All Forum Posts by: Chris Ayers

Zillow is a good start. I found one of my good ones on there. They have stats on the realtors like the amount of sales they do and reviews from clients.  Find someone with high numbers and great reviews. 

One question I like to ask mine is if they own any rentals themselves. You want someone who owns property as well so they understand what you're trying to accomplish. Not someone who looks at you funny when you ask then about CAP rates.

1. If you're a newbie, hire a good realtor who understands your investment criteria and understands the rental market as well.  They could spot potential opportunities for you like the current tenants aren't paying market value or a 2 bedroom can be converted to a 3 bedroom. 

2. That depends on your criteria. Lots of people look for $200 a door after counting for all expenses, but if you just want to live for free then your goals change. 

3. Yes you need to occupy for 1 year. Then you can move out or refinance out of it to do all over again. 

I am currently doing this now. The only risk is if you don't make the payments you lose your home, but the payment are normally interest only and are at very low rates so the risk is minimal. 

Plus you're borrowing at low rates to (hopefully) get much higher rates of return. You should be able to refinance and get your money back to buy another one after as long as you play your cards right. 

Best of luck. Sounds like you have the right mind set.  If you absorb all the information on the site via blogs/forums and read some good books on RE, you should be prepared to go. 

@Travis Fisher Yes the expenses can be a pain. I normally transfer them to a better Vanguard IRA with very low expense ratios after I switch jobs every 2-3 years.

Yea I know a few people who do that. I'm not there yet. 

Would you care to show the math on how investing until a company match becomes zero returns over time and a company match doesn't double your initial investment?   

I had more than the average at 30 mainly because of the match so not sure what you are trying to say there. 

I only invest up to my company match.  Where else could you double your money without doing anything?  I also contribute to an HSA to lower my taxable income since health money definitely gets used in the short term.  

Maybe when I'm closer to retirement I'll do more, but I'm 32 and not being able to touch my money for 30 years doesn't help my goals to permanently retire by 50. 

I own homes out of state and the property management company handles most items.  I have a family member check out potential homes and provide an honest opinion of the home and neighborhood. I believe there are some companies that specialize in checking out potential homes by taking pictures and video, but I'm not sure. 

If I had to do it all over again, I would still get my degree, but get out as cheap as possible. Name recognition doesn't matter as much these days.  I actually prefer hiring people from lesser name schools and have seen better results with them.  I believe you can still become successful without a degree, but it's a lot harder. I do RE on the side and I wouldn't change it to full time any time soon. 

If you are a BP follower and take advise here, then you will have a better chance of success in the long run anyway. Just don't get into 200K of debt for a liberal arts degree. 

The most important member of your team will be anybody you can trust. This can and probably should be somebody with stake in the game such as a partner.  I mainly do out of state investing now and I use a family member as my trusted individual. 

Your team will be critical too and a good broker/realtor can help you assemble the rest of you team, but nothing can be boots on the ground with somebody you trust.