All Forum Posts by: Brandon Wagner

I always recommend picking up a house hack as your first investment.  It is like having training wheels on a bike when you learn to ride.   

You get better interest rates/loan terms.  Better down payment options, you live in the property you rent which makes management 30X easier. If you end up not liking the landlord game you can always keep the home and live there. 

A lot of lenders can still qualify you off of 1099 income.  Reach out to someone you may be pleasantly surprised that you can still get a loan that way.  The RIF might make that tricky, but you never know until you try.  

I'm all for keeping real estate whenever it's possible. You mentioned above you could easily fund the extra 1500 or so a month in negative cashflow.   That's about 18,000 per year.   Comparatively if you get 5% appreciation on a property that is worth about 1.2M that is 60,000 per year on paper.  Factor in some tax benefits and loan paydown, I think it is starting to look easier to decide.  Try to take the emotion and risk out of it, and think about the numbers.   

It ultimately boils down to are you okay with losing say 20K a year in cashflow to make 60K+ a year in appreciation?

One thing to make sure you factor in is the cost of your new home in the DMV area.  Run some quick numbers on that to get a feel for your new monthly payment.  DC is actually relatively cheaper cost of living than the Bay area so that is promising too.  Can you still afford to lose $1500 per month with another rent/mortgage payment too?

Hey Shoreh, 

I still find some cashflowing deals in the Hyattsville, Adelphi, College park areas.   

Can also do Baltimore of course. (little risky just have to know the area)

I don't know the Harper's Ferry area as well from real estate perspective, but I love to visit.  

Hey Dan, happy to chat with you in more detail.  I know some Private money folks.  some look for just debt, some will do equity. Usually they want to see some experience though if they go down that route.  (It give a better chance that there will be some profit that they get to take some of)

Quote from @Jo Bautista:

Deciding between selling vs renting out a single family with 5 bed/3.5 bath. I don't have to sell but I will be out of state so I will need a property manager. Will it be more beneficial as a short term rental since it's somewhat close to Washington, DC? How about making it a mid-term rental? Are houses in that location more appropriate for long term rental? 

For the said property the Zillow Rent estimate is $3500/mo ;  rentOmeter average is $3700 and median is $3800.

@Jo Bautista

In general I always recommend keeping properties and renting them out, especially if they cash flow.  As long as all of your expenses are about $500+ less than the rental income I'd say it definitely makes sense to keep as a rental.  You can save 300 or so a month for reserves and still cashflow 200+ a month.

If you realize the management/process is too complicated or a pain, or no one wants to rent your specific home, you can always pivot and sell the home then.  Obviously you can't sell you home first, then pivot to renting it out.  Only other way I'd recommend selling is if you can take your net income and invest it into a better opportunity. 

I did a little research for you.  I'll preface this with I don't know the condition or square feet of your house, which are both large factors for determining the rent.  That being said, unless your property is over 3500 total square feet, ideally closer to 4,000 sq ft or more, I don't think I can justify a rent of over $3,300 on a long term basis after looking at the comps.  

For Medium term rentals, check out Furnishedfinder.com as a good place to get estimates for what you could rent your place for on a medium term basis.  

Welcome to the group Caleb.  I'm always looking for good GC's and investors.  I love talking real estate and deals with all.

Quote from @Jack Kolton:

What's up everybody,

My name's Jack, I'm from Alexandria Virginia and currently a sophomore at the University of Colorado. I'm really interested in pursuing Real Estate Investing in the future and am looking for a way to learn and gain experience while I continue to stack the capital for a downpayment.  

I just wanted to see if anybody on here had any recommendations on ways to get experience and mentorship as a young person in the field before actually starting to invest. I'm really looking to find something I can do along with school or during the summer. Whether its property management, or home improvement, or anything else I'd love to hear about any way to get real world experience before I'm ready to start buying. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas I'd appreciate any input. 

Thanks!

Greg had some great ideas.   I'd also add on you could start wholesaling/cold or warm calling.  You could do this for anyone in the real estate business. (PM's, Lenders, Agents, Investors, etc)  Many people would be stoked for you to call their lists to help them generate business.  (old clients, new leads, random tax record lists (FSBO, Pre foreclosure etc) You can do this remote and just book appointments for anyone in the real estate industry.  If you put in the work, you can get paid for this, and they would be willing to share their knowledge with you. It's a win-win.

Quote from @Vikas Kalra:

Any recommendations for excellent property manager for a rental property in Woodbridge area? 
Thank you

 I have a good PM in the area.  I'll message you

Welcome Olena!  A lot of business can be done through BP.  I'm happy to talk investing anytime.  I also understand the realtor side of the equation too.  Good luck on your investing journey.

Quote from @Behzad Sharifi:

I looked up a lot of properties through Zillow, and used the bigger pockets calculator to analyze it. The results surprised me, so basically properties which are expensive than 300k are not making cash flow. And the other properties which make cash flow are in a bad environment or a bad neighborhood. So any advice or suggestions? 

You're not too far off here.   This NOVA area is hard to cash flow for sure.  Usually takes about 40% down payments to break even with the current interest rates and prices.  Of course every deal is different.  So usually you need more cash or you need to get creative.  

Can you rent Medium term or furnished to increase rents?  Can you rent by the room to increase rents?  

Do you need to look further out from NOVA to get your deals.  Out of state or hours away?

Can you assume a mortgage with a lower interest rate that will cash flow?

Do you want to just go for the appreciation in this market and realize that making 3%+ appreciation per year is more than you'll ever receive in cash flow a year.