to where you live. So if you live in LA then you should house hack before you invest out of state.

At the end of the day, no one can tell you accurately if you should house hack in LA or invest out of state. No one knows your situation better than you. Do what works best for you mentally, physically and financially.

Good luck. 

Hi @Ron Riffe,

Great that youre thinking about your retirement plan.

Pick a cash flow market where you feel comfortable with. You dont have to follow the latest trend such as investing in Huntsville, OKC or Cape Coral. Pick a market that works for you. For example, I like LA and NYC market for cash on cash return, but for cash flow I somehow really like Philadelphia market. I just like the city, and RE is still relatively cheap to generate reasonable cash flows. Definitely much better than LA and NYC.

The key is to find a good RE agent who can help you with your needs and criteria. I would interview 3 - 4 agents. Your agent can make or break you, especially if you are really dependent on your agent. You should watch BP podcast with David Greene where he talked about how to find a good agent who can help you with your investment property. I think the podcast just came out last week.

Lastly I would make the move sooner rather than later because as a saver your money is losing value fast. We are only at the very beginning of inflation cycle.

Good luck sir!

Actually home prices haven’t gone up in value since 2019. Our money has lost 20-30 percent of purchasing power (value) since 2019. 

Every crash happened because of something big like the last one in 2008. Unless we see a world war 3 or another financial crash like in 2008 prices can’t and won’t come down, thanks to money printing and low interest rate. 

Even a big drop in the stock market will not bring prices down. If anything maybe a price correction if interest rate goes above 5-6 percent. 

Home prices in the US are still much cheaper than other developed countries in the world. Plus in most places it’s quite easy to rent them out and cash flow if you understand the numbers. So don’t let the gloom and doom crowd scare you from making your investment. The best time to invest was 10 years ago, the second best time is today. 

@Eric Hajdu gave you a sound advice.

I would make the move sooner than later because there are still deals to be had in BKLN. Not sure for how much longer because I am seeing a trend of people moving back to NYC from the suburbs and from other states, now covid restrictions are mostly eased. When the pandemic is over I am predicting a strong real estate market in NYC as people want to be in the city.

I've traveled all over the world and I can tell you there is no place on earth like NYC. NYC is the capital of the world, thus If the city doesn't make a come back we are all doomed LOL.

Good luck!

if the yield is similar, I would buy several smaller multi family homes because if I ever need some money in the future I can always sell one of them. 

It’s also easier to manage several duplexes or triplexes than let’s say a 12 unit building as surely you’d need a management company. With several small duplexes all you need at the beginning is a handyman and a plumber after you get tenanted. 

It’s also easier to build a good business relationship with your tenant with smaller buildings. And you will be less exposed and better protected because you will use several LLCs to own them. 

Hi Jim

Why would you wanna do seller financing in today's market? Why dont you take all your money and invest somewhere else to cash flow?

I think with 25% down your seller financing is not very attractive because most qualified buyers can get cheaper loan from banks with 20% down. So that would leave you with buyers that couldnt qualified for conventional mortgage. 

Of course unless youre offering 0 - 15% down.

You can transfer your deed and keep your mortgage with your bank using subject to sale agreement. Watch biggerpocket youtube with Pace.

Good luck to you! 

Hi Hieu,

Actually you dont really need a mentor in today's world. We now got podcasts and youtube videos! We got the internet! Most successful investors learned from taking actions, and they educated themselves by reading books, watching youtube video and listening to podcasts. Biggerpockets has so many great videos on youtube. If I were you I would watch 1 biggerpockets video per day starting with creative financing episode with Pace. What stopping most of us to invest in real estate? Most of us got no $$$, so we cant close deals. If you know the ins and outs of creative financing you already won 90% of the battle because you now have the ability to close deals.

Of course if you could find a real life mentor that would be the best scenario. 

Just remember the best athletes in the world coach themselves most of the time.

All the best!

It's difficult to comment without knowing the numbers involved. I think youre pretty set about selling your primary. As where to move, well it depends, if you want to save some money for your new business then rent somewhere cheaper than what youre getting from your rental. It's also less of a hassle as you know evicting your tenants is not as easy as it seems.

As for the kicker, yes you can move back in to your rental and build another SFR and rent it out. But do you have the money and most importantly time to build a new house? If you do, why not?

Investing your equity gain in the US is a good idea if you know where in the US to invest it. Good luck to you.