All Forum Posts by: Tim G.

@Frank Patalano

I tend to have the mindset that "doing real estate" strictly means buying/selling but in reality I know it can mean much more. I try to educate myself as much as possible which has helped me narrow down which strategy I want to start with. 

I have to legally stay in my SFH until next September before we can move out. At that time I will rent our SFH and FHA us in to a 4 plex to start out. From there I plan on adding another property to our portfolio at least every 1-2 years. It is frustrating having to wait but I know it will pay off.

Awesome! Keep me posted please.

It's been a while but I would really like to join your next call. 

Just wanted to bump this thread to see if any other RI investor friendly agents are out there? 

I have always thought HD was cheaper for most things but Lowes has a bigger selection. However I always check both places before deciding where to purchase a product. 

This is exactly my goal as well for the RI area. It is truly a competitive market and finding properties to just break even on is difficult. Since I am paying about $800/month for my current SFH I would not accept a property where I would be more than -$200/month cash flow as it would not be worth it. However we will be renting out our SFH with most likely $400+/month cash flow as well so the break even point would become much closer. I will also be going the FHA route as well as I want to repeat the process on several properties over the next 10 years. This allows me to keep all of my saved money for emergencies/other investments, I like a big cushion. Not having access to the MLS seems to be the biggest hurdle to get over when looking for a property in RI as they seem to come on/off the market within days. What are some strategies you use for locating potential properties in a competitive area?

Pm'd everyone, thank you for all of your responses!

Refinancing has been a consideration but we are also utilizing the MCC program (20% of your mortgage interest back per year) which does not allow pulling out cash when refinancing. You are only allowed to refinance to get a lower rate. Although I do feel like our rate is to high given my FICA and our financial situation so was considering it anyway. If we could do 5% down on a conventional (our SFH has a conventional) that would be incredible. Are there opportunities to do this that are not first time home buyer programs?

With the MCC as consideration, our total house payment is around $800/month and I estimate we could get around $1200-1300 in rent. Of course, if we rent it out that MCC goes away and would raise our house payment to $950/month so that must be a consideration. Our purchasing power is very good right now since we have been living an increasingly frugal life over the past 5 years and have been eliminating all debt and expenses. Coupled with an excellent credit score it puts us in a perfect position for this opportunity. Finding MFH's south of Warwick/Coventry seems to be difficult but I have found a few so far that would perform well on paper. I wanted to find a place closer to work so I could bike to work instead of driving but I am not sure if that would be possible. 

Hello BP!

I have owned my SFH for about 3 years now and want to actually start my real estate investing career by purchasing a MFH and "house hacking" it to break even or turn a profit. This seems to be the most logical way to break into investing since I would be using an FHA to purchase the property and then refinancing out of it when the proper LTV is reached to move on to another. My question is should I consider renting my SFH or should I just sell it? We love the home but if I can cut our living expenses by $10K/year I will gladly do it and SO is on board. Based on my area and property, it would cashflow roughly $200-300/month after vacancy etc. On the other hand we have about $25-30K of equity at this point. Any other factors I should be considering?