All Forum Posts by: Brandon Wagner

This sounds like a great idea!  I'd be interested as well. Reading is a fantastic way to learn, but ultimately taking action based on those books is the key to success, and moving forward!

Alex Hermosi has a great quote something to the effect of, "if you read a book and it doesn't change your actions, then you ultimately didn't learn anything."  It is a tough pill to swallow for most people, but it does make a lot of sense.

The best option is to find some property managers in your area, who can advise you.  (Tough if you don't plan on using them in the end, but they might share the details with you anyway)  

For free you can easily go to Zillow.com and instead of searching for-sale homes, search for homes for rent.  Rentometer.com is also a good option.  

A lot of people get caught up in the analysis of this.  Don't spend too long waiting to put it for rent.  If you post your home for rent and have a ton of demand, increase the price. If demand is super low, decrease the price. 

Best of Luck!

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)

@Carol Bahou If the low down payment is your biggest barrier to entry, than I'd suggest you think about your issue in a different way.  Would you consider moving out of your primary, and renting that home.  Than move into a new primary for yourself.  Then you can get in with 3%-5% down payment options.  Would your current house Cash flow if you rented it out?

5-10K is unfortunately still very low for starting an investment property along the 270 corridor though.  I'd encourage you to continue saving up as well.

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)

My team has one in the area.  They renovated it so it looks much more modern to help it stand out from a lot in the area.  It seems to mostly be a market of weekend travelers from the general DC Metro area.  Weekdays are tough to get booked, but the weekends do well for us. A lot of 2-4 day stays around the weekends with a few longer stays here and there.  (So we're about 40%-50% occupied)

As mentioned calendar stalking is the best way to tell how different units are doing. Find an AirBNB that is similar to the deal you're looking at and look at there calendar.  I only go about 1 - 2 months out.  Most bookings are coming in within that time frame.  It's rare people cancel, but people do book last minute, within a week or 2, fairly regularly.

Best of luck on the property search!

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)

@Lucas Laria

Personal opinion, keep it and rent it!  Here is why.

1. You still get the same tax benefits if you sell in 2.75 years as you do right now.  If that's all you're wanting to sell for just sell later.

2. Most older investors I speak with, regret selling their properties.   It's only good to sell, if you have another deal or two to park the money into.  This day  in age, that is harder and harder to find.

3. You will learn how to be a landlord/manage property.  = Very valuable life skill

4. There is enough cash flow there you can eat a few mistakes along the way too.  

5. You still gain more appreciation over the next few years, tax benefits, loan paydown, rent increases, etc.

6. Cash flow of $900 per month in NOVA is FANTASTIC! Don't lose that opportunity.

7. Your goal is to own rental property. Keeping it aligns with your goal.

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)

@Zain Jafri As long as the following is true, I'd recommend the house hack now for sure.

(your mortgage) - (Rent from house hack) < (Rent you would pay for the same place)

With added factors of better taxes, loan paydown, appreciation this becomes a no brainer.

I recommend my clients to make decisions based on current situations, not speculating on future appreciation/rent growth, etc.  Make your decision about moving out/selling/upgrading your townhome, when that time comes down the line, and you know what the current environment is like.

In the northern VA area, there is always people looking for properties, that are cheaper/nicer than living in a larger condo/multi unit building.

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)

I'm an agent and super in love with buying real estate when it makes sense.  House hacking sooner than later is almost always the right answer, but maybe this time it's not.  Not to rain on your parade, but here are a couple more things to consider.

Cost of living in DC, vs Notre Dame, is a lot more expensive.  See link below.  Overall it is 2X as expensive.

https://www.bestplaces.net/cos...

I'd also be worried about having to pay for that wedding in a year or 2 if I was you. If it helps my wedding and most of my friends, have all been in the range of $20,000 - $30,000. You can easily spend $50,000+ if you aren't careful.

You also need to consider closing costs in your down payment as well. Even with FHA at 3.5% down, you're usually paying an addition ~ 3% in closing costs (unless you get seller to help with this) so that same $300,000 property you really need closer to 20K down than 12K.

I'd recommend paying off the debt now, getting enough saved up for the wedding, then worrying about the house hacking. After debt is paid, you'll be able to save faster for the wedding and house too.

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)

I also like to see where other investors are too. Even looking at Zillow for homes for rent, or Airbnb for homes that are available for rent can be helpful. If other investors already bought there, it's usually a good sign that you can buy there too.  Try to avoid areas that have a lot of similar homes for rent on the market already, unless you have something that makes your property stand out compared to theirs.

Similarly to what Chris mentioned, rely on local experts.  In addition to Property management, other agents in the area would be a good option as well.  They also will know parts of the city to avoid or purchase in.  Happy to send you an agent/investor in the area, if you'd like.  

Best of luck on the property search!

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)

Well I'm not the biggest fan of option 1 for obvious reasons of losing 4K a month.  

Option 2 definitely sounds better to me.  You'll want to find something that does have positive cashflow though.  Depending on how the market shakes out, you might be able to sell those properties when you leave Knoxville in a couple years, to buy your place in California.  

The way I look at something like this is you don't know what the future entails.  I base my decisions on my current situation.  Maybe you don't move back to Cali.  Maybe you don't move back for 5+ years.  Maybe you move somewhere else?

If you have money to deploy usually the sooner you do it the better. I'd also suggest an option of buying just 2 properties with larger down payments, that cash flow better instead of 3 that are basically break even.

I also know a good investor agent down there, if you're interested I'd be happy to connect you both.

Best of luck on your investing journey. Sounds like you're thinking the right way and you will certainly change your financial future for the better!

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)

I'd recommend using Thomas over at Home Property Management. 

https://homepropropertymanagem...

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LICENSED REALTOR Virginia® (#0225264736)