All Forum Posts by: Cody Smith

@Caleb Brown @Doug Spence thank you both for the responses. I agree, the VA loan is a phenomenal option for anyone to get in a house for free, and a house hack would be ideal. However, I have two VA loans already, both in my current market. I am not willing to sell/refi out of either property and find it more beneficial to keep those loans for now. Additionally, MF is hit or miss around here as far as one I would be willing to put my family in.

For the private/hard money, I have considered this as a potential option to use prior to the 12 month mark. I have some investors I am working with that I could partner with, problem is I need to get a couple deals done correctly for them personally first before I will approach them about the partnership. Just my view on it.

Hey BP! I have spent a lot of time studying the real estate world, but I am still lacking in the rest of personal finance knowledge.

I have decided to only focus on the BRRRR strategy moving forward, so I am saving up to purchase my first cash property in 12 months.

Some context, I am still full time in the Army and have had my real estate license for about 8 months. I am building my sales business currently, and work mostly with investors in the Columbus, GA and Atlanta areas. I am focusing on growing my sales business and saving all resulting capital for my BRRRR.

Obviously, cash in a savings account is not a great idea. Where do you recommend placing this cash while I continue to build? Something ideally able to be liquid in 12 months, possibly sooner if I decide to partner on a deal while I wait for my capital to grow to where I need it. I don’t want to lose out to current inflation rates, and would love to for it to have some additional growth besides just what I contribute. Thank you!!!

@Steven Goldman @Shawn L.

Thank you both for the responses, this is phenomenal information. It appears the LLC does not need to be the focus either way, I have an umbrella policy so I'm covered for now anyway. Just focus on presenting good deals to lenders, and someone will fund it!

@Shawn L. Thanks for the response! I am talking about residential 1-4 units. So if the LLC in the eyes of a bank is based on my bankability either way, then what do people mean when they say you need to build 2 years credit history in your LLC to best use it in the future? What benefits from a lender do you even get from using an LLC?

Hello BP, this is a two-part sort of complex question so I will try to keep it short.

I will be leaving my W-2 job in about 24 months (Army) and making my current part time business (RE sales) my full time job. This will put me on a commission based income and change how I appear to lenders I assume. I have one rental property currently.

I am thinking about opening an LLC so I can begin building the 2 years of credit history required by most (so I've heard). I wanted to transfer my existing rental into the LLC, but I have a Ginnie Mae loan and apparently this is only possible by refinancing the loan, which I don't really want to do.

So, my 2 questions are:

1) Is the LLC credit history as important as I am assuming? Will it actually help me in the long run like I think it will?

2) Is a refinance the only option I really have to transfer this Ginnie Mae loan into the LLC?

Thank y’all so much!

 Hello Kamilah! My name is Cody Smith, I am a Realtor in the Columbus, GA area. I grew up in the Villa Rica, Carrollton, Douglasville area, and most of my family still lives there, so we are in the area very frequently. I also know the area extremely well. Can we talk a little further and maybe I can provide some help?

@Mark Alford great to meet you and welcome to the Tri-City area! I am also stationed at Fort Benning (been here 10 years), and I am also a local Realtor licensed in GA and AL. I have one rental property here at the moment that I self-manage, but I also work with a few other investors in the area, some of which self-manage and some that utilize property management. I would love to help any way I can!

@Brenden Mitchum

Thank you for the reply, that is incredible information. I have planned to look into Trello a little more, but I have not heard of follow up boss. I will definitely take a closer look at these! I really appreciate it and Merry Christmas!!!

I have had my real estate license for about five months now, and things have gone pretty well. As I am starting to get more comfortable within this business, I am striving to achieve some pretty audacious goals in 2022. The biggest task I want to tackle right now is how to better organize myself and my business as a whole. What tools/software/applications/websites or anything else are you wonderful agents out there using to structure your business? The main areas I am wanting to organize are my existing leads and their statuses of importance, where are my deals under contract in the process and what tasks need to be completed, and overall bookkeeping for income and expenses. Also I would like to know what CRM people are using and what helps you automate follow ups and things like that to stay top of mind. Thank you for your insight and Merry Christmas!!!

Hey everybody, my name is Cody Smith; I have also been in the Columbus/Phenix City area for about 10 years. I am a local realtor with CENTURY 21 here, and I know the area very well. I love investing myself and working with investors any way I can. Hit me up with any questions you may have, no matter what they are I will absolutely help any way I can!