All Forum Posts by: Matt Miller

I second @Eric Robinson's comment.  If you are set on a single family home, I will add an option.  Look for a smaller home in the 130k to 150k range.  You could still rent the rooms now, pay down the loan much faster, and when you move, just rent the full house out or keep doing it by the room.

When my wife and I bought our first home (10 years ago), we ended up with a  smaller less expensive home than we had set out to get.  This ended up being the best decision I made (with out really knowing where it would lead), I was able to pay the house off quickly and ended up renting it out when we moved (not really planned ahead of time).  That gave me more cash to build our home we are currently in and buy more properties.

Welcome.  Sounds like a great background for what you are looking to do.  There is also a monthly meet up next Tuesday.  Look up @Paul Choate for the details.

I used JMAR and Larry and all went great.

Pick 2 or 3 houses that meet your criteria and give 3 or more companies a call and tell them you are analyzing them for purchase and want to know what a landlord policy will run on them.  A land lords policy will be different from an owner occupant, but that is what you want.

You will learn an estimated number to use in your calculations and what company you may want to go with.

@Taylor Comer

Lots of good options here, but one thing to consider with giving tenants the ability to deposit or pay electronically.  This happened to a fellow investor who had the tenants deposit directly into an account.  

The tenant began making partial payments that prevented the investor from being able to evict.

I had a tenant that wanted to pay electronically.  I still just get a check in the mail.  I later found a site called rad pad that allows the tenant to pay electronically and informed them about it, they have yet to use it however, but it may be the best of both worlds by refusing to except partial payments without pior arrangements.

My wife grew up near there and I ran getting a rental out there by her and was told it is not a good idea.  Schools are bad, it is a bit far out to catch the Tinker area rental demand, but you may get a few.  Hopefully, others closer to the area can comment.

I would say start talking to banks (plural) and see what you can figure out.  I have had a lot of driving time lately and am listening to back podcast.  I believe I heard that same tip on 3 or 4 of them.

One other option to look into is having someone cosign with you (parents or a partner) to get around any age/job tenure concerns the lender may have.

I originally had my goal set to buy one property a year and to pay the properties off as quickly as possible and the two conflict with each other.

Do some math and see how long it will take to pay one property off.  You will have more cashflow and work to pay the next one off or buy a third property.  

My suggestion would be to call a view local businesses and see who they are using.  I recently was looking for a CPA and got a recommendation from a local lawyer that turned out to be great.

Welcome.  In addition to the guide you mentioned, check out the blogs for some great tips.