All Forum Posts by: Cody Duval

@Greg Powers thank you very much for doing the legwork on that, I appreciate the information. I'll give Avatar a look and see what I can find! My town offices are...strange...so I'm not overly surprised that she was unwilling to help. Just renewing my dogs license is a nightmare haha

@Joia B.that's the problem I'm having. I said tax collector, I meant tax assessor. When I search for the tax assessor for my town, it turns into a long rabbit hole, ending up with me on the county tax assessor site, which then requires me to pay for information and only lets me search property deeds, but doesn't provide any contact information. When I go to the town offices, they don't want any part of helping me out. I'd send a letter, but with the house being vacant for years, I have no idea if that would lead to any success with mail forwarding or something.

@Jeff Schemmel awesome advice! I'll look into the FIRE meetups. That sounds like it will help mitigate the sales pitch environment that I am not interested in dealing with. I am planning on refinancing my house once some comps hit the market this spring/summer (I live in a lake town). Once that happens, I should be able to go conventional, and then I could make use of another FHA mortgage, as that is how my current house is financed. It sounds like your advice is pretty much in line with what is going through my mind, so that's a sigh of relief. Thank you very much for the advice!

@Dell J. totally valid points. I also don't want it to seem like I would look down on somebody at any point, I value any and all experience. I was just trying to say that I know that there are some people out there that start making a little bit of money, and it goes to their head, and next thing you know you're following their advice and everything is falling apart because their advice isn't based on valuable experience at their point in their journey. I'm a professional pilot, but I got here through years of training, including spending time as an instructor. Using this as an analogy for what I mean; I knew what I was doing when I got my pilot certificate, but it doesn't mean I was certified to do it professionally. Even when I got my commercial certificate and could make money, it didn't permit me to teach others how to fly. It wasn't until I got my instructors certificate that I could legally teach, and even then, I was brand new to instructing. So, what all I'm saying is, I don't want to spend my time, money and effort learning from folks that are only a bit further down the path than I am, but I also wouldn't expect a multi-millionaire investor to waste their time with me. Any and all experience is valuable, but I want to make sure I hone in on what will get me where I want to go in the most efficient manner possible is all.

Thanks for the insight @Jeff Schemmel. I kind of jumped the gun on that a bit and bought a house a few years ago, prior to realizing that I wanted a future in real estate. It was just my income at the time, and the market in New Hampshire is priced quite high. I found a house that seemed to be a phenomenal deal, priced at $223k, but it is a single family home, with no real way of even having a roommate without it being very close quarters. Everything else that was around my budget was an absolute dump and needed tens of thousands of dollars in repairs to make it livable or up to code. At times, I wish I lived somewhere else in the country, because real estate is far more affordable, but unfortunately this is where my work is. Once I generate enough income, I'd like to move elsewhere, but for now, I need to figure out how best to leverage my own situation to make that happen. Also, to be clear, I have more than $1,000 that I can work with right now, but the basis of his video was how best to invest $1,000. 

I likely will end up lingering at some meet-ups, I'm just fearful of wasting my time or money ending up following somebody's advice that doesn't get me any further than what I already know. I understand that, with any form of investing, there are associated risks. I'd just really love to come across somebody that would let me join them in some of their smaller deals so I can get a feel for it and potentially gain a bit of capital on it as well, so that it generates income while I learn, rather than eats away at capital. 

I have a property that is off-market just down the road from where I live. I live in a New Hampshire lake town, so small camp-like houses are very popular around here. This place is about 700sqft in a corner lot, but clearly isn't lived in. I've been here for almost 3 years, and not once have I seen somebody there. It is about a 3 minute walk to the lake, so it would be perfect for a seasonal home or rental/AirBnB. I have looked high and low, but the tax collectors office doesn't seem to have an online public registry of owners, and the town tax collector acted like I was a psychopath when I asked if she had contact info for the current owner.

My best assumption is that it was an elderly couple, and the house got left to a family member or something because somebody pays the taxes every year, but the house isn't used and needs work. The driveway was dirt and has become part of the yard, as it is on a dirt road and years of grading has eliminated any evidence of a driveway entrance. The house itself doesn't appear to be in horrible condition, but would certainly need work. Looking at comps in the area, I'm sure it could fetch about 180k once everything is repaired, but in the current condition, I think an offer of 60-75k would be fair. So, there is a fair bit of potential profit to be made on this property. 

Is there a different way to go about finding the owner of the property that I am missing? Is there a way to get in contact with somebody who may want to do the legwork themselves and give me a bit of a cut for finding the property, sort of like bird dogging without the possible legal ramifications that vary state by state? I am trying to get started down my path of real estate investing, so I don't have the capital to mess around with the property right now, but I certainly feel like there is potential here and I don't want it to go to waste.

I just got done watching a video by Kris Krohn who claims you can "make a fortune" by investing $1,000. I am currently working on getting debts paid off so that I can focus on assets that will earn me money, but I am spending this time researching the best ways to go about getting into it when the time comes. He is saying that you can structure deals so that the seller doesn't require a check from the bank upfront. I'm assuming he is implying that you find somebody who is currently renting the property out, and you tell them you will basically take over the property, increase rents slightly, their money will continue as it was, and you skim off the top. Is that what he is driving at? I can't think of any other way of buying a property and having the seller not demand upfront funds. Now, of course, he wants these people who are trying to figure out how to invest $1,000 to buy his $10,000 course, so he doesn't give much in the way of details.

I'm just trying to poke around the internet and read as many books as I can so when the time comes, I'm ready. I'd love to find a mentor who can help me out and show me the ropes, but it seems like everyone realizes the value of their experience and they want to sell these insanely priced courses online. Is there any way out there to find a successful mentor that doesn't want absurd amounts of cash for their trainings, without wasting time going to meet-ups and rolling the dice on investors that talk a big game, but come to find out, are only a slightly larger fish, than most beginners, in this massive ocean? I want to get some money flowing sooner rather than later, but I don't want the money I do have to go to waste.

@Filipe Pereira you bring up a very good point. I shouldn't let the high cost of entry cloud my judgment and get in the way of long-term gains. Ideally, given the position that I'm in right now, where my mind is going in multiple directions, I'd want to find someone that has some experience so I can work with them on a deal or two, see how things work, figure out if their preferred methods align with mine, and make a little capital while doing so. I currently have a decent paying job, but have bills (student loans, auto loan, mortgage). I should have the auto loan paid off before the end of the year, and should be able to refinance the mortgage once more comps become available during the summer (I live in a lake town so the available comps tend to be small camps, and they prevent my house from appraising). This should free up a decent amount of monthly capital, that I would like to save and reinvest elsewhere.

Ideally, I'd like to come close to replacing my annual income via rentals. Flips don't really interest me much since there is so much time devoted to the actual flipping process, as well as a large chunk of cash required to pay for the flip. Once I get capital flowing, my mindset may change as I see it as a great way to get larger paydays, and I know how to do a lot of work myself, and even if finance/insurance structure doesn't allow that, I know enough to not get soaked by contractors. I'm a corporate pilot, but I'm not even close to the pay I could be making, but for me to get there, I need more ratings, which are very expensive. So, if I could come close to replacing my salary, it would allow me to pay more towards my current mortgage, as well as pay for the ratings I need to advance my career, which would mean more capital towards real estate. I'm basically trying to intertwine my current career and my desire for investments to fund each other, until my investments put me in a place where my career is no longer as important for paying the bills. 

So, given your question, I think rentals with the ability to hold on to them and then pull equity from them to continue building a collection of rentals over time would be my ideal end goal. I just need the know how, experience, and capital to get started. I considered wholesaling as a means to acquire the initial capital, while getting a decent handle on the market around me, but after more research, it seems as though, not living in a very populous place such as Miami, Dallas, Denver, etc. would make this quite tricky. It seems as though a majority of wholesalers do very well when they reside in or near larger, booming cities with lots of inventory within a stones throw. 

From the start of my research, I have focused more on rental properties that gain equity over time. This is mostly because I have seen my house outpace every stock/index fund/etf etc. out there, and in less than 3 years, has gone up nearly 50% in value. So, if I can't find someone with the know how, experience, and capital to work with me on a few deals to get me started on this journey, I think my best bet is to get my liabilities paid off, refinance the house, and take the saved capital and start banking that towards assets. 20-25% down on a New England home in a year or more could be quite substantial though, so that's why I'm trying to find a path to get involved sooner rather than later.

I've been doing a lot of research, trying to figure out the best options. I've seen the route of wholesaling and watched several of Sean Terry's videos, I've checked out lease options, and listened to what Kris Krohn and others have to say, I've checked out flipping, and even buying properties owing back taxes.

I don't have a ton to invest out of pocket, but have a line of credit I could utilize if the money is more of a sure shot. Obviously, I understand investing is always a risk.

The problem I run into is, I already have a house, don't plan on selling though. It is financed through FHA, so I can't really buy anything else at 3% down, as long as I understand properly. And I don't really have enough to buy with 20-25% down unless I pull equity from my current house. I just don't want to be stuck with this house forever, so I'm in a sticky spot where I'm not ready to move, but also don't want to end up paying on it longer than necessary for when the time comes.

Ideally, I'd like some form of secondary income so I can pay this house off and have a substantial amount of equity as opposed to what it has gone up from market adjustment, plus what I've paid down. (About 60-70k from 2018-present).

I live in New Hampshire, and it seems as though the New England market is quite inflated compared to other parts of the country. However, I also see that average real estate investment salaries in New Hampshire are in the top 5 in the country, so there's clearly money to be made. I just need to figure out the best route for me, personally, to get involved without losing my shirt right out of the gate.

Any suggestions?

I've been doing a lot of research via videos and books, and have become very interested in a secondary income stream through real estate. I have a decent paying job, but want to create a way to not rely so heavily on it and allow my investments to build on themselves. The problem I am running into is, I live in New England and it seems like the housing market here is very inflated versus what I see elsewhere. I already have a home that I am paying a mortgage on, but don't want it to be a forever home. I just don't know that right now is the best time to pull equity from it and move as the market has become so inflated price wise, but inventory is so low, so I wouldn't be able to get anything nicer.

When it comes to acquiring a second property, I'd like to get something around the 100-150k range, but that means the places are very tiny or very gross around here. I'm also seeing a lot of people suggest getting a 3% down mortgage, but for a second property or investment property, everything I read says you can only finance at 20-25% down. How exactly can I find something allowing me to put minimal money down, but without losing my primary residence at this time? Also, anyone that invests around this region, any tips on getting a property that is actually useful at a reasonable price? TIA