All Forum Posts by: Cody Richard

@Carlos Romero Feel free to send me a PM and we can discuss further!

@Alan Shen Welcome to Bigger Pockets! I would say what you should do depends on what your goal in real estate is. If your goal is to get into owning rental properties, I would recommend that you follow Don's advice and try and do a house hack. I know that's super difficult to do in LA, but you may be able to buy a small apartment, rent out the rooms, and sleep on the couch. It's not ideal, but it may be what you need to do to get started.

If you're looking to flip houses, I would recommend finding someone that is already doing flipping and figure out how you can add some value to them. For example, you could become an inspector, or become an expert in estimating repairs. Just something to help you stand out and add value.

If you're looking to wholesale, I recommend you learn about lead generation, pre-screening sellers, and deal structuring. There are endless resources about these topics, but I recommend checking out Brent Daniels, Todd Toback, and John Martinez for pre-screening. Check out Ron Legrand for deal structuring. 

With all of these, you should try to network as much as possible! There are many exceptional people in your market that are doing exactly what you want to do. Talk to these people and be a sponge. Attend your local REIA event (virtual or in person).

@Luis Sanchez There are many good and free ways to gain wholesaling knowledge here in Utah! For starters, there are some free REIA meetups in Utah each month. If you go to the Utah REIA website, you will be able to see the free meetups on the calendar. One of the meetups is specifically a wholesale meetup.

Another way to gain a lot of great information is through wholesaling podcasts (i.e. Wholesaling Inc. and FlipTalk). These will teach you about it at a high level and talk about some success stories in wholesaling.

As for hands-on learning, I am part of an apprenticeship group here in Utah. Feel free to PM me if you want more details!

@Howard Eyre There are plenty of free events you can find on the Utah REIA site. Some are only free for members, but you can probably find 3-5 events per month that are free.

@Howard Eyre Welcome to the community! There are many great points about so I'll try to refrain from restating them. One great way to network with local real estate investors is to start attending the Utah REIA's events. There is one starting tonight at 6:30 pm. You'll be able to learn about investing here in Utah and you'll have a chance to get in contact with all attendees after the meeting. There are also several other events going on in the coming weeks to attend! I can't link to the event because I think my post will get deleted, but just look up the Utah REIA and you should find plenty!

Hey Trent - I'll be sure to reach out! Anyone that comes across this post, feel free to reach out to me as well :)

@Eylan Dilworth That's great that you have been working toward getting into real estate! I have a couple thoughts that might help you get started:

1) When looking to purchase your first property, I would recommend learning a bit more about house hacking. Bigger Pockets has tons of great resources around this topic. Essentially, you can buy a small multi-family property (2-4 units), live in one unit, and rent out the other units. This will allow you to have the other tenants pay for most, if not all of your monthly payment. You can also do this with a SFH and rent out the rooms. When using this strategy, you can also use an FHA loan that only requires ~3.5% down. This strategy can be used anywhere in the US, as long as the numbers work.

2) When looking for which market to join, I recommend using a resource like Housing Alerts. This site will provide details and the market outlook throughout the US and has some paid features that provide additional information. 

Hope this helps!

@Logan McKay Zylstra Congrats in doing a house hack! That’s a great route to go! As for tax deductions, there are a couple common deductions that you can take advantage of:

1) Mortgage Interest deduction: the mortgage interest deduction allows homeowners to deduct interest paid on a qualified mortgage.

2) Local and state tax credits: homeowners who itemize their deductions may be able to deduct their homeowners property taxes on a local and state level, deducting up to $10,000, or $5,000 if married filing separately.

I’m not an expert in taxes, but I bought my home last April and these are the two deductions I took this year!

@Andrew Postell Will do! Thanks for your help Andrew!

@Andrew Postell Sorry for the confusion! She is currently my fiance, but we will be married by the time we are looking to buy a new house in June/July. Our 1-year mark for the FHA loan occurs at the start of April. I'm not sure if that is useful information for you haha.