All Forum Posts by: Caleb West

Just put our mail out closing papers in the mail for our property! Excited for the future and next steps. Analyzing deals and looking for deal #2 as well.

@Stevie Delacruz I am still new myself but being only a few years out of college I might be able to relate. I’d say do some or all of the following: 1. Read everything you can get your hands on. I wish I would’ve at a younger age 2. Go to local meet ups and get involved with other investors in your area 3. Find a mentor. But don’t call them a mentor. Somebody who is experienced and find a way to add value to their business (finding deals, helping manage, help find college aged renters if that is their market, etc depending on your skill set) 4. Listen to BP podcast as much as you can 5. House hack if you can - finding a SFR or duplex/triplex/quadplex and get your friends or classmates to live with you. Can cut $600-1000 rent (local numbers) in half while building equity. Might be able to get an investor to help make this possible. 6. Work in RE somehow. Maybe work for a property management company to learn that side of business Knowledge is huge. You don‘t know what you don’t know. I’ve definitely learned that a lot the last few months. It’s awesome that you’re starting so young! I wish I would’ve done that myself. Good luck in school and your future RE investing!

@Kurt Snyder

Thanks for the welcome! Had a lot of life changes the last 4 months with marriage and then beginning real estate investment so I've slipped on goal planning. But typing this Newbie post has been eye opening for me to step and rethink goals. That's part of the beauty of BP.

Thanks for the welcomes @Clifford Paul Yep...only issue I think of is managing and maintaining it. I’ll keep eyes peeled. There’s quite a few businesses coming in and doing that. Some real money can come from renting out your house to companies for living. Covering all bills, cleaning, maintenance, etc. I’ve heard rates as high as double standard rents on that. Not something I want to do as I still have a day job that might cause some COI with but an idea to say the least if you have contacts here.

Welcome David! I am also a fellow Newbie out in West Texas but have been curious about the Killeen market and interested in learning more. Would love to connect and chat about that.

Caleb

Good morning all,

I'm pretty new to BP and I guess my real estate investing career started right out of college, 2 years ago. I purchased my first home in Midland, TX and rented out 2 rooms to my friends. I actually under charged them for rent but it came out to where we split PITI and bills 3 ways and I still gained all the equity and tax benefits of home ownership. That definitely got me started with the itch but I've recently gotten married and my friends moved out and my wife moved in. I really started to pursue this dream more in May of this year. I am under contract for my first property in Lubbock, TX. It is a SFR currently leased through July 2019 that I'll be taking over. It's an older 4/2 home rented out to 4 college students which from my research draws higher rent than a single family living their. My next steps are to continue building a portfolio of solid SFRs and hopefully soon branch out into multifamily properties. Lubbock has quite a few SFR with a detached back building than helps draw additional rent and adds doors. This is something I am interested in as well. I chose the college rental market to start because being fresh out of school I am more familiar with these markets.

My goals aren't fully defined yet (working on that soon) but in the short term I hope to bring in enough passive income in the next 3-4 years that we can supplement my wife's salary giving her more freedom and flexibility as we look to start a family. 

Caleb

I also forgot to mention...the property is currently leased and under management of Location Rentals. I plan to reach out to them by weeks end to begin building that relationship.

I am actually under contract on my first property in Lubbock, closing mid-Sept. I personally went kept my focus on SFR in the student areas of town and since it was Mid-Aug I really only looked at properties with year leases ending next summer. I actually found a property with rent about 1.4% rents, well above the 1% rule and looked at 2 or 3 other properties sitting right at 1%.

Caleb