All Forum Posts by: Christina Edmunds

Hello fellow Ohioan investor! :)

I'd like to hear some clarification on some things:

Do you mean to say your property will negatively cash flow after you've fully rented it out? I'm just a newbie myself so take what I say with a grain of salt. Here's my thoughts:

Is purchasing a home more or less expensive than your current rent (after taking maintenance, moving costs and initial costs into consideration)? How much wiggle room are you giving yourself with your income? If you're cutting it close between your mortgage and your paycheck, adding an additional $80 a month could be pretty risky. In that case you'd be banking pretty heavily on appreciation, as you've mentioned.

Are you sure you have the right numbers for rent? Seeing as you're very close to Cleveland, as long as the neighborhood is generally pretty good, I'd imagine there's a fair amount of demand for renters. Call around and see if you can get numbers from REAs/property managers in the area.

I've definitely had the thought myself of just going at it even if the deal isn't great. If you feel like you can take the hit financially and still be okay, that's definitely a choice. Have you also talked around to local REAs? It may be possible for them to find you a deal-- probably not a grand slam, but just a little something.

Good luck!

Thanks Ben! That's good advice. I definitely think there's a fine line between analysis paralysis and not knowing enough, haha. Right now I'm in the middle of a move, but I do intend on building my team once things have settled down. :)

Hello, everyone! It's been a hot minute.

I have a previous post I wrote over some year ago. To make a long story short, I fell out of interest with real estate, and recently my interest has been renewed with a burning passion.

Currently, my New Year's Resolution is to watch 300 hours' worth of REI content on YouTube. You can see all the videos I've watched so far here: https://www.youtube.com/playli...

My plan is to get a cheap house this year (or, possibly a multifamily) which will be turned into a rental property after a year. My current goal is to generate a cash flow of $4,000+ a month in order to replace my income using the BRRRR method.

Right now, I have not settled on a location; I'm thinking maybe the Avondale area. I've only lived in Ohio for over a year, now, so I'm not super familiar with the local market.

My older brother has agreed to help me out with both funding and networking, but of course, I'd love to hear more from the investors in the area.

Thanks for giving this a look!

As an investor, what is keeping you from buying this land right here? And what do you think could get you to change that?

The answer may seem obvious to the experienced investor but what I would like to do is break down all the individual problems that would make most people consider this a "bad deal". Be as specific as you can!

Here's an example for starters, why I personally would not buy this land:

I currently don't have the means to purchase this land myself, and I don't have an idea that I could sell with the land to make up the difference. Even if I did have the cash, I currently do not know how to make a profit off the land. Obviously from the photos, if a residential building were to be constructed the land would need to be cleared and graded, which would be even more costly. I have not run the numbers, but my guess would be based on inflated construction costs (and due to how long it's been on market) that there would be little to no profit made from developing a single family house fitting of this neighborhood, and particularly not for someone like me with no development experience. A nearby lot suggests the land could be used for a multifamily home for student housing, but based on the area (and due to the nature of students) it seems that each rental unit would not go for much money, and even if it did cashflow, I have seen videos of landlords (and know from experience) that housing students can be destructive and costly.

But, if I could figure out a purpose for this land which would net the owner a profit over the long run and gain enough knowledge to sell the idea, I would buy the lot with the purpose of flipping it to a developer who is more interested in long-term gains. If I could get a sufficient profit out of it I could use creative funding to obtain the capital.

Small Update:

I'm making progress on the 2HJS book. Going to get started on the starter contacts soon I'm hoping. With any luck that'll give me the income boost I need to fast-track things.

The Beginner's Guide suggests forming your team far ahead of your wanting to invest and I think that's a good idea too, but I'm not exactly sure what questions I would be asking. Sure, there's the standard "what's your portfolio look like" and "how do you do things" but after that initial contact, how do you keep things going even when you don't have a project under your belt?

I'll be honest, I'm feeling a little antsy since when the unemployment benefits end there's likely to be much more opportunity on the market and yet here I am with very little in my savings and recently saddled with a hefty medical bill, oof.

The REIA wasn't quite what I hoped for either, but that's what happens when stuff needs to go online. There just really wasn't the good opportunity for networking that I was hoping for.

@Whitney Hutten Looks like a good book, I've already got it downloaded. Haven't had a chance to start reading it yet but I hope to do so soon, thanks for the tip!

@Jaron Walling Thanks for the tip. Currently considering maybe doing a house hack once our current lease is up, which is about 14 months from now -- plenty of time to put the other ideas into practice.

@Darius Ogloza I suppose that is true, on the flip side-- months not spent doing real estate means months not getting the experience. I can see the pros and cons of both sides.

@Whitney Hutten My mortal enemy job interviews, haha. Went through that process once and absolutely hated it-- I think investing in real estate and eventual financial freedom is the only thing that can really get me motivated to even consider doing that again. I am also considering side hustles and possibly doing some art commissions. Thanks for the tips!

Hi all,

I've been doing some poking around these forums and I'm finally doing the introduction. I go by Christina, currently living in Cincinnati, OH (Hamilton) and I was listening to the 200th podcast that inspired me to write this post. I've been listening to podcasts, getting a bunch of books and reading for about two months now I'd say.

Here's where I'm at: 

I didn't know anything about finances when I moved out a little over a year ago. Ended up renting a $1,400 rent apartment on a entry-level software developer's budget in Newport, KY. lol, lesson learned. Just moved into an apartment for $940-- still a very nice place but much easier on the wallet.

Currently, yes, I am living paycheck-to-paycheck, and my savings will be about $1.6k come this Friday. Expensive apartment + caring for my boyfriend who'd been very, very ill ate up a ton of expenses. I fully intend to change that with the much more affordable rent. I've also been keeping track of my budget, and am going to try soon to make more adjustments to free up even more money. I am aware of my financial weaknesses and am working on them.

That being said: when would be a good time to continue on to the next steps? Obviously it will take some significant time to build up the safety net and I don't really want to wait around for another year or half a year just sitting and twiddling my thumbs. I'm eager to get started, and I've already determined I want to do BRRRR (which as I understand, if I play my cards right, should cost me no out of pocket money).

Should I just focus on minimizing expenses as much as I can to get that safety net quicker? Or should I just continue on? What do you think?

@Ergan Magen

Fantastic advice for management, regardless of whether you're investing in your backyard or OOS.

I'm considering investing OOS eventually myself, but people have made some pretty good points about the experience you can get as a newbie when investing in a property you can see yourself. All the same, I wish you luck @Gabriel Isedeh in your endeavors. Keep us posted!

Interesting, taking a further look at it now. (Though I see in my state it only offers 2.5 to 5% of the purchase price.) Haven't taken the deep dive into financing yet as I have only begun thorough research into real estate about a couple months ago but I'll definitely keep this in mind, thanks!